Ducati Monster Forum

Anyone?

they seem nice enough.

I rode one of those when I was back in India.. This was abt 5 years ago..

No ..but they are one seriously cool bike

(http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/models/img/kits/cafe-racer.jpg)

500 cc single with EFI but only 27 hp

seems they could do a lot better

They look very nice but I'm weary of their quality, being mfg'd in India these days and all..

we sell them, seem pretty good so far quality wise, built very tough!!  We have only sold the newest generation UCE motor ones and all is good.  We have sold about a 12 in our first year with them.
The newest ones use Keihin FI, hydraulic valve adjust and nice solid electrical connectors throughout.   

Gentle compression ratio, an under-square motor, probably relatively low-revving.

Bet it'll run forever and a day, though.

  My local BMW dealer sells them, I was impressed when I first saw one in person that they are all steel and not cheap plastic like I was imagining they might be and have a large aftermarket selection here and in the UK.  8)

Seems one could up the compression and increase the valves, anything to get above 40hp.

Metal tanks. no E10 issues !

Hand painting of the Royal Enfield Tank (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsTIMxeO_ng&feature=player_embedded#)
Love this commercial from them

royal enfield commercial 2007 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMJPm9iK7aI&feature=related#)

I looked at one at the local dealer.  Looks like a pretty well built machine that would do what it is intended to do competently.  You want a performance machine look elsewhere.  You want a machine that would be basic transportation and last, it might be this bike.  Reliability is yet to be determined but one way to get reliability is mild tuning.

Of course, this is all just my opinion...

british engineering and reliability are two things that just never seem to look correct together in a sentence.

I would like to have one to put around town now that the Vespa is gone.  Hell, in India there were more Enfield's on the road than people.  They can't be that bad.  [Dolph]

I've had one for about a year and 7800 miles now.  Nice bike, does everything I need it to do.  I've had a few minor problems, nothing I couldn't sort out with some warranty parts from the dealer.  They all seem to have minor issues.  If nothing else, all the nuts and bolts keep coming loose for the first few months :)  There are a few people on the forum who got lemons with lots of big problems but that's definitely a small minority.  There are many people with one or two problems that are usually sorted at the dealer.  The distributor for the US (Classic Motor Works) stands behind the bikes and is willing to both help their dealers and get them in line if you've had a bad experience.

All in all I'd say that they do need a little more TLC than Japanese bikes.  I've found the level of maintenance and problems is about where I was with my '03 800 Monster.  And like a Ducati, there's no other bike out that feels like and RE when you ride it :D

Scott

[laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

Edit: they do look cool

As a painter and tattoo artist I gotta say

WOW  [clap]

That's a hell of a hand right there

heavy, slow, solid machines that do an EXCELLENT job of replicating the riding experience one would get in the 50s. the EFI has eliminated the tinkering that the early US market carb'ed ones had but all in all its not a bike I would really want to do more than parade about on. they look great, have a cool history and all, but when it comes down to it they just dont really perform all that way.

for less cash and less headache I would pickup a TU250 from suzuki and mod the ever loving piss out of it.
(http://www.motorcycle.com/gallery/video.php/d/215106-2/2009_Suzuki_TU250X_FONZ5988.jpg)


if you need more power you can pickup a used bonneville/thruxton/scrambler for under 5k...

True, and that would make a lot more sense.  More work, though.  Reminds me of my first bike, a 1980 KZ250LTD.  It kinda sucked, but I would ride it around grassy fields, gravel roads, and anything else I could find.  Only occasionally do that on the Monster.

I rode an Enfield last year and it was alright.  Keep it under about 5,000 RPMs and 60mph and it's fine!  A friend of mine sells them at his dealership and they're popular with the older riders. 

That was pretty much my experience with a R.E. Keep it in it's comfort zone and its a pleasent ride.

I looked at them at the locat ducati dealer, IMO they look like retooled old castings... the assembly and materials look cheap with a poor finish... I dont ever see myself riding one let alone owning one... I'll save my money for another Ducati

No FHE with Royal Enfield.  But why not consider the original that the R.E. tried to copy - the Triumph Bonneville.  The new Bonneville (2001+) has all the modern bits yet retained much of the styling cue from the good old days.  It's great bike for around town with plenty of pick up.  Does the twisty adequately (for my ability at least).  The late 2000's came with an engine upgrade and 2008/9? came with fuel injection.  IMO, it's the best modern retro bike you can find here (Kawasaki's W800 comes in close second). 

???? The only connection between the two is their British heritage. A little Royal Enfield history may be in order.

royal enfield is the oldest motorcycle brand in the world and the bullet has had the longest production run in the world.

they are about as original as it gets, they had not changed the design of their bikes for ~50 years until they started looking at international export and decided to re-tool with things like disc brakes and EFI.

I always wanted to cafe one of these suckers and see how much performace one could get of it until it blew up.  I also dig the scrambler/trials set up available for them.

I stand corrected.  I am always amazed at the depth of knowledge on this board.   [beer]

Royal Enfield did have a twin cylinder Triumph Bonneville rival though back in the 60's called the Interceptor 750.  This engine was different from other contemporary British twins is that the crankshaft was dynamically balanced from the factory which made these bikes one of the smoothest British twin engines ever.  Also they were 736cc when the Triumph and BSA big twins were 650 cc.  So they were considered big bikes.  

I think the current Royal Enfield of India should expand their range and consider developing a new version of the Interceptor.

1968 Interceptor
(http://www.theworldofmotorcycles.com/vintagebike-images/royal_enfield_interceptor_755_1968.jpeg)

The interceptor, rare and beautiful.  I second the motion to bring it back.

