I live in Thailand, and bought the hunter over the speed 400...side by side, the Enfield is just better looking and seems a more quality bike. I also always look back at mine.😁
I have this same model colour and agree with everything you say. Ride this more than any other bike I have and will not sell this one. Nice and simple to work on great sound looks good, what’s not to like
Had the same dilema as you. My local enfield dealer in chichester has gone and the next closest groombridge motorcycles has now gone too which leaves me with brockenhurst hants or reading. So my decision now is to do all my own maintenance with the help of you tube and take my chances warrenty wise. Great channel by the way👍
I have the same model and colour. Love at first sight and after 18 months that love still hasn't waned. With all the conventional mods and then some, it's all the bike I want it to be. Living in the far SW of Ireland, it's great for plodding down the local single track roads, many with grass up the middle, but - with sporty Mitas MC50 tyres mounted, it is also thoroughly engaging when pushed hard down some of the twisty B roads in the area. My poor old '07 650 V-Strom hardly got a look in over the period. Mods: tall RE crash bars, cheap no name side racks and a really nice and well build rear rack also from India, DNA stage 2, FuelX, and, unusually, a stainless steel decat pipe and 9" hooligan end can (Delkevic) that - although very loud - is not obnoxious and just enhances the sound of what is otherwise a small, long-stroke single in a low state of tune. The air filter and exhaust have each improved performance significantly, whilst also improving fuel economy (if I'm not caning it). And finally, a 16t front sprocket to give it slightly longer legs (at the cost of some of the gained performance). The stainless steel exhaust has different lines to the original and changes appearances significantly, doing away with the resto-mod styling and making the bike look altogether more old school. With no Images or video to be found in Google-Land, I took a risk buying the exhaust, as I hadn't a clue what it would sound like, nor if I'd like the looks, but, happy to say, I'm thoroughly delighted with both aspects. I'm no youtuber and a complete video novice, but lack of information on the exhaust motivated me to post a couple of videos on my own RUclips channel to fill in the void. An acquaintance joked that she thinks this will be my 'forever bike' 😇
I've had mine since March, I put in 6000km so far. I bought it mainly for the look and affordability, reading reviews and opinions online got me a bit worried about performance and weight (as it is my first bike I really cannot compare) however so far there has never been a real life situation in which I felt unsafe or unable to keep up with traffic.
Had the same bike & loved it so much, managed to get a thousand miles on her before she was stolen for outside my place of work 😢 Thieves love small bikes. Currently running a XV950 😂
The Hunter and the Speed were my two choices. I picked the Speed because of the HP. I'm in California (LA) were you need the extra power. Hunters are beautiful, I wanted the red one.
I test rode the Hunter and liked it in most respects. However I couldn't live with the ride quality which I found way too harsh on anything other than a perfect road surface. I'm hoping to have a ride on the Guerrilla in the next couple of weeks. The 452cc engine solves the J platform's lack of power and if the ride quality is better than the Hunter (I find it hard to imagine it being worse!) I'll probably do a deal.
The Hunter with its engine makes so much fun, I added a new Bullet to it. Power is more or less enough, o.k. no Autobahn bike. But both make a lot of fun. I installed the same pannier racks from India and fixed some pannier, so touring bike is ready. The Bullet is for the sunny days😂. Have fun.
I swapped out the rear shocks on mine for some YSS shocks and got the 10% stiffer fork springs from Hitchcocks. Big improvements. Also some Bridgestone BT46 tyres much better than the CEATs. Ride it to work almost every day. Love it.
I tried Metzler Karoo Streets on mine. I thought the scrambler look would be cool, but overall, I never really took to them. They gave me no confidence in the slippery stuff, gave minor slips at lean even on the best tarmac, didn't last very long, and the rear was squirrelly at end of life. Wanting a drastic change, I went for sporty tyres and chose Mitas MC50s. A diagonal sports tyre designed for small bikes with both commuting and bad weather in mind. They really stick to the road and - unlike the Karoo Streets - give excellent feedback. They are also better over loose chippings than the Karoos. A wonderful, confidence inspiring tyre that I will be buying again. I haven't tried them in the rain, but then again, at 68, I am at leisure to avoid the rain as best I can.
