My Royal Enfields

British iron roulette

2012-02-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

Business Standard Motoring has an article comparing all the Bullets available today. Here is how the article starts:

'Welcome to British Iron Roulette. First, a few facts: 1. Every two minutes there’s a Bullet rider pushing his broken-down bike up a lonely road. 2. There’s usually enough oil on a Bullet’s engine for the USA to consider attacking it. 3. Bullets make their riders go weak in the knees – through endless frustrating kicks. 4. Contact Breaker points break more hearts than points. 5. Finding true happiness with a Bullet is like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. 5. Bullet riders seem to find it. To them, it’s a fairytale that never ends.

The new UCE Bullets have been around for a while now, and are said to change all of this – except that last part, of course. The soul of the old engine without any of its ‘quirks’, it’s said. Change, it seems, is inevitable – even for Royal Enfields. What’s more, they’re even said to be reliable and easy to maintain. Naturally, die-hard Bulleteers are outraged at this sacrilege that makes life easier for them and attracts riders of other ‘lesser’ motorcycles into their fold. I, however, welcome any change that makes REs easy to live with and decided to verify that claim. Why? Because a ’75 350 has owned me since before I was born. Let’s get down to the shooting, shall we?"

Read the rest here.

13.8 seconds

2012-02-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

I subscribe to the two major US motorcycle magazines, Motorcyclist and Cycle World. They are celebrating 100 and 50 years of existence respectively this year. Usually I'm pretty disappointed. Nary a peep about Royal Enfields, just comparos of superbikes followed by flurries of letters to the editor complaining that there is too little/too much coverage of Harley Davidson or Ducati. An exception has been the Motorcyclist section "Me and my bike" which featured a 2002 Bullet owned by a gentleman named Jim Moy, and more recently featured The Badger that David Blasco has covered in his blog.

But in the March 2012 issue Cycle World has to surrender to the might of the Interceptor. In their article 50 years of "Do you have any idea how fast you were going?" they note that the Royal Enfield Interceptor in 1965 was the first bike to break 14 seconds in the quarter mile, a feat that will remain unchallenged by a true production motorcycle till the Kawasaki 500 Mach III in 1969. And its top speed of 120 mph will not be broken until the devilishly complicated Benelli Sei entered the scene in 1974. The article even includes a picture of the Interceptor, albeit in 1969 trim (which is cool since it looked nicer than the 1965 model in my opinion).

If Enfield had taken seriously the production of the Interceptor, instead of putting out just a trickle of them, history would have been very different.

I could not find the article online so I include a scan of a nice table with time to quarter mile in green, top speed in red and speed at quarter mile in blue. Click to enlarge.

Where in Toronto's art district?

2012-02-09T07:00:00.001-06:00

McBride Cycles, of 2923 Dundas Street West in Toronto, sold Royal Enfields from 1949 to 1959. Even when they stopped selling Enfields, they remained an Enfield friendly store, trying to get parts for the bikes and keeping the records of all the Enfields they sold for people who wanted to trace a particular bike. They also donated a collection of 1930's brochures to the UK Royal Enfield Owners club. Due to a family feud, they went bankrupt in 2006. There is a new cycle shop there, across the street from where Mc Bride cycle used to be, which brands itself as offering the art of the motorcycle in the art district. They sell Kymco and Husqvarna.

Kilometro lanzado

2012-02-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

I guess in English it is called "flying kilometer", a sporting event in which vehicles cover one kilometer in one direction and its opposite and times are averaged. On November 26 1916 the Royal Moto Club of Catalonia in Spain organized such an event. Royal Enfield sidecars took first and second place, something that was quickly seized by the local dealer to gain some publicity,

I guess he failed to mention that there were only three competitors in the sidecar competition!

The times for the Royal Enfields were 69kph for Escaler and 60kph for Vallet

The text of the newspaper says "Two Royal Enfield get in line and both get first and second place within their category, giving absolute satisfaction to their brave riders Escaler and Vallet, which made excellent speeds.
Escaler, repeating the ride outside of competition, got even a better time. The day before yesterday, like in other dates worth remembering, the Royal Enfield demonstrated the magnificent conditions they treasure and how justified the preferences of the intelligent public has demonstrated for them."

S.P.E.E.D.

2012-02-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

As printed in The Gun #55,

The C5 military in HD in Quebec TV

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

RIP James Gilbey

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

I am sure many readers of the blog are steam engine aficionados. One of the pioneers of the steam preservation movement, James Gilbey, passed away recently. His remains were transported to the church in a cart pulled by a steam engine and followed by a procession of people. One of them was riding a Royal Enfield.

The Quad at Beaulieu

2012-01-30T07:00:00.001-06:00

I went during the summer to the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu. We discussed the bikes in another post, but I want to concentrate this one on the quad. The museum claims it is a 1900, although I have read that this was the factory prototype and contains pieces from 1898-1902. It was kept at the Redditch factory museum and moved to Beaulieu in 1958. It is the one that was featured in Top Gear. Here I would like to show some peculiar features of the vehicle.

First, dedicated to David Blasco and his eternal quest for mirrors, the vehicle has a mirror! Difficult to say if that was there originally or if it was added later,

Interesting springer mechanism for the back of the seat of the passenger,

Here's a picture of the engine from above,

And here from the front, featuring the AMAL carburetor,

And here is the gas tank from the side, showing the words "Royal Enfield" elegantly handwritten,

I was always intrigued by the round emblem in the middle, and here was my chance to find out, here is a closeup,

It says "De Dion Bouton, Marquee Deposee", which I guess means "De Dion Bouton trademark". Which calls me to wonder: did Royal Enfield just pull a job of badge engineering taking a De Dion Bouton quad and hand painting "Royal Enfield" on it? We already noticed that the trike was very similar to the De Dion Bouton and we knew the engine was made by De Dion Bouton, but how much of this trike was Enfield mad in the end? I guess we will never quite know.

Royal Yacht Squadron

2012-01-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

This picture from 1920 shows in the foreground a Royal Enfield two stroke. In the background is a surrendered German liner. It is just outside the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, Isle of Wight. This is the place today.

Slater

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000-06:00

In the early 1980's the Slater Brothers were selling Royal Enfields in the UK. Apparently now they concentrate on Laverdas. Their premises are in rural Collington, near Bromyard. This is what Google claims their premises look like. I have my doubts...

Elegant Enfield chopper

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

Via BobTheBullet.

Riderscan

2012-01-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

Riderscan is a simple concept, a wide angle mirror for motorcycles, similar to those that have been available for cars for a while. In a motorcycle this becomes even more useful, as it is hard to look over one's shoulder when wearing a helmet. It works as advertised.

