Royal Enfield Scram 411 long term review, first report

The Royal Enfield Scram 411 has had quite an eventful induction into our long term fleet this month. It was akin to being thrown into the deep end of the pool, as I picked up the motorcycle and took it straight to shoot a comparison test with the Yezdi Scrambler – which the RE managed to win.

With that little baptism by fire done, the Scram 411 has been pressed into service as my daily commuter, and here is what I think of it after spending close to three weeks with it.

Firstly, the Scram 411 looks good. Some of the keyboard warriors who disliked the design need to see the bike in flesh, for I think it is a great mix of form and function. The matte red and white paintwork on our test bike is my favourite of all the colours that the Scram 411 is available in. But in the little time that has gone by, I’ve discovered that it is a rather difficult colour to keep clean. With the amount of dust lingering in the air, all it takes is a small ride to leave a coat of dust on the bike. Given my obsession with keeping my motorcycles clean, I’m already staring at a big expense towards regular pressure washes over the course of the Scram’s time in the garage. I’m already looking for solutions like ceramic coating to make life easier, and more on that in future reports.

For now, I’m just glad that the bike is so easy to manage on my traffic-infested commuting route, which brings me to the functional bits about the bike that I like. The smaller 19-inch wheel makes it a tad quicker to steer, while the omission of a windscreen results in better forward visibility than the Royal Enfield Himalayan that this bike is based on. That, in turn, gives me the ability to quickly make my way through the narrowest of gaps in traffic. Then there’s the comfortable seat and ergonomics that are more than welcome after a long and tiring day in office. To add to that, the engine is quite smooth and doesn’t require frequent gearshifts, again adding to a stress-free commute.

Issues? Well, there are a couple of minor ones that need to be addressed. Firstly, the angle of the brake and clutch lever is pointed unusually upwards, but that’s probably how it was set for off-road riding at the launch event and it can easily be adjusted. Then there’s the digital fuel gauge that fluctuates randomly below the halfway mark. I remember facing a similar problem with our Meteor 350 long termer’s fuel gauge as well, and since the Scram 411 uses the same type of instrument cluster, it seems to be facing a similar problem. Whether Royal Enfield manages to rectify this problem in the future is something we will discover over the course of our time with the Scram 411. Recently, I’ve also developed a deeper interest in riding off-road and I think the Scram 411 will make a great companion to the Hero Xpulse 200 4V, which also just joined our fleet, on a Sunday trail. There’s so much to look forward to.

Also see:

Royal Enfield Scram 411 review: More than a naked Himalayan?