Royal Enfield

[Rufus T. Firefly]

......aren’t conducive to women’s stature.

Sounds like genuine marketing department gibberish.

[mickeydee]

I have owned four Royal Enfields.

The 700cc Super Meteor which was, for its time, almost a 'superbike', fast, powerful, excellent handling and fairly reliable as long as you kept a sharp eye on the various fasteners especially the clutch side chaincase which was inadequately held in place by some rather puny screws.

The 250cc crusader which was a lovely little machine, perfectly adequate but nothing to get excited about.

The 350 which I never really got fond of because it was more like an underpowered 500 than a hopped up 250. Those three were all built in England and the quality of the build was superb. I can't praise the Super Meteor enough. Royal Enfields motto 'built like a gun' was appropriate, they used what was then considered advanced metallurgy, stellite tipped valves, nodular cast iron crankshaft and the latter was dynamically balanced. The 700 would show a clean pair of heels to most of the British opposition and had the stamina that, for example, Triumphs notably lacked.

My last was an Enfield of India 500 and frankly much though I loved it, I spent most weekends in the garage trying to get it to stay in tune and behave itself, it had quirks galore. When running properly it was very enjoyable to ride gently on quiet country lanes but the moment you forgot yourself and tried to push it to perform it invariably broke down. The gearbox seemed to have been filled with grease but after cleaning it and refilling it with heavy lube it leaked like hell and the action was still heavy so in the end I went back to using grease as the factory recommended.

All of its various problems were down to slapdash assembly, sloppy clearances and that vibration which the original had never had so badly as this. The solution would have been to blueprint it and use replacement parts from old English spares sources but frankly it wasn't worth the trouble. Pity because at heart it was still a lovable machine with good handling and no nasty surprises in store for the unwary - unlike Triumphs which can turn on you when you least expect it, why everybody loves these bikes I will never understand, the originals that is, not the new ones. I had several and every one of them was unpredictable in some manner and all of them had horrible high frequency vibrations.

The new Indian Enfields are, I believe, look alikes that have had their engines redesigned by Rotax and are all the better for it. My riding days are over, quit while you're ahead say I, at 68 I'm not the man I was and to ride thinking I could still deal with the unexpected as I used to would be an invitation to get badly injured or killed.

[sarge]

Is that you, Mike? If so, hooray!!

You ask why one liked the Strumpet. I had a 650 and desperately loved it, though most certainly it had me to be one with the Unisyn (the only thing I have left from that exercise, I'm afraid; I just found it in an old toolbox that also had a few dash-plaques from the 70s). Admittedly it was not a forgiving machine; mine would extract payment for my stupidity with no mercy nor any time off for good behaviour; I received more than one bitch-slap at her hand.

I also admit unrolling a gas-cape and tool bundle at the side of the road from time to time, for this was not a ride-and-forget machine by any means. Funny though, it always seemed to be on sunny pleasant days. Cold wet days, it never failed me; perhaps it wanted to get home and under cover just as fast as I did.

The answer then is, "I haven't a clue why I could possibly love that thing." but I did.

However strict she might have been, she was certainly unimpeachably fair and held everyone who approached to the same standards. Suitably compensated though, she sure showed you a good time.

[mickeydee]

Yeah its me mate. I dunno why I couldn't log in under my original handle but as I'm no longer riding its no longer appropriate.

[sarge]

Way-hey! I'm glad it's all sorted.

Welcome back!

[healey36]

Dropped this onto my Christmas wish-list (ain't happening, according to the ball-and-chain):

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/long-awaited-2016-triumph-bonneville-is-here-new-bikes-2016-motorcyclist-magazine-first-look

Oh, to be young and stupid again...

Healey

[rogruth]

I think I must envy you guys that had/have the sports, antique, and autos of all types and MOTORCYCLES.

I always looked at these things but never felt that strong desire to have one. Always wondered what if something
was wrong with me. Now nobody needs to tell me.

I do remember the bicycle I rode for eight years, a 1945 Schwinn with fat tires. I added a three speed rear hub,
front wheel brake that was like a car brake with shoes that pressed against the inside of the drum, rear view
mirror and a 6" sealed beam headlight that worked from a 6 volt lantern battery and tail light from a generator.

Unlike my trains that my grandmother gave away I was able to sell my bike for more than I paid for it.
Now my legs won't let me peddle.

[robert.]

Roger, if it has boobs or wheels It's only going to give you grief and cost lots of money.

healey, i don't think the young can afford to be stupid these days. It's hard to make bad choices when you don't have the money. there is no such thing as a cheap used motorcycle. basically there is no entry level priced bike. An 18-25 year old person can't buy a ride for 3 weeks of salary.

[v8vega]

I'm old enough to be in the time when 650 Triumps were THE motorcycle. They were considered a big motorcycle capable of a across the United States trip. And they were the king of all kinds of motorcycle racing, Desert, TT road racing, they werent used in flattrack or I don't think so that was all Harleys, Motocross was in europe and didn't exist here at all, TT was our closest to motorcross and consisted of a graded track kind of like a curvy dirt road and always has a jump in it.
650 Triumps were the king of the desert and I started racing just as Bultaco's, Montessa's, and shortly after they were imported Huskavarnas's.and CZ's. just started the eventual transistion from Triumps and a few other big English bikes to the light weight motocross two cycles. English Greeves were around before but were kind of slow and tempermental but did win the 250 class.
Royal Enfields were a highly revered but kind of rare bike, reviered because they were 750's.

[Nev]

This is a photo of my father when he was still in England before he emigrated to Australia.
The photo is dated 1918 and the "motorbike" says "New Hudson"?
The women on the bike is his first wife not my mother.
Nev.

[healey36]

Apparently New Hudson was a turn-of-the-century motorcycle manufacturer from Birmingham of some reputation, eventually acquired/amalgamated by BSA. Wonderful photograph! Love her chaps/spats...

Healey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hudson_Motorcycles

[mickeydee]

New Hudson were still around in the 50's though it may have changed hands of course. I had a 98cc New Hudson autocycle which was a real belter, surprisingly quick for its antiquated appearance which was like a heavily braced oversized 'sit up and beg' bicycle frame with a 98cc Villiers where the bottom bracket should be though it still had pedals they were for starting, you could never have pedalled the thing more than a hundred yards at most.

New Hudson labelled bicycles were still being made though.

[Nev]

Yes, she is well protected against the English weather.
Dunno about the old man, found this photo many years ago after he and mum had passed away.
It's the only photo I have of when he was younger.
Nev.

[rogruth]

I just this evening showed these photos and one that Rufus posted of some old motorcycles.
He is a big Harley fan [has had several] and knew what they all were. Even knew about
those weird headlights on the ones shown by Rufus. He, my son, spent most of his life
in the Poughkeepsie, NY area and loved it but said he had had enough of the cold, snow
and ice and moved just down the street from me after he retired. The main reason, he says,
is he can ride his bike almost all year.

[robert.]

nev's father is ridding an early 20's 2 stroke.