The 1911 Royal Enfield

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

From The Motor Cycle discussing the new models to appear at the Olympia show, November 17th 1910.
How fitting that the first Enfields of the new era (motorcycle production was discontinued 1905-1909) have the same color as the latest model: Desert Storm!

And after the show, November 24th, 1910,

The December 1st issue features a cutout of the engine in an article discussing twins in general,

And another article on twins on December 8th,

The Royal Enfield Owner's club

2012-01-18T07:00:00.001-06:00

Royal Enfield was the among the first (if not the first) company to have an exclusively dedicated motorcycle club. It held its first meeting on November 16th 1924. It consisted of a motorcycle run starting at the King's Head Hotel towards the Redditch factory, where they were joined by other riders and went to Stonebridge for lunch. The picture on the left is at the start at the Hotel. The following prizes were presented: best kept sidecar machine, Mr. H. Hughes, Redditch, prize consisting of a gallon of Adcol oil presented by Messrs. A. Duckham and Co.; best kept solo machine Mr. L. Ball, Redditch, prize consisting of a medal presented by Mr. Crowhill; machine with most useful "gadgets" Mr. H. Cadby, Birmingham, prize consisting of a tyre presented by the Palmer Tyre Company.

There was no sign up fee and the annual membership was 5 Shillings. The honorable secretary was Mr. A. W. Riley, of 100 Abbey Road, Warley Woods, Birmingham. Apart from organizing runs, I have not found much other activity by the club. For instance they did not appear to publish a newsletter.

The club dissolved in 1970 when the company closed down in England, for reasons that I was not able to ascertain. After all there were lots of Royal Enfield riders left in the UK. Perhaps riding motorcycles had become more of an activity for the youth, who were less inclined to the organized activities of clubs.

Interestingly sometime in the mid 1970's a Royal Enfield Owners Club sprung up in the US!

The club was restarted in the UK in 1978, and the newsletter, The Gun, has been published ever since.

Arms Hill, Oxford

2012-01-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

I have not been able to find where in Oxford is Arms Hill located. Which suggests to me it probably is no Mt. Everest. But anyway, since as we know nothing was impossible for an Enfield 6hp sidecar rig, the first climb on a sidecar of such hill was carried out by an Enfield. And certified by the secretary of the Oxford motorcycle club. And communicated by telegraph to The Motor Cycle, who dutifully stopped the presses and published the newsflash of such momentous event on March 28th 1912 shown on left. Only to follow it with a photograph of the daredevils in the April 4th issue,

Auto Expo 2012

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

A prestigious moto-blog like this one could not be absent from the Auto Expo in 2012 in Delhi. Except... that well, I couldn't go! So in lieu of live coverage here are some pictures shamelessly stolen from Royal Enfield's Facebook page. We start with an overview of the booth,

In the front of this view there are three bikes. In the left we have a Desert Storm with nice leather saddlebags,

The one in the middle and the one behind inside the Moebius strip is the new Thunderbird 500 UCE

The Thunderbird sports a cool looking black engine and cruiser stance. The last bike is the regular bullet UCE featured in the front of this picture as well. There was a prototype cafe racer model. With its red tank and white lettering, it was reminiscent of the Continental GT5 of the 1960's,

I normally don't care for prototypes since they rarely see the light of day, but this one looks eminently doable. Look at those Ohlins shocks! Compare it to the original:

There apparently was also a big screen,

Royal Enfield has also introduced an apparel line,

boots...

and helmets...

The folks at Royal Enfield USA are probably thinking of all the stuff they are going to sell to me in the next few months! It is great that Royal Enfield is expanding into all these areas. There is a huge potential market.

We close of a picture of "The never ending trip"

Well done Royal Enfield!

Redditch industrial history video

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

This video has a couple of interesting items I had not seen before. First is a photo of the old Royal Enfield factory in Hunt End on Enfield road.

A photo of three riders in the test track in the new factory in Hewell Road,

All in all the video is a quick way to learn of the history of Royal Enfield in Redditch. The same person (Anthony Green) has posted videos on other industries from Redditch: springs, needles, fishhooks, Alcad batteries, the arrival of the railway. Of particular interest is the Alcad video, since the battery factory was set up in the Hunt End old Royal Enfield factory and later expanded to a building in Union Street that also belonged to Royal Enfield. In that video one can see the interior of the plant. Here is the actual telegram indicating the purchase of the factory,

Tardebigge

2012-01-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

Tardebigge is a town three miles to the Northwest of Redditch, famous for the 36 locks that raise the Birmingham to Worcester Canal 220 feet ofver the Lickey Ridge. Two wharves on the canal were used to load and unload goods, one of them still visible in the picture. Also there is Hewell Lane, where three miles down to the right gets renamed Hewell Road and was where the Royal Enfield factory was located. The canal had its heyday in the first half of the 1800's, since in 1859 the railway arrived in Redditch and made the canal uncompetitive. George Townsend set up his needle making mill, which would later become the Enfield Cycle Co in 1851. So it is conceivable that goods for the mill were transported through the canal, although it should be remembered that Townsend's original factory was in Hunt End, not in Hewell Road, which a bit further removed to the South of the canal. Here is a view of the canal in Alcester Road, where it goes subterranean for a while. The wharf is around the bend to the right,

Harleys still expensive when locally produced in India

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

Harley Davison launched two locally produced model at the Auto Expo in India. The cheapest one goes for 900,000 Rupees, almost nine times the cost of a Royal Enfield.

Where in Cardiff?

2012-01-04T07:00:00.001-06:00

The Royal Enfield agent in Cardiff was Robert Bevan, of 31 Castle Street, and was great at solving holiday problems. Today the place corresponds to one of those boarded up shops you see in the picture

Bevan motorcycles was founded in 1897 and was selling Royal Enfields as early as 1911. See this ad from 1912,

Remarkably, they are still in business today, but moved, in 1998, to a new location.

Made like a gun

2012-01-02T07:00:00.005-06:00

This picture is doubly significant. Although quite blurry, it is one of the few pictures of the first Royal Enfield from 1901. It is being ridden by Ernest H. Godbold. He was a French engineer that worked as general manager at Enfield in the very early years. Among other accomplishments, he was the one who coined the motto "Made like a gun".

Here's an example of the motto being used already in 1912 by Farrar's motor exchange, of 19-24 Hopwood Lane, Halifax. I couldn't find Farrar's building, it appears it was demolished to build the A58.

I do not know the rider of this other picture, it might be Godbold as well,

more evidence of early Royal Enfields in India

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000-06:00

This one from The Motor Cycle, June 20th 1912. None of the bikes in the picture look like a Royal Enfield to me, but the article mentions the brand.

The first Royal Enfields in India?

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

We have reported that Royal Enfield placed 1st and 3rd in the first motorcycle race ever in India in 1913. We also reported how Major Smith spoke with eerie prescience in 1932 of how "'Bullets' will be flying peaceably about the countryside, from Calcutta to Bombay and from Himalayas to Cape Comorin".