I agree quite a lot on the looks and tge size I nearly bought one but went fir the speed as my commute is 35 miles but was put off by the short service intervals valve adjustment system. I am expecting to see a number of private sellers of the Hunter as folk upgrade to the Guerilla and are disappointed with dealer trade in price, and might bite if the price is right.
You can’t really knock it. I’ve put nearly 5000 miles on mine. Most of the roads near me (NW England) are congested, poor quality and cameras everywhere. Also the speed limits have been reduced. The hunter is ideal for these conditions. A cheap to buy,ride and insure bike.
You wouldn't have got an Oil and filter change on top of the Tappets for £85 some Dealer's charge up to £190 For the full service ❓ I've owned my Hunter 350 from new for just over a year, I did the full first service including Oil, filter, and Tappets myself, Absolutely brilliant bike's, I also own a Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 which I have done all the servicing on that as well 👍 Bye the way, I've fitted fuel X lite Systems on both my Interceptor and Hunter, and there's no popping on the over run, My Hunter has an after market DNA Air Filter and Powerage Silencer for more free flow 👍 And a 16 tooth cog is fitted as well 👍 Really smooth now. Cheers Paul 👍
hi Paul, yes i fancy the DNA filter swap for the hunter, its pretty pricey but appears to be a good upgrade. the funny thing is that to other people the hunter sounds great and i often get comments on that when i pull into bike meets etc, but i dont get that in my ears when riding LOL . i just come back from india and herd some epic interceptors with after market pipes on, theres a huge range of pipes available out there.
@@theartisanrider472 My Interceptor has Reverse Cone Mega Silencer's, with the Fuel X Lite fitted, It is really smooth, When fitting the Fuel X, you should run on tick over for 30 minutes, to acclimatise the ECU to the change, this is recommended by Royal Enfield, and believe me, it definitely works 👍
They only do oil change at the 300km service. I’ve just done my clearances at 600 miles and the exhaust was totally closed; inlet was tight too. I’d rather have a tight side stand than loose.
I have this bike in the same colour. I agree with your assessment, except that I find the rear suspension too harsh, especially for my old bones (the wrong side of 70). I replaced them with Hagon shocks but still not soft enough for me. Perhaps I’ll change the bike for the new 650 Classic?
I got the Hagon progressives fitted when I bought the bike and I found they sorted out my initial gripe with the originals. However, no shock can mitigate the appalling roads we have in SW of Ireland. If I remain seated, the Hagons can bottom out. Even my 650 V-Strom hammers my spine over the worst of the roads, regardless of how I tweak the suspension. For the V-Strom, I recently found that lowering tyre pressures by 4psi front and rear made the most profound difference, a huge improvement in comfort without any significant losses in road holding. As for the tiny Hunter, reducing tyre pressure has improved matters somewhat (-4psi Front, -2psi rear), but lifting my bum off the saddle for the worst of the bumps is the only real solution: then I can take the bumps and the subsidence undulations at any speed and any angle of lean that I'm comfortable with. At the age of 68 I'm suddenly growing much stronger calf and thigh muscles again 😁
Being a shorter rider, I was interested in the sculpted seat that Karen uses. How tall is she? (Inside leg?). Does it affect the handling? Is the ride position still ok with the bar risers you've put on? Any other comments?
hi jim so karen is 5.1 and 28' inside leg. what i found was that the seat base is sculpted in that sort of two level fashion. and i had to take alot of the foam away to make enough difference, if i was doing it again i think id make a neater job of cutting the foam. the other issue is the width of the plastic base, which really affects the height as you have to spread your legs to touch the ground. so the actual amount of foam left was about 1-2inch max which i thought may be too little but due to that seat width it still gives the butt plenty to spread across. she finds it very comfy still. the bar risers are fine still. it actually works really well for her it fits great. i left the front of the seat cover attached when i did the foam which helped with the restretch. back. i did a video on the process blooded fingers and all LOL.
