Never seen 1 have you????

Sorry about the pic.

 

tons in portland.

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/mcd/4298367937.html

 

Last Sunday in maroon.Cute as a button.

 

Too bad they're serious junk.

 

They are very, VERY slow.

Let's go for a ride

 

A shop in town used to sell those. Don't know if they ever sold any. The shop owner is the only one I ever saw riding one. They sold some Korean-made 250, also. The place is out of business, now.

 

We have a dealer for those not too far form where I live.

I wouldn't have one as my primary bike, but one with a sidecar might be fun around town and as a grocery getter.

 

I was talking with this older gent (maybe 70 yrs old) about the bike. He swore it was from the 60's I told him I didn't think so... That's why I asked.

 

Royal Enfield is the oldest motorcycle brand in the world. The Bullet is a bike they have produced essentially unchanged from the early 50's to just a couple of years ago. The change they made was going from separate engine and transmission to unit construction engine with fuel injection. Also, the redesigned engine has the shifter on the left, like the rest of the world's bikes. Overall, though, the bike still looks the same and still is a 500CC thumper.

 

Given that the shifter looks to be on the left, this is a newer unit construction bike.

The overall look is from 1949, though.

 

The factory was bought a few years ago and the new owner put a bunch of money into a new engine, and updating the manufacturing facility. I looked at a RE in the late 90's and had a look at a new one a few months ago. They are built to a much higher standard now, and are still hand painted. I think RE has managed to develop a nice blend of craftsmanship and modern quality control.

http://royalenfield.com

http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com

And if you want something bigger than 500cc...

http://www.musketvtwin.com

http://thekneeslider.com/norcroft-royal-enfield-v-twin-project-lives-again/

The stock RE Bullet may not work as daily transportation in the U.S., but I think buying one as a tinkerer's bike has a lot of appeal (and the bonus of being able to source brand new parts easily).

 

In another contry which ecsapes me they are super popular.

Not Thailand but i think its...... India i believe.

There's also a RE 500 diesel thumper. I think they are cool but the power output is extremely low. They have torque like a truck though so naturally they are generally loaded up.

 

Was. RE dropped the diesel a long while ago.

 

One of my friends rode one the length of India last year, he enjoyed the bike but did say they're fairly slow

 

The factory has been in India since the 50's. The Indian army contracted for Enfield bikes and Enfield built them a factory. Then, the original Brit Enfield bellied up and they have been an Indian bike ever since.