I'll take a pair of Continentals. Who want's that V-twin crap that Ducati sells (sport classics) when you can get a genuine "thumper" with so much history behind it.
Enfield Bullet Addendum
There's alittle more to it. Look at the RoyalEnfield website. They raised the compression ratio and more. I looked at one of these and they really cleaned the motor up. The older versions had nasty motor castings. It prob would make a good cruise night and around town bike. It does cause alot of conversation.
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Sadly, those of us in California are denied the unmistakable joys of Enfield ownership... whatever they may be. No Cali dealers. Probably doesn't meet CARB emissions regs.
The Classic in British Racing Green would be my choice. Imagine a motorcycle that has the name "Classic", and it actually is. The cafe kit looks pretty cool also.
The Continental Kit is totally cool!!! If I weighed seven stone less, one would grace mt garage tomorrow. I do not think I have seen a ride that oozes tradition more than the Continental.
Well, maybe triple the horsepower and it could move me along.
Tillman
Well, maybe triple the horsepower and it could move me along.
Tillman
I've got a nice SR500 that would make a great big brother to this thing. The Continental Cafe version would be a proud addition to my garage. Of course, I could make my SR look just like it but spending a bit of cash at the Thumper Stuff website.
If you really do want to ride one of these things and don't wimp out and get the electric leg, pay very close attention to that starting drill. It works but it takes practice. Write it down and follow it religiously until it's burned into your brain.
And DO go ride one of these things. You'll soon realize that there IS a replacement for displacement. Then go join the FSSNOC and get their "SSBB, TWMMTG" tee shirt. It has to do with sucking and squeezing.
If you really do want to ride one of these things and don't wimp out and get the electric leg, pay very close attention to that starting drill. It works but it takes practice. Write it down and follow it religiously until it's burned into your brain.
And DO go ride one of these things. You'll soon realize that there IS a replacement for displacement. Then go join the FSSNOC and get their "SSBB, TWMMTG" tee shirt. It has to do with sucking and squeezing.
"Is $4,995 a good price for a motorcycle with less performance than a 250 Vespa?"
Well considering a modern 250 Vespa costs upwards of $6000, yes I'd say so. The motorcycle is still a more versatile mode of transportation than a scooter.
Well considering a modern 250 Vespa costs upwards of $6000, yes I'd say so. The motorcycle is still a more versatile mode of transportation than a scooter.
This is the Ducati 999 of India. The people who own them are at once envied and considered foolish as a bike with so much power and poor gas mileage has too much money for their own good.
Holy crap, these guys are in the same area code as me. And less than an hour away. I might have to check them out...
Very diggable for nostalgia -- especially the GT500, Continental and classic, but besides the Vespa people mention, you can grab a Virago 250 for half the price and plenty of looks.
I'd have to go for the military model. $4995 for a bike with matching luggage and a crash bar.
But then again, a British bike magazine summed up the royal enfield military with the statement, "Why we lost the empire."
But then again, a British bike magazine summed up the royal enfield military with the statement, "Why we lost the empire."
LOL! Too bad... the military model looks like fun bike.
That's right. I tried to get the Kalifornia distributorship way back in '91. Turns out the ARB & CARB (+ EPA) procedures require deep pockets, a lot deeper than I've got...and some rather...err..strange California-only tests.
Like running the bike for 24hrs on a dyno (!?!)
Or locking the bike in a closet sized tin shed with hydrocarbon sensors for 3 days, to see how many HC's leak out.
Then there's the high pressure fire hose test. And the electrical system reliability test. Followed by a test against another test.
The Endfield wouldn't make it, I'm afraid.
Like running the bike for 24hrs on a dyno (!?!)
Or locking the bike in a closet sized tin shed with hydrocarbon sensors for 3 days, to see how many HC's leak out.
Then there's the high pressure fire hose test. And the electrical system reliability test. Followed by a test against another test.
The Endfield wouldn't make it, I'm afraid.
I keep hearing how India and China are the future, yet the future has been Enfields and Honda Dream knockoffs for thirty years now.