Hi all Thanks for all the comments, it’s obvious this great little bike has a huge fan base me being one. I’m currently on my honeymoon in India , and yes I’m riding a bullet the whole two weeks. Watch out for that episode .
@@nickdavies4123 no worries nick, it is very light but positive. as i said i get caught out after riding the interceptor and stall the hunter first ride back lol.
yes sadly , they were a very good dealer from my perspective and experience. it closed this weekend being the 28th. i fear alot of these multi brand dealers are now facing serious problems and it could be very difficult to get any warranty work done on certain brands.
@@alantheloneranger ahh, sorry. That’s rare. Normally they come on and go off briefly whilst turning over with power cut to the headlamp relay. Didn’t realise these were different. I think I only glanced down at mine and probably saw the pilot light and made an assumption… oops 😊
hi, so all my parts i buy via ebay, you will find 90% of those sellers are based in india like royal spares etc. ive never had an issue with delivery either. ive just come back from India and the parts are very cheap.
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I live in Thailand, and bought the hunter over the speed 400...side by side, the Enfield is just better looking and seems a more quality bike. I also always look back at mine.😁
Best looking bike out there…perfect
Picking mine up tomorrow! Looking forward to it...not looking forward to running it in....
I have this same model colour and agree with everything you say. Ride this more than any other bike I have and will not sell this one. Nice and simple to work on great sound looks good, what’s not to like
Best looking bike out there…perfect
Had the same dilema as you. My local enfield dealer in chichester has gone and the next closest groombridge motorcycles has now gone too which leaves me with brockenhurst hants or reading. So my decision now is to do all my own maintenance with the help of you tube and take my chances warrenty wise. Great channel by the way👍
2 years of heavy riding and literally jumping from side walks 2 up and it is so much stable and easy to balance, a5t lower speeds it is much fun .
Gorgeous bike, just sat on one at motorcycle live. Finish is exceptional. What's the plaque say on the tree in the background mate?
You could stop the video at 0:40. The way you look at your bike says it all ❤
I have the same model and colour. Love at first sight and after 18 months that love still hasn't waned. With all the conventional mods and then some, it's all the bike I want it to be. Living in the far SW of Ireland, it's great for plodding down the local single track roads, many with grass up the middle, but - with sporty Mitas MC50 tyres mounted, it is also thoroughly engaging when pushed hard down some of the twisty B roads in the area. My poor old '07 650 V-Strom hardly got a look in over the period.
Mods: tall RE crash bars, cheap no name side racks and a really nice and well build rear rack also from India, DNA stage 2, FuelX, and, unusually, a stainless steel decat pipe and 9" hooligan end can (Delkevic) that - although very loud - is not obnoxious and just enhances the sound of what is otherwise a small, long-stroke single in a low state of tune. The air filter and exhaust have each improved performance significantly, whilst also improving fuel economy (if I'm not caning it). And finally, a 16t front sprocket to give it slightly longer legs (at the cost of some of the gained performance). The stainless steel exhaust has different lines to the original and changes appearances significantly, doing away with the resto-mod styling and making the bike look altogether more old school. With no Images or video to be found in Google-Land, I took a risk buying the exhaust, as I hadn't a clue what it would sound like, nor if I'd like the looks, but, happy to say, I'm thoroughly delighted with both aspects.
I'm no youtuber and a complete video novice, but lack of information on the exhaust motivated me to post a couple of videos on my own RUclips channel to fill in the void.
An acquaintance joked that she thinks this will be my 'forever bike' 😇
I've had mine since March, I put in 6000km so far. I bought it mainly for the look and affordability, reading reviews and opinions online got me a bit worried about performance and weight (as it is my first bike I really cannot compare) however so far there has never been a real life situation in which I felt unsafe or unable to keep up with traffic.
