Royal Enfield Bullet 500 review, test ride

The Bullet 500, a name synonymous with the Royal Enfield brand of motorcycles has returned from the history pages with a larger 499cc engine. We’ve hopped onto the saddle of this half-litre Bullet to bring you this first impression.

The Bullet 500 houses a powerful halogen powered headlamp inclusive of a chrome lip with set of trademark pilot lamps on either side. For instrumentation, the Bullet 500 uses a single-pod analogue speedometer and independent ampere meter. The palm grips have good feel, while the clutch and brake levers are also solid to touch, and fall to hand well. The Enfield typical teardrop fuel-tank houses a chrome hinged fuel filler cap along with circular, golden coach lines. At the rear the Bullet 500 deploys a round taillight similar to the Classic series bikes.

The 500 houses the same, 499cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled, four-stroke engine as on the Thunderbird and Classic bikes, sans fuel-injection, and its exhaust thrums out a Bullet typical beat. The Bullet 500 makes ample low and mid-range grunt, producing 26.1bhp at 5100rpm, as may sound low for this big an engine, but keeps with the delightful lazy character long associated with Royal Enfield motorcycles. The 500 is a smooth motorcycle to ride, and the engine feels at home ridden between 80-90kph. Things starts to feel strained soon thereafter when stretched too far beyond. This isn’t a sportsbike, and doesn’t like being ridden like one. The 500 engine comes with a smooth shifting five-speed gearbox operated in a one-down, four-up shifted pattern.

The riding saddle and position are really comfortable, upright with footpegs placed ergonomically well, forward for good comfort. The Bullet 500 uses conventional telescopic fork front suspension and dual gas-charged shock absorbers at the rear. Like all Enfield bikes, the 500 is a heavy, solid feeling and stable bike ridden in a straight line, and always feels planted, even when riding with two full size adults on board.

There’s a 280mm disc brake in the front and 153mm rear drum brake, both working well with nice feel to generate adequate stopping power.

The Bullet 500 is priced at Rs 1,53,855 lakh (on-road, Delhi). Full story in the upcoming issue of Autocar India.