Jay Leno likes modern Royal Enfields.  He was impressed with how smooth it was.

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/at-the-garage/motorcycles/2011-royal-enfield-bullet-g5-deluxe/ (http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/at-the-garage/motorcycles/2011-royal-enfield-bullet-g5-deluxe/)

These Triumph's are a great value.  You can buy them in the $2K-$3K range.  They are smooth reliable and super easy to work on.  My uncle has one as a second bike to a ginormous vtx 1800 and every time he rides the triupmh he comments on how easy it is to ride. 

Wow.  [thumbsup]

There was also the Super Meteor twin, a 692cc if memory serves.  And yes, Royal Enfield is the oldest motorcycle company in the world that's been in continuous production.  It goes back to between 1897 and 1902 depending on which account you read.

Since I think I'm the only actual RE owner who has posted I feel the need to clarify a few things.

No doubt, the older bikes needed a lot of work to keep going.  As did all the bikes from the 50s.  It's just that up until recently RE was still building pretty much the same bike, so where other makes had become far more reliable RE had not.  The new engine is amazing and takes very little regular maintenance BUT the bike is still built in India at a factory that is running as hard as they can to keep up with demand.  A few parts, like the sprag clutch in the starter, still aren't up to snuff and there are occasional reports of failure even on the new bikes.  And to be honest the fit and finish is lower than almost anything else out there.  These bikes are literally hand made, you can tell by looking at the welds which are all hand done.  The workers truly do nudge things into place with hammers on the assembly line.  Most of the problems are ironed out but it seems almost everyone has some minor problem or two in the first 1,000 miles.  There are 2 or 3 total lemons I've seen on the RE board but to be fair, the company is pretty good with warranty.  They even replaced one guy's whole engine.

When comparing to the Bonnie, well, the only thing these bikes have in common is retro English look.  The Bonnie is a thoroughly modern bike dressed up to look like a vintage bike, and it that's what you want you wouldn't like an RE.  The RE is a vintage bike, just with a modern engine.  Most of the other parts on the bike would fit right up to a 1950s model without modification.  The Bonnie has a modern, counter balanced, short stroke twin.  The RE has a long stroke, unbalanced single.  It's got lots of torque for its size at low revs but it's closer to the old engine, just with electronic ignition and EFI.  Oh, and they finally put the brake on the right and the shifter on the left.  The pre UCE bikes had the controls in those locations but they both pushed levers that went to the other side of the engine.  It was really still set up British style with the gears on the right and there was a popular kit to convert back to that.

When comparing to the TU-250, well, no comparison in my mind.  Don't get me wrong, I like the TU-250.  It's a really nice bike but it doesn't have the authentic flare of an RE.  Take a look at both bikes up close.  The lines and the details on the RE are so much prettier.  The TU looks a bit unfinished to me, not smoothed over.  Don't forget, the 50s was the end of the industrial revolution and all the skills metal workers had gained over the last 50 years went into their vehicles.  Swoopy lines and tanks were the order of the day.  Also, the cylinder on the RE is dead vertical and the engine has certain proportions that come from having a chain drive between the engine and tranny, not gears like the TU and most modern bikes.  It's a subtle styling queue but one I noticed.  Maybe it's a little subjective but I think the REs look way better.

As far as rideability, the RE will do 70mph all day long if you really want it to.  It's not very comfortable over 60 because of the wind blast but I've taken it up to 82mph terminal velocity many times.  It doesn't get there in a super hurry but I've never had trouble merging onto the freeway.  Also, about a month after I got the bike I rode from Portland, OR to San Francisco, CA and back.  About 1,600 miles over 4 days.  The only problem I had was a loose speedometer cable.  I haven't ridden the TU but I don't know if it would be able to do all that.

These bikes are small by modern standards and I'd say they're not suited to high speed freeways.  Aside from that, they aren't the fastest bikes out there but they are very capable.  They all have a few quirks to iron out.  Now, are they a bike for everyone?  Not in the US, that's for sure.  They shake, they rattle, they need some TLC.  Like I said, it's not a retro bike, it's an old bike with a new motor.  If you need to go fast, need your engine to purr as smooth as a kitten, or don't like futzing around in the garage on some small things, it ain't for you.  If you have grease in your blood and appreciate old machines but only want to do about 10% of the maintenance that a real old bike requires, it might be for you.  It it is, there's very little it won't be able to do. 

To be fair, the price in the States and Europe is kind of high for what you get mechanically.  You can easily get an SV-650 for the same or less, a far more capable motorcycle in many regards.  You have to want the bike for what it is, not because it looks good on the balance sheet.  The overriding sentiment on the RE board is that it's a bike that puts a grin on your face you just can't wipe off.  I have to agree.

Scott

as a RE Owner, I have to say...my 09 G5 Deluxe is a BLAST to ride !  I am fairly new "solo" rider and this was my first bike so I dont have alot of experience with other bikes... but it will definitely run 70+ all day with enough passing power left if you need it and all this while getting 68 mpg !!  My father in law (Enfield dealer) has put thousands of miles on several Enfields (C5 models) and he has gotten even better MPG on those...

I will say its no speed demon or Hardly Ridden Hog..but it is a inexpensive mode of transportation with style & class.  It may be in the same price range as a asian big brand, but the RE being hand-built has way more soul and so much more special !!

I now have an Enfield & Monster 796 side by side in the garage (with hubbies MG Norge & Ducati Multi in the other bay) and I do feel jealous for not riding my G5 this past week while enjoying my new baby...but I wouldnt want to get rid of it either... there is time enough for more than one motorcycle.... for anyone considering a RE...I say GO FOR IT ! 

 [Dolph]