But here is an earlier sighting: March 16th 1911. It is rather remarkable that the distributor would be in Poona, one would have expected it to be at a major port. Perhaps this wasn't even the main distributor, just the one that bothered to write to the magazine? Even today that 200km stretch of road between Mumbai and Poona is quite a chore to traverse (mostly due to the crazy traffic).

And could that F. B. Stewart be the great photographer that Lord Curzon had film the Delhi Durbar in 1903? Those films are credited with launching the film industry in India. If that were the case he is indirectly responsible for launching two industries!!

Activist to be escorted by Royal Enfields

2011-12-27T07:01:00.001-06:00

Anti corruption activist Anna Hazare will be escorted to his next fast by a fleet of Royal Enfields.

Where in Färila?

2011-12-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

(I decided to turn this into the regular Christmas post for the blog. Even if it repeats year after year, who can tire of seeing this?)

Now you know the truth. That tall tale of reindeer and a sled was just a diversionary PR stunt put out by the Japanese big four. The real Santa rides a Royal Enfield! This picture from 1950 of Santa Claus freezing on top a Royal Enfield was taken at the dealer in Färila, Sweden, Dahlia, AB. Possibly one of the northernmost dealers or Royal Enfield.
Dahlia AB still exists today, and still sells motorcycles!

Enfield turnaround story

2011-12-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

Is told in India Today.

Hitchen's

2011-12-21T07:00:00.002-06:00

No, not the remarkable writer who passed away recently. Hitchen's was a department store in Morecambe, near Lancaster, Lancashire. It sold Royal Enfields, as the an ad from January 4th 1912 in The Motor Cycle attests. However, in spite of its admonition in the ad "you cannot have forgotten the address", it lists none! I did find a Hichen's store in a magnificent art deco building in 160 Marine road in Morecambe. But that store was part of the Hitchens Group PLC, which was founded in 1926, so it was not around in 1912. It moreover appears to have run into financial trouble in 2008 and closed in 2010

They should have listed the address! Click on the ad to read it. It has quite an elaborate prose. Maybe Christopher would have liked it.

Book by Peter Hartley reprinted

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

The book by Peter Hartley is in my opinion the best book out there about Royal Enfield, particularly for the pre-WWII period. It was key in the construction of the museum. This book has been out of print for many years and at times it has been sold in ebay for over 100 Pounds. Now Hitchcocks has reprinted it. I strongly recommend it. Get your copy before it becomes out of print again.

Born in UK, brought up in India, mesmerizing the world.

2011-12-17T07:00:00.001-06:00

Any article starting with those words gets a mention in this blog.

New blog

2011-12-15T07:00:00.005-06:00

A new blog follows the restoration of a 1959 Meteor. Good luck!

Ridermania 2011

2011-12-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

Here are some banners from Ridermania 2011. Does anyone know the meaning of the last one? A triple jump? More pictures here.

Frames of my city

2011-12-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

Frames of my city is a photo contest in India. The first prize is either a Royal Enfield or a MacBook pro.

Saracen's Head

2011-12-09T07:00:00.001-06:00

The years after the war were hard years. There was rationing and all sorts of shortages for ordinary people in the UK. In 1948 things started to look better and the Enfield Cycle Company organized a London outing for its employees in May. On the way back they took an evening meal at the Saracen's Head in Beaconsfield, which seems not to have changed much in the intervening years,

Katy Perry

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I had no idea who Katy Perry or Russell Brand were. But apparently they got married in India and offered their guests rides in Enfields, so they qualify to appear in this blog!

Supercharged diesel Enfield

2011-12-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

Royal Enfields with Hatz diesel engines were sold in the UK by Charnville Classics of Coalville. In Ireland, Derek Rynhart of Rynhart Research and Development decided to supercharge the engine. Gordon May was able to ride one of the supercharged bikes and it efortlessly got to 70mph, some feat for a 350 diesel. Rynhart was determined to set a world speed record for a diesel motorcycle. Alas, the crankshafts could not take the extra horsepower and the project was terminated in 2002.

Where in Brecon?

2011-12-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

This picture from the 1930's is of a motorcycle dealer in Brecon, Wales. I know it sold Royal Enfields since in the 2001 "The Bullet-in" Aubrey Higgins claims he got his first Enfield there. The three machines at the right may be Enfields. With a few hints from Russell Hindle of the Brecon Library I've visited the place with google street view and this appears to be the place. It appears to be a paint shop, but Russell tells me that currently it is vacant.

Royal Enfield pub

2011-12-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

We wrote about the Royal Enfield pub that opened in Unicorn Hill in Redditch in the old Chicago Rock Cafe venue. Here is a picture of its sign,

and an ad they have launched.

Phatphatiyas

2011-11-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

We have written about the chakdas of Gujarat. Apparently the Delhi version were the phatphatiyas. These were distinctive in that passengers would actually sit in two rows of four to six people on each side of the vehicle. Apparently some were Enfield-based but most were based on Indians and Harleys that were left over in World War II. How could the Greaves diesel engine cope with the load is beyond me.

Good idea

2011-11-27T07:00:00.001-06:00

This is a good idea: rent a camping bus that includes a motorcycle for touring around once you reached your destination. Much better if the bike is an Enfield. You'll have to go to Oz to do it, though.

Margarita se llama mi amor

2011-11-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

"Margarita is the name of my love" is the title of a Spanish movie directed by Ramón Fernández in 1961. The title is based on a military song (sung in the video by the guys in the truck). It is the story of a wealthy student of philosophy in Madrid. All her classmates fall in love with her, but she is interested in her literature professor. Apparently love among them triumphs in the end (I was unable to get the movie, only the trailer).

Shell Enfield

2011-11-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

Sheldon "Shell" Thuet was a legendary race tuner. He opened a dealership in Los Angeles in 1949 selling mostly Indians, but with the marque demise switched to Yamaha and Royal Enfield. For a period in the mid-1960s, Schultz was one of the biggest stars of the famous Friday night Ascot Park races. He broke several track records on the somewhat oddball Royal Enfield racer. He was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2001.

Mike Hailwood

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000-06:00

Another Enfield mystery! Mike Hailwood is of course the great motorcycle racer, which some consider to be among the greatest of all time. Most accounts of his life claim he learned to ride on a mini-bike. Was the mini-bike a Royal Enfield? It turns out that in 1932 Major Smith, the head of the company, had a 98cc mini-bike built for his son Barry Smith, the last member of the family to work in Royal Enfield, and who passed a way a few years ago. There even is a picture of it in The Gun, I reproduce it here. An unsigned article in The Gun claims that Major Smith was friends with Stan Hailwood, Mike's father. The latter was born in 1940, so by the time he started riding that Royal Enfield must have been over a decade old. But maybe it was around and young Mike learned the ropes on it?

