The CRUISER COMES OF AGE

Our correspondent takes Royal Enfield’s new Thunderbird Twinspark for a spin in the hills

Our correspondent takes Royal Enfield’s new Thunderbird Twinspark for a spin in the hills
IT WAS a bit foggy when I hit the GT Karnal Bypass for the test ride of the Thunderbird Twinspark. The traffic was sparse and I managed a decent 70-80 kmph. Normally, the first thing to look out for when you ride a Royal Enfield, which has a brake pedal on the right hand side, is the rear brake. With the pedal on the right and the rear brake assembly on the left, the effective braking leverage gets reduced a bit.

But with the Twinspark, things are very different. The entire brake assembly and the chain drive have been shifted to the right to give it more bite and confidence to the rider, though it leaves the left side of the bike almost naked.
As visibility improved, I couldn’t resist the temptation to rev hard. The milestones vanished in fleeting glances as I thundered down NH-1, the speedometer needle touching the 120 kmph mark over the Panipat flyover. The riding time from Karnal Bypass outside Delhi to Kiratpur near Chandigarh was a little over three hours, but I was eager to hit the hills to feel the taste of the enhanced pick-up.

From Parwanoo, the shortcut to Kasauli was extremely narrow, and at places there was no road at all. The suspension ate up the potholes as the bike lurched forward, the new-gen engine generating the extra 2 bhp over its predecessor (18 bhp). The soft seat and the spring-mounted retractable foot-pegs only made the ride more comfortable. The best thing was that sudden deceleration from 60 to 30 kmph never required a shifting down of the gears. The bike pranced forward, ever-obediently, with a twist of the throttle.

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The cast iron Royal Enfields deliver a characteristic thump, which loyalists swear by, while the Lean Burn engines that power the Machismos and the older Thunderbirds gives a metallic ring. In contrast, the Twinspark delivers a ticking sound that blended perfectly with the din of cicadas and crickets along the serpentine hilly stretches.

As far as looks go, the Twinspark is not much different from its older avatar. The consoles and the handle bars are the same as in the Thunderbird, a good thing considering it did elicit more than a second glance on the road. The only additions are the Twinspark stickers on the side panels and the rear. Nevertheless, the tank fits the frame more beautifully and aesthetically and the weld lines also look nicer. The engine, however, is cubicle and looks more hefty.

The bike comes with an integrated five-speed gearbox with twin-spark ignition and throttle position sensor which improves performance and efficiency. The absence of a decompressor, however, does take the charm out and the odd-shaped kick does require some prodding.

The bike is extremely rider-friendly. It comes with hydraulic tappet adjuster and an automatic primary chain tensioner, which means you don’t have to get your hands dirty after every 500 km. The clutch cable has also been fixed to a notch above the six-plate clutch box making it easy even for a novice to change the wire.
Overall, the bike is an extremely good package for an on-road price of Rs 98,500 (Delhi), but there are still some vibrations in the engine and the seating position is too couch-like. The legs do start aching after a while on long hauls.

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