Check out the 60kph website for fascinating motorcycle stories from Injah.
the current enfield is not an authentic brit bike simply because its not the bike that enfield was making, say 25 years ago.
The engine is still a thumper but its got a new block that looks, runs and sounds quite different from the original. better, yes, but now the classic vintageness of the expereince has been replaced by what is little more than a weakly engineered nickel-dime motor from a company in a third world country without any appreciable access to R&D resources. I say this as a proud citizen of India.
lets see. a not-original engine, not original gearbox, a not original front fender (the original used to be an enveloping design with space on the side to paint the license number on), fuel tank thats not the same as the original (its smaller, doesn't go as far forward as it used it, and looks redesigned for easier manufacture), plus all the switchgear is pseudo modern, instead of the 1940s style switchgear that looked like it would survive a bomb.
we used to have a bullet built in India in the 1970s and I am telling you, the current bike is a fraud disguised like that one.
you see, in India, the bike doesn't sell on its vintage appeal. there, the tiddler Hondas and Yamahas that entered the market in the late 80s were giving the Bullet a royal thrashing and since then the company has been desperately trying to "modernize" the Bullet in order to do away with everything about it that was truly vintage, so that it could compete with the 100cc to 175cc bikes that have flooded the Indian market.
they've succeeded. All the young fellows with the need for a "big" bike lean towards the bullet rather than a weedy 125cc modern machine.
BUT IT IS NO LONGER the original bullet. it may do a good enough impersonation to please westerners used to GSXRs and they find it close enough to the real thing, but its NOT the real thing. its an impersonation of the real thing.
the look, engine sounds, exhaust note, smells, details, everything is INAUTHENTIC.
worse, the bullet now has the "long" silencer that makes it sound like a scooter. The original engine with its "short" silencer had a exquisitely delicious exhaust note, similar to the bassy explosive decompression you might hear on a harley, but with the rhythmic beat of a single, not the uneven gurgling of a harley.
If you buy a new enfield, the very least you owe yourself is to replace its DOT compliant exhaust system with something that will recreate the original sound. though I don't know if the new engine can sound like the sweet ****ty old one.
The engine is still a thumper but its got a new block that looks, runs and sounds quite different from the original. better, yes, but now the classic vintageness of the expereince has been replaced by what is little more than a weakly engineered nickel-dime motor from a company in a third world country without any appreciable access to R&D resources. I say this as a proud citizen of India.
lets see. a not-original engine, not original gearbox, a not original front fender (the original used to be an enveloping design with space on the side to paint the license number on), fuel tank thats not the same as the original (its smaller, doesn't go as far forward as it used it, and looks redesigned for easier manufacture), plus all the switchgear is pseudo modern, instead of the 1940s style switchgear that looked like it would survive a bomb.
we used to have a bullet built in India in the 1970s and I am telling you, the current bike is a fraud disguised like that one.
you see, in India, the bike doesn't sell on its vintage appeal. there, the tiddler Hondas and Yamahas that entered the market in the late 80s were giving the Bullet a royal thrashing and since then the company has been desperately trying to "modernize" the Bullet in order to do away with everything about it that was truly vintage, so that it could compete with the 100cc to 175cc bikes that have flooded the Indian market.
they've succeeded. All the young fellows with the need for a "big" bike lean towards the bullet rather than a weedy 125cc modern machine.
BUT IT IS NO LONGER the original bullet. it may do a good enough impersonation to please westerners used to GSXRs and they find it close enough to the real thing, but its NOT the real thing. its an impersonation of the real thing.
the look, engine sounds, exhaust note, smells, details, everything is INAUTHENTIC.
worse, the bullet now has the "long" silencer that makes it sound like a scooter. The original engine with its "short" silencer had a exquisitely delicious exhaust note, similar to the bassy explosive decompression you might hear on a harley, but with the rhythmic beat of a single, not the uneven gurgling of a harley.
If you buy a new enfield, the very least you owe yourself is to replace its DOT compliant exhaust system with something that will recreate the original sound. though I don't know if the new engine can sound like the sweet ****ty old one.
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
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