On the road with the 1911 Enfield

2011-11-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

Ipad users may have to go to the scribd website to see this.
On the Road with the 1911 Royal Enfield

Four reasons why Royal Enfield should make a V-Twin.

2011-11-16T07:00:00.003-06:00

As everyone has heard by now, there are rumors that Royal Enfield will produce a two-cylinder motorcycle. Initial rumors speculated it could be a V-Twin, but more recent ones talk about a parallel twin. Readers of this blog seem to dislike the idea of a Royal Enfield V-Twin, saying that it would be a copy of an American cruiser. Let's have some controversy. I tend to like the idea. Here are my reasons:

#4 V-Twins are as Royal Enfield as apple pie.

(Or whatever the food is that makes the phrase work). Royal Enfield introduced its first motorcycle in 1901. It was a single, and variations of it appeared till 1905. Then the company went into making cars, with rather disastrous results. It reentered the motorcycle market in 1909 with a V-Twin. In fact, the oldest surviving Royal Enfield motorcycle is a V-Twin, I believe from 1910 (picture at left). That 1909 machine, further refined the next year with a gearbox and chain drive, became a workhorse that would eventually increase in displacement till 1140cc and would be in the lineup up until World War II disrupted production in 1939. Those machines were amazing. In the 1910's and 20's the 6hp V-Twin was capable of anything. From carrying machineguns in wars, to stretchers with wounded, to towing cars, camping trailers, etc. It represented the main vehicle of entry for women motorcyclists in 1915 and for policewomen. In its later incarnations in the 1930's it became the top of the line model, with elaborate sidecars for touring. After the war, the company felt that the future laid in parallel twins, and was of course right. The parallel twin then became a triple (although too late for Enfield) and then a four cylinder that the Japanese perfected and that brings us to the top of the line motorcycles of today.

#3 V-Twins thump. Not in the same way than the long stroke engine of the Bullet does. But nevertheless they do. Parallel twins are much smoother. Now, the thump is what attracts many Enfield riders to the Bullet. It is the indication that there is something alive down there when you are going 40mph, doing work for you. In a parallel twin that is lost. If you want smoothness, then don't stop there. Go for an inline four.

#2 Enfield could make a unique V-Twin, unlike any other in the market. Put a refined modern engine in a KX like body, as the one shown in the picture above. Low, long, purposeful. Super-stable. Add rear suspension. Keep the suicide shifter of the 1920's (probably for legal reasons in addition to a regular foot shift). Include fishtail exhausts. Such a bike would be super-cool.

#1 World peace. Can you imagine that universe of US bikers, that currently are vaguely aware that India is different from Indiana, suddenly learning that there is this cool bike made in India that is different but nevertheless has points in common with a Harley and that can be had for about half the price? Suddenly two of the biggest motorcycling communities in the world would connect. From there on anything is possible!

Safety tips

2011-11-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

To ride safely in your Royal Enfield, wear protective gear, maintain safe distance, keep your speed in check and... avoid trucks careening out of control that come flying your way! Apparently the rider suffered a broken leg, but otherwise came out well of this frightful encounter. Hat tip Arbroath.

Where in Lyckeby?

2011-11-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

The Royal Enfield dealer for Sweden is Royal Motor Cycles in the small town of Lyckeby, relatively close to Malmo, South of Stockholm. They operate from the same office as EU Moppen & MC in 2 Kummelvägen.

Visual Gratification

2011-11-10T06:36:00.000-06:00

I have been following the Visual Gratification motorcycle related blog for a while. Since I read it using Google Reader, I had not noticed the masthead of the blog. Quite appropriate!

Laboulaye

2011-11-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

Édouard René Lefèbvre de Laboulaye was a French jurist, poet, author and anti-slavery activist. He provided the inspiration for the design of the Statue of Liberty in New York. His name is honored by the city of Laboulaye in the province of Cordoba, Argentina, pop. 19,000, where Royal Enfield is headquartered for the country. Check out their very cool showroom.

Return to the USA

2011-11-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

The blogosphere is abuzz with the return of Royal Enfield to California. This is an important development as it is the largest US market. It is interesting that this is the second return of Royal Enfield to California. From the years 1955 to 1961 Royal Enfield motorcycles were rebadged "Indian" and sold in the US after the Springfield motorcycle company had closed its factory in the hostile takeover by Brockhouse Ltd. Apparently, during that period, Royal Enfield stopped selling motorcycles in the US with its own name. Eventually the deal with Indian came to an end. Indian had been selling AJS/Matchless motorcycles in the early 1950's as an additional source of revenue for dealers as production in Springfield was wound down. In 1961 they went back to Matchless, although they were still disposing of Enfield machines they had in stock, which created some confusion in the ads.

The Enfields marketed as Indians had fenders, lights and instrument panels made in the US to give them a more "American" look and native-American related names as "Tomahawk", "Chief". Apparently they were trying to disguise their UK origin. By 1960 a lot of British bikes were being sold in the US and Indian did not make attempts to "dress up" the AJS/Matchless machines sold from there on. Enfield decided to start marketing its British bikes with small modifications in the US until the demise of the company in 1970 in the UK. The article on the left is from the November 1959 issue of American Motorcyclist. More on the Enfield Indians here and here.

Where in Singapore?

2011-11-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

The Royal Enfield dealer in Singapore is Universal Motors Pte. in 1008 Bukit Merah Lane 3.

Brooks

2011-11-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

The seats of higher end Royal Enfield bicycles used to be manufactured by J. B. Brooks, a company established in 1866 and still in business today. The seats of the lower priced Royal Enfield models and the budget Coventry Cross line were made by Gough &Co., which do not seem to exist anymore.

Where in Prague?

2011-10-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

The Royal Enfield dealer in the Czech republic is Moto Classic in Rohacova 11.

Royal Enfield Invader

2011-10-28T07:00:00.003-05:00

Please, Venki, please!!!

Nice crusader from India

2011-10-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

Reader Melwin sends us some pictures of a Crusader of the late 1960's

Stolen!

2011-10-26T13:10:00.000-05:00

This gorgeous 1929 model 182 976cc V-Twin was stolen from a field outside Cheddleton, Staffordshire. It is a rare 182 Sports model. The machine suffered a breakdown and the owner went back on foot to Leek to get the part and when he returned the bike was gone. The owner had it for the last 40 years. He is offering a reward.

The beautiful roads of Redditch

2011-10-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

According to The Motor Cycle, February 28th 1911. Picture looks more like a wasteland to me...

Nyes

2011-10-23T07:00:00.001-05:00

You could buy a 1911 Enfield there (in 1911!). Now there is a high end shoe store which was apparently only about to open when the google street view van went by. The portion with the curtain down is 69 Leather Lane.

