Yesterday I became the proud owner of a Thunderbird Twinspark, 2012 model.
Since I got my last bike around 8 years ago, which was eventually stolen, the price has gone up around 50%. I was curious to find out what improvements the company had added in all these years and how different it was from my last one. Here’re my views as of now (100km)
- The colour is deeper and the texture feels smoother overall
- The front disc brake seems to be the same. Feels smoother than what I am used to, but my bike was almost 60000 km old
- The headlamp is brighter and now works even when the engine is turned off
- The instrument console is mostly the same, with minor differences
- The switchgear is much better. The indicator switch, the engine on/off switch, the push start switch all feel sturdy and softer. There’s no decompressor lever. The dipper switch which was almost unusable in the old bike is much better now. The handlebar weights are now chrome
- The “Royal Enfield” decal on the tank is now embossed rather than printed on a sticker. Frankly I preferred the latter
- They have added reflectors on both sides of the chassis just below the tank for better visibility when getting on/off the road
- The electric start is fast and responsive
- The kickstarter is largely in-effective. It doesn’t even engage with the engine till half-way down and it is clear that they have included it for exceptional cases and the electric starter is intended to start the vehicle most of the times
- The real brake is more effective and has less play
- The seat is more comfortable, especially for the lower back
- The factory fitted horn (single unit) is terrible. I had to get Bosch dual-tone horns fitted before I dared to take it out on the road
- The seating position seems to have been slightly tweaked for the better
- The center stand is better designed and requires very little effort to get the bike on and off the stand
- The wiring is better hidden and feels more taut
Here’re my thoughts on the engine
- The engine is smoother and feels sturdier and more reliable. Would know more in the long run
- The whirring noise from the engine is very noticeable. However, I know from experience that this would go down as the engine is driven in
- There’s almost no noise from the Pushrods or due to Cam backlash. Again, the consistency needs to be tested in the long run
- The torque and power is noticeably more, but I would know more once the engine is run in some more and I am able to rev to higher RPMs.
- Gear shifting is still tricky and false neutrals though quite rare, are still there.
I did around 100km since yesterday. Hope to complete 500km in 7-10 days so that the bike can go through its first servicing.
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