Reply With QuoteA pal of mine has one of these that he picked up in some foreign clime and occasionally we meet up.
He loves it - simple, basic, easy to maintain and not a killing machine.
JDI
B
Official 3 minute ad', rather cool. I'm seriously tempted to buy one of these.
A pal of mine has one of these that he picked up in some foreign clime and occasionally we meet up.
He loves it - simple, basic, easy to maintain and not a killing machine.
JDI
B
Oh man I had an F-reg one in the 80's. One thing after another. Did get it going and keep it going eventually but I'd had enough. I advertised it in the local paper for £110 and got one tyre kicker who turned his nose up. A colleague at work suggested advertising it in MCN for £350 and the phone didn't stop ringing! Ha ha the tyre kicker could have made an easy profit. Anyway it was bought over the phone by a chap from the Channel Islands who hopped on a ferry and collected it with a pick up within 24 hours. Cool. I paid £30 for it incidentally, which was the cost of the bike transport from the old owners house to mine (yes, it was broken down - again - and the owner gave it to me). What are they worth now, several grand I expect.
Here's the one I bought and restored when I was a 14 year old in the mid seventies. It was a basket case contained in two tea chests (remember them), the only original parts left at the end were the wheel hubs, frame and crankcases, everything else was either damaged, incorrect or missing and had to be sourced. I had it finished by the time I was 17 and could actually ride it. The bike parked next to it is my BSA C15.
And here's a seventeen year old me.
If the experience of riding the new ones are anything remotely like the originals then buy one.
I was in Bangalore with work for a week earlier this month and the Royal Enfield bikes are very popular there. A colleague and I were driven around in a hotel car and while we agreed we wouldn't want to drive there, the bikes looked super-cool and wondered how much it would cost to ship a Bullet over to the UK.
It seems that you can now buy them here anyway...
A group of us borrowed an Enfield Classic from the dealer in St Helens and rode it non stop around the UK coastline for charity, apart from changing riders and filling up every few hours it was continually running from 8am on the Monday morning till 3am Thursday morning. It was a bit of fun and apart from a bit which we picked up but never identified falling off it never let us down.It seems that you can now buy them here anyway
[QUOTE=Cannop;3404498]Here's the one I bought and restored when I was a 14 year old in the mid seventies. It was a basket case contained in two tea chests (remember them), the only original parts left at the end were the wheel hubs, frame and crankcases, everything else was either damaged, incorrect or missing and had to be sourced. I had it finished by the time I was 17 and could actually ride it. The bike parked next to it is my BSA C15.
Excellent C!5! I learnt to fall off a bike on one of those, still see the odd BSA B25 'Starfires' about but haven't seen any C15 variants for an age.
Cheers
Joe
That's because they are now an Indian company.Originally Posted by Shakespeare
My dad buys/sells/restores/collects/rides and loves classic British bikes. He has had many Enfields and i believe he still has one in one of the garages somewhere. I remember years ago travelling up to Aberdeen to collect several Enfields that a guy had shipped over from India. My dad explained to me that when they had went out of business in the UK an Indian company bought all the machinery, shipped it over and just started making the bikes exactly the same. SO although the bike in the ad is an Enfield it's sort of not really an Enfield.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Enfield_(India)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Enfield
By George, it's like biking's Panerai
Joe
I took the old man's 500 Bullet out once - shook my fillings out and the brakes were ....not brakes quite frankly - bags of fun though
[QUOTE=Joe.K;3404911]How about this one . I picked it up last year having had a full SRM engine re build , 2 pack enamel frame , new paint job on the tank and stainless nuts everywhere. Im still running it in !
Steve
Super cool ad. Love the bike above. Top marks sir. As for it is really an Enfield? Probably more so than its Bentley namesake.
Golly! Didn't know it was still in production. I suppose the nostalgia factor keeps it going.
Simple to make simple to maintain. The term "brakes" are very optimistic!
Mowflow, I was always told they were licence produced in India during/just before WWII. The army invited tenders & apparently Royal Enfield won. When they closed production in the UK Enfield India continued production after buying the name & the machinery.
These 5 loved 'em and I love the 5
I prefer the look of the C5 classic military in either battle green or desert storm. Matt paint gives it a tool look and as this brand only exists because of the Indian army I think these models are the coolest. The problem for most people will be the fact that they are happiest at around 55-60 mph and start to shake their head and vibrate approaching 70mph.
As far as I know the Indian army is moving away toward more modern motorcycles.
55 - 60 MPH? I was unaware that bullet could hit 70 MPH. 70 X 1.6 = 112 Hmmm.. might be possible, Just
Many years ago I started making plans to fly to Chennai and buy an "Indian", with the intention of riding it home. Never happened though! I would have loved one back then, probably would still love one! Excellent machines if you're handy with a spanner.
Apologies, I meant that the brand is in India because of the Indian army placing the initial order in the 1950's and RE of Redditch shipping them out in kit form. Had they not placed that order then the brand would have died completely.
The 500 EFI UCE engine will do 70mph, it won't thank you for doing it but it will get there, check youtube.
Knowing India of yore someone must have made money. I mean choosing RE over Norton or Triumph does make you wonder
[QUOTE=72bpm;3453746]Knowing India of yore someone must have made money. I mean choosing RE over Norton or Triumph does make you wonder[/QUOTE
I thought it was because the design is simple and easy for maintenance and repair in the field. I wouldn't know about who made money out of it but they are certainly making money now. New models out in the last couple of years with the new engine and more new models in the pipeline.
[QUOTE=millie-mail;3453775]I do seem to remember a an old motoring programme from 1999 - 2000 comparing the Ducati 916/996 and the RE Bullet 350. Ended with saying 20 yrs from now when the Ducati is rusting in a barn the Bullet will still be going strong!
I am from India & a lot of my friends had Bullet 350s I was the odd one out with Indo Jap bike
I'd love one. Maybe not in its cafe racer guise, but in its military livery, quite possibly...
I remember when the army was changing over to more modern motorbikes, you could get one for 5000 to 10000 rupees (50-100 £ in todays money) !
It was the hernia inducing kickstarter mechanism that put me off. India at one point had a 325 cc diesel motorcycle!
http://www.bikes4sale.in/album/78134/8
http://myroyalenfields.blogspot.co.u...-enfields.html
http://www.bsmotoring.com/news/soora...thrills/4664/4
hi, what size is the bike with the L plate on it ?Here's the one I bought and restored when I was a 14 year old in the mid seventies. It was a basket case contained in two tea chests (remember them), the only original parts left at the end were the wheel hubs, frame and crankcases, everything else was either damaged, incorrect or missing and had to be sourced. I had it finished by the time I was 17 and could actually ride it. The bike parked next to it is my BSA C15.
And here's a seventeen year old me.
If the experience of riding the new ones are anything remotely like the originals then buy one.
A pal of mine recently did an organised tour of the Himalayas on a Bullet. There are a lot of firms doing Enfield Motorcycle tours out there now. I have always fancied going on one but the Wife has banned me after she saw a programme about the mad drivers out there and the state of the roads
1964 250cc Royal Enfield Continental GT, reg number CRP831B
That's a lovely C15 Steve, congratulations
Last edited by Thewatchbloke; 14th March 2015 at 23:13.
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