Enfield workout!

2011-10-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

According to Gul Panag, going for a long ride in an Enfield is equivalent to a good workout. We have are doubts, but then, who are we to question a former Miss India?

Closest thing to the first Royal Enfield still around.

2011-10-21T07:00:00.003-05:00

Just a few days ago, Bonhams auctioned a 1904 AV motor bicycle. AV Motors of Aston Lower Grounds, Witton, Birmingham, was a short lived motorcycle factory. More precisely, they seemed to supply engines to motorize bicycles. The bike in question uses an "Eadie frame". At the time, Albert Eadie was the CEO of Royal Enfield and the frame looks characteristically similar to that of the first Royal Enfield motorcycle of 1901. It sold for 8,625 Pounds.

Daniel Hechter

2011-10-19T07:00:00.009-05:00

Daniel Hechter is a French fashion designer. A C5 with sidecar features prominently in his Fall 2011 campaign. I guess for legal reasons it was rebranded "Roydel"

Hat tip: Royal Enfield Pays Basque Euskal Herria.

If your model C soils your dress with mud...

2011-10-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

Skip is ready to take care of it!

Enfield Erinyes

2011-10-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

We have talked of an Enfield being turned into a God. Now there is another example. (Or perhaps examples?). The Erinyes, or furies, were minor Greek deities. There were three of them, Alecto ("unceasing"), Megaera ("grudging"), and Tisiphone ("avenging murder"). This article draws a parallel between the Greek furies and the three models of the Enfield fury made in India we discussed before.

Painting: W Bouguereau, Orestes and the Furies

Oil change

2011-10-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

My C5 reached the 500 mile mark last year, so I proceeded to change the oil and filter. On the left is a picture of the oil filter enclosure with its cover removed showing the oil filter. Notice how I have improved on perfection by painting the RE letters on the engine in vibrant red color. Getting the oil level right was kind of tricky. I filled it to mid level according to the glass peep-hole, but then started the engine and the oil seemed to disappear! In desperation, I topped it off again, frightful that I would destroy something, only to notice that after things settled, I had overfilled it. I had to drain a little and it now looks right. Fortunately the overfill was not large enough to push oil into the air box, as has been reported in some bulletin boards The whole procedure has its tricky aspects. The filter is pressed by a cover (removed in the photo) with o-rings, that one has to sort of keep in place while assembling the whole things. Take a look at the oil filter below, all those metal filings. That engine seems to have been chewing on itself!

Reprogram your Enfield, now in India!

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

We had written that there was an Italian afermarket electronic control unit to remap the fueling of your UCE Enfield. Now there is one for sale in India.

Tour of Nepal 2011

2011-10-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

Growth in the US!

2011-10-10T10:40:00.000-05:00

50% growth in the middle of the worst recession in the US since the Great Depression! Perhaps Obama should mention Royal Enfield (or more precisely the importer, Classic Motorworks) in his next speech as a story of success...

Unprecedented growth!

2011-10-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

Royal Enfield has sold more than 42,000 bikes at midyear, well on target of 70,000 for the year and an astonishing 40% more than last year, which in turn had been a record year!

Iron Butt

2011-10-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

An Iron Butt is a ride in which 1000 miles are covered in less than 24 hours. Any Iron Butt on a Royal Enfield deserves a mention in this blog. But particularly one done while negotiating sandstorms and temperatures of 47C. This is what Nelson Suresh Kumar faced in the United Arab Emirates on May 28 of last year as he accomplished his goal. As someone pointed out about another Iron Butt on an Enfield "you know, it's not a Honda Goldwing we're talking about here". Congratulations!

Where in Barcelona?

2011-10-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Today, the Royal Enfield distributor in Barcelona, Spain, is Royal Bikes, SL in Ronda General Mitre 245.

In the past, the distributor was Villardell, S.A., at Paseo de Gracia 96. This ad commemorates the great vicotry of Barnola in the King's cup in 1915, covering 96kms in one hour 52 minutes.

Today that address corresponds to a clothing store. The building looks old, so it could have been where Royal Enfields were sold,

And indeed it looks the part, this was then,

London to Exeter

2011-10-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

Ipad viewers may have to go to the scribd website to see this.

London to Exeter in a 1911 Royal Enfield

Where in Edinburgh? Part V

2011-10-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

Visiting Edinburgh this summer, I couldn't resist going to the place where the Royal Enfield factory that made the cradles for the Flying Fleas was. It is on a curvy street named Nottingham Place that changes its name to Greenside Row approximately where the factory was. That wall on the right appears to have been mostly built to contain the land, but if you look at the very end, there is a more robust wall. That is what is left of the factory.

This is the wall I am referring to,

If you look carefully at the left (click to enlarge), you see a bricked-up arch. The only picture of the time of the factory has several arches, so it might be that this was the first one followed by others to the left that don't exist anymore. The arch still has the hinges of what must have been a door.

The place is adjacent to Calton Hill and there is a pedestrian street in the back, I assume that the factory extended up to there. Here is a picture taken from there. Could that have been the back entrance to the factory grounds? The land is incredibly steep, I wonder why they would have chosen to build there and then demolish, or perhaps it was landfilled after demolition. Today it is a jungle. I spent a lot of time looking and didn't see anything (I don't know what I was expecting to see... a half buried Flea?). Many tourists gave me funny looks. Why is this guy staring into a wall? they must have thought.

Cochin China

2011-09-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

Cochin China was the colonial name of modern Vietnam. Of course, Royal Enfield was there.

Where in Dublin?

2011-09-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

Apparently Royal Enfield had a bicycle manufacturing facility in Dublin. Never heard it mentioned before. Where could it be?

The Bikernis

2011-09-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

The Bikernis are the first all female motorcycle club of India. Of course the creator of the club rides a Royal Enfield.

Ferodo

2011-09-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Via TheVeloBanjogent, the sleek Ferodo catalogue of 1938 touting their competitive wins,

Including that of the Kickham memorial trial of C. N. Rogers in Royal Enfield,

And that of L. Holdsworth in the Victory Cup Trial on Royal Enfield,

And again C. N. Rodgers in the West of England Trial,

Apparently the company, founded by Herbert Frood in Chapel en le Frith, southeast of Manchester, still exists today, as part of the Federal Mogul conglomerate.

Nice custom

2011-09-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

The Royal Enfield Dodo, by Akash Das and Dixon Davies.

In The Telegraph

2011-09-20T11:54:00.000-05:00

The Bullet reviewed in The Telegraph today.