Had the same bike & loved it so much, managed to get a thousand miles on her before she was stolen for outside my place of work 😢
Thieves love small bikes. Currently running a XV950 😂
The Hunter and the Speed were my two choices. I picked the Speed because of the HP. I'm in California (LA) were you need the extra power. Hunters are beautiful, I wanted the red one.
I test rode the Hunter and liked it in most respects. However I couldn't live with the ride quality which I found way too harsh on anything other than a perfect road surface. I'm hoping to have a ride on the Guerrilla in the next couple of weeks. The 452cc engine solves the J platform's lack of power and if the ride quality is better than the Hunter (I find it hard to imagine it being worse!) I'll probably do a deal.
The Hunter with its engine makes so much fun, I added a new Bullet to it. Power is more or less enough, o.k. no Autobahn bike. But both make a lot of fun. I installed the same pannier racks from India and fixed some pannier, so touring bike is ready. The Bullet is for the sunny days😂. Have fun.
I swapped out the rear shocks on mine for some YSS shocks and got the 10% stiffer fork springs from Hitchcocks. Big improvements. Also some Bridgestone BT46 tyres much better than the CEATs. Ride it to work almost every day. Love it.
yes this will definately get the bridgestones in the not too distant future. i pit those on the interceptor and the difference was huge.
I tried Metzler Karoo Streets on mine. I thought the scrambler look would be cool, but overall, I never really took to them. They gave me no confidence in the slippery stuff, gave minor slips at lean even on the best tarmac, didn't last very long, and the rear was squirrelly at end of life. Wanting a drastic change, I went for sporty tyres and chose Mitas MC50s. A diagonal sports tyre designed for small bikes with both commuting and bad weather in mind. They really stick to the road and - unlike the Karoo Streets - give excellent feedback. They are also better over loose chippings than the Karoos. A wonderful, confidence inspiring tyre that I will be buying again. I haven't tried them in the rain, but then again, at 68, I am at leisure to avoid the rain as best I can.
I agree quite a lot on the looks and tge size I nearly bought one but went fir the speed as my commute is 35 miles but was put off by the short service intervals valve adjustment system.
I am expecting to see a number of private sellers of the Hunter as folk upgrade to the Guerilla and are disappointed with dealer trade in price, and might bite if the price is right.
Doing the tappets yourself takes half an hour. Much quicker than going to the dealer and back twice. And you know it's been done right.
You can’t really knock it. I’ve put nearly 5000 miles on mine. Most of the roads near me (NW England) are congested, poor quality and cameras everywhere. Also the speed limits have been reduced. The hunter is ideal for these conditions. A cheap to buy,ride and insure bike.
You wouldn't have got an Oil and filter change on top of the Tappets for £85
some Dealer's charge up to £190
For the full service ❓
I've owned my Hunter 350 from new for just over a year,
I did the full first service including Oil, filter, and Tappets myself,
Absolutely brilliant bike's,
I also own a Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 which I have done all the servicing on that as well 👍
Bye the way, I've fitted fuel X lite Systems on both my Interceptor and Hunter, and there's no popping on the over run,
My Hunter has an after market DNA Air Filter and Powerage Silencer for more free flow 👍
And a 16 tooth cog is fitted as well 👍
Really smooth now.
Cheers Paul 👍
hi Paul, yes i fancy the DNA filter swap for the hunter, its pretty pricey but appears to be a good upgrade. the funny thing is that to other people the hunter sounds great and i often get comments on that when i pull into bike meets etc, but i dont get that in my ears when riding LOL . i just come back from india and herd some epic interceptors with after market pipes on, theres a huge range of pipes available out there.
@@theartisanrider472
My Interceptor has Reverse Cone Mega Silencer's, with the Fuel X Lite fitted,
It is really smooth,
When fitting the Fuel X, you should run on tick over for 30 minutes, to acclimatise the ECU to the change, this is recommended by Royal Enfield, and believe me, it definitely works 👍
They only do oil change at the 300km service. I’ve just done my clearances at 600 miles and the exhaust was totally closed; inlet was tight too. I’d rather have a tight side stand than loose.
