Anybody know anyting about Royal Enfields???

[DesmoDisciple]

Wife is from India, so I have come across them quite a bit while in India.

As others have said, they are complete POS. No doubt. But if you just want it for cruising around town, they definitely look and sound cool.

I would get the 'old' style 500cc bike they stopped making in 2007. The new motors are aluminum as opposed to iron, and don't have that same 'thump' as the old ones.

They do have a cafe racer kit for the older bikes:

[squidwood]

Enfields.......ahhhhhhhh Had one long ago.
It all started when my neighbour who had a Harley 45 chopper told me about a friend of his called Dave,Dave had several bikes and always bought and sold them .Anyway, i 17 years old and lived in London UK and had just passed my bike test.I was in the market for something a bit bigger.I went over to see Dave and for 400 pounds I pushed home a non running1956 Model G deluxe Clipper 350. After a quick oil change, ,some fresh gas, a new plug and a quick clean up of the points, carb adjustment (Literally this took less than an hour) the bike started 2nd kick.It eran like shit for a bit.I told the neighbour it was running sort of, and he came by and showed me how to adjust the air/idle mixture and that sorted it.The thing had a mag/dynamo on it, so it really did not require the 6 volt battery to be charged, but it did have to be fitted to complete the electrical circuit if you wanted the lights on.I did buy a new battery.
This bike was the bike was the bike to have.............It was basically a new bike for 1955/6 but the new alloy Bullet engines were not yet ready.So what the factory did was fit some old model G engines in the new frames and did their testing. The engine /frame number on my bike was one of the test mules that got sold off after testing and went to a guy in north Wales.They then marketed the rest of the remaining model g engines in the new frames and had the 1955/6  model line expanded.
Long story short , the bike never leaked a drop of oil,Always started first kick(after you learn how) I got about 200 miles on 3.5 gallons of gas, it had a single seat on it (Brooks Saddle) and a passenger pad for those women brave enough to get on.It would do 68 mph on the straight, 68 mph down hill, 68 mph up hill. The bike was bulletproof, and was in very good shape.100% original. After riding it as a daily driver for about 3 years I restored it, and then moved to the USA,It sat for 20+ years until I gave it to a friend who I grew up with.He in turn gave it to his father that had one back in the 1950's as a retirement gift. The bike is now in Scotland.
During my time in the british navy, I went to Madras India, and went to the factory.I was doing the restoration at the time and needed a few bits, so this was a stroke of luck that I was there. I had tea and cake with the general manager and then he asked me what parts I needed.I gave him a list of stuff and about 30 minutes later a very old man, came out of the storerooms.I prefer to think of this as an aladdins cave of new old stock.I could not believe it,I got a brand new old stock(NOS) set of shocks, nos tank knee pads, nos bakelite headlight switch, nos Amal remote float carb rebuild kit, nos clutch cover and gasket and some other bits I cannot remember.It was a great day and a wonderful experience.
I loved that old bike and I had a ton of fun on it.
As far as Enfields go, they were a pretty good bike, but a little quirky. The 350 bullets did really well in the ISDT races with people like sammy miller riding etc. The ton up boys in London used the 250's as they were little screamers back in the day, the meteor and constellations were great work horses, quite capable of hauling a sidecar, but as stated before the cream of the crop was the late model Interceptor Mk 2.In my mind that 736 motor was way ahead of its day and the barrels were seperate from each other.So if you had say a broken ring or a siezure , you can remove one head and one cylinder unlike any other twin at the time which would be a complete top end removal.
The Interceptor MK 2 was fast, powerful (for the time) and a bloody good looking bike. Without doubt one of the worst looking bikes was made after the demise of Enfield by the Rickman Brothers, The Rickman Interceptor.They are now rare , but they were fast and handled, they even had brakes that worked.
In the 1980's the Healey Bothers made 12 bikes using the interceptor engine .I know that one of these was involved in a fire during transport to California and it was a total loss. They have an estimated value of about $40,000 each.This particular one was in top notch condition and ran well.IT was a shame.There are 11 left, I dont know how many of them are still together.
The current models being offered by the India Enfield company are basically an updated version of the late 1950's 350/500 bullets. They are ok , but I would not own one. The modern electrical systems and stuff look out of place on a bike that designed many years ago.
The reason that Enfield had a factory in India was that the Indian army bought a ton of them on a military contract and it was easier for Enfield to set up a new factory complete with tooling in India than build the bikes and export them. After Enfield collapsed in 1970 the factory just kept on going with a new owner.
This company made some great bikes over their history , and some of my favorites are the model J2 and the big 1140 v twin. Great bikes, great to ride, easy to work on and if you restore them right, , they are trouble free.They hadd (or may still do) a very active owners club in the UK with a monthly magazine called The Gun that i Used to get.Parts are readily available for the old bikes and fairly cheap, they are simple to work on ,and that makes them attractive to people who want a hobby bike to restore.
I do know a little about Enfields...........

[MendoDave]

I like this one.