Star management team

2011-09-18T07:00:00.003-05:00

Royal Enfield is moving to a flatter management structure with four key people running the company. Venki Padmanabhan (formerly at GM USA where he revamped Cadillac) is the CEO, Shaji Koshy becomes senior VP for markets (used to be senior VP for sales and marketing), Natarajan Krishnan (architect of the UCE) rejoins the company as senior VP for products after a stint at GE. Bala Govindrajan becomes senior VP for industry, returning to Enfield after stints at Suzlon (a wind power comapny)in China and in a JP Morgan led company.

This is a set of high caliber individuals, two of them with experience the US (although given the sorry current state of US manufacturing, I don't know if one should boast about this...).

The company can only go up with such a team at the helm. Albert Eadie and Major Smith are reported to be smiling somewhere.

Nice video

2011-09-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

Via The Quest to own a Royal Enfield

Tyler Bizzell - Royal Enfield Test from Tyler Bizzell on Vimeo.

Wiki Enfield leaks

2011-09-14T07:00:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine in the British Army was able to smuggle, in a Lady Gaga CD, a copy of the "Westwood Trials", the documents detailing the experiment with biological weapons allegedly conducted at the Royal Enfield factory in Westwood. He is now in a maximum security prison in Sandhurst on suicide watch and stripped to his underwear. Since I am not subject to British law, I am out of jail, and will publish the document in this blog in conjunction with the New York Times and The Guardian as soon as I clear up some sexual charges I am facing in Sweden :-).

Actually.... The truth is more prosaic. The documents have long been declassified, so I wrote to the National Archives in the UK for them, and they were kind enough to send me a copy, prior payment of a fee. I was planning to scan them and upload them here, but they want another (more substantial) fee to allow me to do that and they want a "degradation of the image quality", which I am not even sure how to do. Remarkably , they allow to transcribe the documents without paying a fee, but they are lengthy and some parts boring so I will only transcribe small portions below.

Let's recap the story. According to a TV documentary (David Blasco covered the story, see also this link), the UK government spread biological agents in the air conditioning system of the Royal Enfield underground factory in Westwood in an experiment to test how bio agents would contaminate urban environments, particularly air conditioned buildings. The experiments were conducted in secret and no one at the factory knew what was going on. The documentary interviews some ex-workers visibly upset. Also, the underground quarries had vents around town in Westwood and presumably the biological agents could have escaped through there and affected the community. The documentary sounds a very ominous tone, although it does not claim anyone was made sick.

Part of the reason I spent money on these documents was that I was expecting all sorts of juicy details about the underground factory. To my chagrin, there is no mention of the Royal Enfield factory at all in the documents! The trials were conducted in 1952 in the underground quarry that had been used in World War II to stock the art treasures of the British Museum to preserve them from the German bombings. The quarry was by then empty, but was kept air conditioned, no explanation why (readers who enjoy the BBC series "Yes Minister" will recall a special Parliamentary inquiry in which the minister was asked about a similar situation, around minute 9:00 here). The quarry was adjacent to the one occupied by the Royal Enfield factory. Permission was sought from the British Museum to use it, apparently the quarry was still under its jurisdiction.

Here are some quotes from the document: "In 1937, before the work of conversion was undertaken for the British Museum, the quarry chambers were exceedingly wet and the supporting pillars, the roofs, and the floors all dripped copious amounts of water. Extensive air conditioning plant was installed, the floors were levelled and concreted, and the walls and ceilings cleaned and sealed with special compound.

At present the air is drawn not from the surface atmosphere but from the old quarry workings where the temperature is constant at 53F and saturated throughout the year. The air is heated, circulated by pumps through plenum ducts , and for many years not the air in the repository has been maintained constant within one degree of 68F with a relative humidity of 53%. The air in the repository is under positive pressure and circulation occurs by teh air finding its way back to the surface largely through the main entrance tunnel.

On inspection of the repository, it was decided that one area known as the "carpet room" and maked A in Plate 1, being almost self contained, could with minimal structural alteration be converted into a suitable test chamger. The area was isolated by a light partition in which were incorporated an airtight door and a double-ended hatch for the passing in and out of small laboratory apparatus, e.g. impingers, while trials were proceeding."

"In view of the fact that personnel were liable to be exposed to massive dosage of bacterial aerosol twice weekly over a period of several weeks, it was considered necessary to provide the fullest degree of protection. Personnel undressed completely and donned cellular type under-vests and pants, and woollen socks. On top of this was worn a gaberdine overall with double flapped legs and sleeves. Rubber Wellington boots and surgeons rubber gloves were worn. Respirator with bacterial filter complete with hood was used."

"The site of the experiment was sub divided into a clean (laboratory) area and the chamber (dirty) area. Personnel were not allowed to move from clean to dirty areas or vice versa until completion of an experiment without taking proper precautions, e.g. dressing or undressing".

What one concludes from reading the document is that they were extra careful in isolating the area where the tests were conducted. In no way did they just spray the biological agents into the central air conditioning system. One imagines if they were being so careful about an empty quarry, they would have been concerned about causing some problems to the other quarry where the factory operated, especially if they shared the air conditioning system.

Of course, the document does not prove anything. It could be that they were careless and contaminated the factory. It could be that they do not mention the Royal Enfield factory to obscure that possibility. Most people involved by now probably have passed away, so we will never know for sure. I guess this will remain another Enfield mystery!

The King's speech

2011-09-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

Or, more precisely, the King's chat. George VI when he was still the Prince of Wales talking to Major Smith, who ran Royal Enfield for many decades till his decease in the early 1960.

Details of the 1901 Enfield

2011-09-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

These are from an article on a Supplement of Motor Cycling of April 2nd, 1902. The first Enfield motorcycle was introduced in the Stanley Show in 1901. The article goes into detail about the bike. Some of the descriptions are quite convoluted. Here are some excerpts:

"The engine, as will be noticed, is of an extremely robust form, and is provided with ample wearing surfaces. The power at full speed is 1.75hp; the timing gear wheels are enclosed in a special outside case, and both axles have good long bearings, whit phosphor bronze bushes.

The contact breaker plate has a bush fitting over an extension of the aluminum chamber; this bush is of large diameter, and about 0.75 inch wide. There is, therefore, no chance of the plate developing side play through wear, and upsetting the accuracy of the adjustment between cam and spring.

The makers claim that by fitting the motor in front of the head, not on the handle bar, but bolted to the frame it self, they obtain the maximum of air for cooling purposes, which is undoubtedly correct; at the same time the motor is well out of the dirt. The belt drive differs from the majority of machines which wwe have seen being V section, and run crossed instead of open. By means of the long drive, the belt can be run slacker without slipping, and the crossing causes it to encircle the small driving pulley much further.

Large valves are fitted to both exhaust and inlet, the exhaust pipe being especially large and strong, terminating under bottom bracket, where a silencer of ample dimensions is firmly bolted to the bridge of the bicycle frame.

In our illustration of the inlet valve, the arrrangement for testing whether valve is free is clearly shown.

