6 months and 4,200 km on the Classic 350 - my honest update

46 views3 replies20 Jul

Picked up my Classic 350 (the newer J-series one, not the old UCE) back in March, and I'm at a little over 4,200 km now, so figured it's time for an honest update instead of just posting delivery day photos.

City mileage has settled at a consistent 32-33 kmpl for me, which honestly surprised me given how much this bike weighs. On a recent highway run to my hometown the trip meter crossed 39 kmpl on a full tank, which felt almost unbelievable for a Royal Enfield. The engine itself is a big reason I chose this over the older model - it's noticeably smoother, no annoying vibration through the pegs even past 90, and the thump is still very much there without rattling my fillings loose.

Comfort-wise this is genuinely one of the easiest bikes to sit on for 3-4 hours straight, and resale value in my city seems to hold up really well too. There's a detailed Classic 350 breakdown on this site that helped me weigh it against the Hunter and Meteor before deciding.

Only real gripe so far - U-turns in slow traffic are a workout given the kerb weight, and the front brake feels a touch spongy after the first service. Anyone else notice this or is it just my unit?

3 Replies

neha_onroad

20 Jul

On the front brake - definitely get it bled rather than living with it, spongy feel after the first service is pretty common on these and usually resolves once the lines are properly bled out, not a bigger issue. Question for you though - are you running the stock tyres still? I'm at 4,500 km and mine are already showing uneven wear on the rear, curious if that's normal for this weight of bike or if I got a bad set. Also seconding the U-turn struggle, this is not a bike you want to be doing tight parking lot maneuvers on regularly.

ananya_drives

20 Jul

Riding the same generation Classic from Pune, almost identical experience. My mileage sits around 33 kmpl in city traffic too, and I've comfortably done 400 km plus on a tank on the highway before hitting reserve. The J-series really did fix the vibration problem - my older Bullet used to numb my hands by the second hour, this one doesn't. Totally agree on the heritage appeal being a big part of the draw, I get more comments on this bike at fuel stops than any car I've owned. Haven't had the spongy brake issue though, mine feels fine even past 6,000 km, so maybe get it checked at your next service just to be safe.

karan_throttle

20 Jul

Different experience here - I'm in Bangalore and with the stop-go traffic my mileage rarely crosses 28 kmpl, nowhere near your 32-33. Might be a riding style thing since I short-shift a lot less than I probably should. Also wanted to flag that annual service costs crept up more than I expected, especially once you factor in the valve clearance check they insist on doing every time. Still love the bike overall, just don't want people expecting Hunter-level frugality from this one. On the brake feel, mine went spongy too around the same odo reading, turned out to be air in the line, bled it and it's sharp again.

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