Sorry to tell you but Groombridges have also closed now. Such a shame, great local independent dealer.
Are you sure that was a helicopter and not another Hunter with aftermarket exhaust? 😄
Thank a you for the informative video mate 👌
I have this bike in the same colour. I agree with your assessment, except that I find the rear suspension too harsh, especially for my old bones (the wrong side of 70). I replaced them with Hagon shocks but still not soft enough for me. Perhaps I’ll change the bike for the new 650 Classic?
I got the Hagon progressives fitted when I bought the bike and I found they sorted out my initial gripe with the originals. However, no shock can mitigate the appalling roads we have in SW of Ireland. If I remain seated, the Hagons can bottom out. Even my 650 V-Strom hammers my spine over the worst of the roads, regardless of how I tweak the suspension. For the V-Strom, I recently found that lowering tyre pressures by 4psi front and rear made the most profound difference, a huge improvement in comfort without any significant losses in road holding. As for the tiny Hunter, reducing tyre pressure has improved matters somewhat (-4psi Front, -2psi rear), but lifting my bum off the saddle for the worst of the bumps is the only real solution: then I can take the bumps and the subsidence undulations at any speed and any angle of lean that I'm comfortable with. At the age of 68 I'm suddenly growing much stronger calf and thigh muscles again 😁
Your Audio is expoted in mono.
Being a shorter rider, I was interested in the sculpted seat that Karen uses. How tall is she? (Inside leg?). Does it affect the handling? Is the ride position still ok with the bar risers you've put on? Any other comments?
hi jim
so karen is 5.1 and 28' inside leg. what i found was that the seat base is sculpted in that sort of two level fashion. and i had to take alot of the foam away to make enough difference, if i was doing it again i think id make a neater job of cutting the foam. the other issue is the width of the plastic base, which really affects the height as you have to spread your legs to touch the ground. so the actual amount of foam left was about 1-2inch max which i thought may be too little but due to that seat width it still gives the butt plenty to spread across. she finds it very comfy still. the bar risers are fine still. it actually works really well for her it fits great. i left the front of the seat cover attached when i did the foam which helped with the restretch. back. i did a video on the process blooded fingers and all LOL.
@@theartisanrider472 Thanks for the reply. I've watched you other video, and the sculpted seat would make all the difference!
Hi all
Thanks for all the comments, it’s obvious this great little bike has a huge fan base me being one. I’m currently on my honeymoon in India , and yes I’m riding a bullet the whole two weeks. Watch out for that episode .
I wonder how light the clutch is ?I find my Bonneville clutch heavy in London traffic and Scram feels heavy when I tried in shop
Whoops just realised you mention this at end, sorry ! Great reviews 👍
@@nickdavies4123 no worries nick, it is very light but positive. as i said i get caught out after riding the interceptor and stall the hunter first ride back lol.
As of 00:38 on the audio is only in the left ear
I heard JW Groombridge are closing down. Can you confirm?
yeah thats thats what i heard to.
yes sadly , they were a very good dealer from my perspective and experience. it closed this weekend being the 28th. i fear alot of these multi brand dealers are now facing serious problems and it could be very difficult to get any warranty work done on certain brands.
Went there this morning to wish Holly good luck as she sold me mine two weeks ago. Yes, closes today.
Your headlight did not come on when you turned on ignition.
It only comes on when you start the bike up
@@alantheloneranger ahh, sorry. That’s rare. Normally they come on and go off briefly whilst turning over with power cut to the headlamp relay. Didn’t realise these were different. I think I only glanced down at mine and probably saw the pilot light and made an assumption… oops 😊
Where can one buy genuine parts and accessories from India?
hi, so all my parts i buy via ebay, you will find 90% of those sellers are based in india like royal spares etc. ive never had an issue with delivery either. ive just come back from India and the parts are very cheap.
@@theartisanrider472 Thanks!