The stalk of the valve extends through the dome, and as the body of the inlet valve is provided with a special casting with two seats, air cannot be drawn in through the top of the dome. This small fitting is very useful, and often saves a great deal of time; the joint is not disturbed, and consequently lasts much longer than it otherwise would do.

The exhaust valve is fitted with a very certain, but simple, lifter, and as the lever operating it is attached on the right handlebar, and the switch on the left, the whole command of the machine is in the rider's hands, without leaving go of the handles.

The carbuertter is quite automatic, and is entirely governed by the adjustable illed top of stalk A, referring to the illustration in section; stalk marked A terminates in needle point with a screw adjustment. This has to be opened from a quarter to half a turn; the petrol flows along the passage marked B and rises to the needle valve, which is under the stalk marked D. The height of the lift of this valve is set when the machine leaves the facotry, and need not be disturbed when running; a supply of more or less petrol will govern the carburation, and when the best position is found, a letter O is marked on the top of A when open, and the letter S when shut, these letters being opposite the needle or indicator between the two milled tops.

The tank to which the carburetter is attached contains one gallon of petrol, and a compartment for induction coil and accumulator.

The frame is specially made throughout, and has been designed purposely for a motor-bicycle. Special thick gauge tubing is used everywhere, and the wheel base has been considerably lengthened. The front forks are of a most substantial pattern, being made in D section, and of great strength. The crown is the same as the one used on the Royal Enfield tricycles for the last 18 months, and which has given entire satisfaction.

The brakes are two in number; both are hand brakes, one acting on the back wheel, and the other on the front. It was deemed advisable to fit two brakes, as running down a steep hill with the valve lifter raised, one brake was not found sufficient to arrest the machine suddenly, but with a gentle application of both, this machine can be stopped in a few yards in case of emergency."

Balanced

2011-09-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

A double sidecar, as recently featured in The New Cafe Racer Society, is a very balanced proposition. This brings to mind an article of "The Motor Cycle" of 1914. The text accompanying the picture shown below says:

"Although not absolutely novel (as we illustrated a double seated machine in The Motor Cycle of 1903), the accompanying photographs of an Italian production, which is at present at the depot of Messrs. Robertsons, 157, Great Portland Street, W., will be of interest. The bodies are made of sheet steel, and present a pleasing appearance. There is no reason whatever why a motor bicycle should not be converted into a twin or double-seated sidecar on the lines of the photograph, except for the one fact that it makes it a four-wheeled vehicle, and therefore subject to motor car taxation. We cannot say that we have had much riding experience with a double seated sidecar, although we illustrated it once as stated. We only drove it for a very short distance, and it is so long ago that we cannot remember any particular vices it had. There is no reason, however, why it should not steer quite safely and well if the passengers' weights are fairly evenly balanced. Naturally, a powerful motor bicycle is necessary to pull a double weight, but there are numeours motor bicycles on the market which are quite capable of pulling the weight of two passengers in addition to the driver. In the present case, the double seated sidecar is shown attached to the Enfield 6. h.p. motor cycle, a machine which is constructed especially for sidecar work." And, as we like to add in this blog, for which nothing seemed impossible at the time!

Today, 157 Great Portland does look the part of a former depot. Can you picture in your imagination the double sidecar being exhibited there?

Cordoba, Argentina

2011-09-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

I was visiting Cordoba, Argentina and noted the local newspaper section devoted to motorcycles. At the end it lists the prices of the new bikes. And there, in full glory, one can find Royal Enfield. Don't know why blogger insists in displaying this picture sideways, no matter what orientation I give the original...

Unusual tow

2011-09-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

Or should we say push? We knew that for the 6hp sidecar combo of the 1920's nothing was impossible, even towing a car. But now the Bullet is giving it a run for its money! Video originally in Streetfire.

Crazy Towing - Royal Enfield Bullet & Maruti 800

The best naked bike

2011-09-03T06:27:00.000-05:00

Visual Gratification speaking some truths here.

Royal Enfield scores first ton lap at Manx Grand Prix!

2011-09-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

No, it is not a historical article. It happened this week! Legendary Enfield rider Steve Linsdell, on a 1970 Seeley Enfield finished fifth in the Manx Grand Prix and scored the first 100 mph+ lap by a British pushrod single in the circuit, according to the official site. Funny, since I had read he had done 100.16 mph already in last year's edition. Maybe they meant the first lap this year? Read about his 9000rpm 50hp fire breathing Bullet here.

1,2,3 in Cape Town

2011-08-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

75cc

2011-08-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

Apparently two prototype 75cc bikes with two stroke engines and 5 speed gearboxes were built by Royal Enfield in the early 1960's but were given the thumbs down by dealers. One of the models had a traditional tank and seats and the other one is the one displayed in the pictures. It was acquired by an enthusiast when the Redditch factor was closed down and was still around in the 1980's.

Where in London? Part IV

2011-08-26T07:00:00.001-05:00

We had conjectured that the building at 5-9 Hatton Wall looked old enough to have been the Royal Enfield London depot and showroom before World War II. Now we can confirm this is the case.

This is a picture from the 1920's and it is clearly the same building.

What is intriguing is that the ground floor was the showroom, where you would go check out bike to buy, and the upper floors were the "depot" where repairs were made. Which begs the question: how did they get the bikes up there to have them repaired?

I want to call your attention to the little entrance on the left, better visible in the modern picture, it opens to an alley that turns into an open street called Hatton Place. That alley led to the back of the building. There they had the most ingenious mechanism, as illustrated in the following series of photos. Essentially a lift mechanism emerged from the building to pick the bike up! I'm dying to get back to London some time in the future and go check out if there is anything left. I could surely mesmerize the current tenants with these pictures!

First step: you arrive with your trusty 6hp sidecar, for which nothing is impossible, needing repairs. You ring a bell (or whistle a tune, clap your hands, who knows?),

Then you notice something protruding from above,

Your bike is picked up,

And you are on your way to get a nice cup of tea while they work on your bike!

The lift was provided by the Marryat-Scott lift company. The company was taken over by the multinational Kone in 1979.

At the Beaulieu Museum

2011-08-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

I visited the UK National Motor Museum also known as Beaulieu since it is located in an estate by that name (the locals strangely pronounce this "Beewooleeoow", not using the French pronounciation). It used to be known as the Montagu museum as it was founded by Edward Douglas Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron of Beaulieu. It is a bit far away, in the outskirts of Southampton. One takes a two hour train ride from London to a little village known as a Lymington. I recall reading one of the legendary Enfield riders of the 1920's (Barrow, Greaves, etc) was from Lymington, but I don't remember which. From there one takes a bus. To my dismay, the bus runs rather infrequently. I got up at 7am in London to make it to Lymington at 9:30 (the museum opens at 10) only to find out the first bus in the morning ran at 10:50! So I had a great English breakfast at a French bistro (go figure!) in the town.

The museum is primarily a car museum, but it also has motorcycles. Let's go over the Enfield collection at it. To begin with there is a 1959 Crusader 250cc. This was the first production Enfield with unit construction engine. This particular one had served as an educational aid to the Police Force Driving School of Durham Constabulary. Notice how the engine has pieces cut out so one can see inside. They also removed the badge from the tank.

Then was the 1945 Ministry of Supply prototype. In 1944 the MOS decided to lay down some basic requirements for a purpose-built solo service motorcycle. Up to then manufacturers just provided slightly modified versions of their civilian machines. Enfield came up with a 350cc vertical twin with innovative features like an oil filled primary and final chain case.

The AMAL monoblock carburetor and the exhaust were on the same (front) side of the cylinder head.

The Enfield did not fare too well in the tests and in the end a Triumph TRW was chosen, but later the whole project was scrapped anyway.

Then came the 1919 experimental four cyclinder 850cc machine. It had hand starter, suicide shifter, horizontally split crankcase and a massive oil sump that did not require a pump. It was deemed too costly to produce,

Here is a view of the right side, showing the massive oil sump and the distributor in the back,

and finally a view of the AMAL carb,

In this picture we see three little decompressing knobs on the cylinders. I wonder what they would use them for?

Bike was road legal till 1921

The last bike is the third best placed ever Royal Enfield in the Isle of Man TT. That was the year Cyril Pullin (no relation) won the race. It was ridden by F. J. Walker, who died tragically upon completion. Apparently he fell close to the end and suffered a concussion but kept on riding. He arrived at the finish line disoriented and didn't realize the race ended and kept on going and crashed on a wall hitting his helmetless head. They removed part of his skull to relieve the pressure but in the end a blod clot took his life.

The bike is a 3hp, 346cc V-Twin with a beautiful Motosacoche engine,

Here is one of the last pictures of F. J. Walker with his bike, just before the race,

The museum also hosts a Royal Enfield quad, but we will devote a special post to it.

Shorai batteries

2011-08-22T07:00:00.001-05:00

My C5 appears to have a finicky starter relay. Anything less than 13V and it will not engage. Since the US version of the C5 does not have a kickstarter, that means I cannot start it. Due to travel and constant rain in Louisiana in the summer, I am not riding nearly as frequently as I want. That means the Enfield sits there for long periods of time and eventually the battery voltage diminishes enough that it won't start. I thought I would solve the problem with a Battery Tender, but bafllingly, it failed to work. My theory is that it stops charging at 13V and that is not enough to engage the starter relay. I confirmed this by charging the battery with a regular battery charger instead of the Battery Tender and had no problem starting.

Then I read about Shorai batteries. These are extreme-rare lithium iron prismatic cell batteries (chemistry LiFePO4). These batteries are incredibly small and light (1.6 pounds) and claim to keep their charge for over a year. They come with a bunch of self adhesive rubber pads so you can fit it snugly in the battery box (in the right in the picture, where I also compare it with the stock Enfield battery). They are not cheap (MSRP $153). But it seems to be working as a charm. It was also nice to see Royal Enfield in the pull down menu of their website as one of the options!

Royal Enfield mystery airplane

2011-08-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

David Blasco alerted me to a "Royal Enfield airplane" being sold in Germany. We were intrigued since, to our knowledge, no airplanes with that name were ever manufactured. So I wrote to the person selling it, and he replied. He is an Enfield enthusiast like we are, but he also has a passion for aviation and he built a plane and named it Royal Enfield. He also rides an iron headed Bullet named "Miss Gandhi". Here is a picture of him moving so fast that light bends around him!

New Royal Enfield site in Spanish

2011-08-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

Sergio Scalerandi, in Rosario, Argentina, has started a Royal Enfield website in Spanish. I think this is very important. A lot of people are left out of the various existing sites by the language barrier. I perused some of the discussion groups of Royal Enfield Spain and indeed there is a need for more information in Spanish.

The site has a "miscellaneous" section that includes some funny phrases. Here is a sampling:
Your new bike will be old in 10 years. Mine will still be a classic.

A classic bike is never sold, you transfer the privilege of ownership to a friend.

You don't stop riding because you get old, you get old because you stop riding.

If a classic bike is slow, it does not matter. On it you have the privilege of not being in a hurry.

Classic bikes will survive time and the advancement of the modern world. Such is the nature of a piece of art.

Good luck with the site!

Machineguns: they finally got it

2011-08-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

We all have seen those pictures of Royal Enfields with a machine gun mounted on the sidecar. But here is the secret story. The ones who started it were the South Africans. Check this picture from Oct 2nd 1914, the motorcycle press baffled as to why the British forces didn't have them,

Then check this picture from December 31st 1914, I guess they got the message fast!

Dentist car!

2011-08-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 22, 1990's coverage of the London to Brighton run.

I guess there is some truth to it...

At the Imperial War Museum

2011-08-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

In my trip to England I visited the Imperial War Museum to see if I could find any Enfield manufactured weapons parts. It was a long shot. The museum is not too big, and I did not know if I would be able to recognize the parts, which might be unmarked. I started looking for an Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun to see if I could see the Enfield gunsight or a Kerrison Predictor. But I couldn't find any.

Then, luck struck. They had a Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft cannon, with the distinctive "oil motors" that Enfield made. I indicate them with arrows in the picture (click to enlarge). At this point you might wonder "how does he really know those were Enfield made?". Well, I was lucky. They were labeled. Here is a side view where one can clearly read "ARL (Army Research Lab) Enfield, Redditch 1940".

I say "oil motor" because that is how I saw them referred to in the booklet Enfield put out after the war. However, it is unclear to me what these devices were. As you can see they were sitting underneath an electric motor, made by H. M. Woods in Colchester. The motor was connected to the "oil motor" via an enclosed chain. Here we see it clearly in this front view,

In this rear view we see that the "oil motor" had an axle protruding to the back that was connected to the cannon's guiding system. My guess is that the device was some sort of clutch.

Here is a picture from the Enfield booklet,

The first Arab

2011-08-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

The first (and at that time the only) Arab man to claim to have gone around the world in a motorcycle, Adnan Tillo, did so on a Royal Enfield.

New Enfield T-Shirts

2011-08-09T17:20:00.000-05:00

Made like a gun, here and here.

Running in your Royal Enfield

2011-08-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

I Lifted this from Lubeboys Pre 45 Royal Enfield resource, hosted in the Barnstormers New Zealand site in order to entice you to visit their site. It has lots of Enfield booklets in these cute electronic versions where one flips pages by clicking in their upper corners (this may not display properly in Ipads). This book was published by Acheson Colloids Ltd.