Wednesday, July 14, 2010

That old motorcycle buried in the garage
may be a very rare Royal Enfield Fury

They're super rare. Perhaps fewer than 200 Royal Enfield Fury motorcycles were made in England from 1959-'61. And yet, almost simultaneously, I was contacted by three people who have one or, at least, have motorcycles with the Big Head motor shared by the Fury. I wrote about CF and the lovely red Fury he's selling.

Here's the second story, and it's even more stirring. It's every motorcycle enthusiast's dream to be offered an old and incredibly desirable motorcycle that has been sitting, forgotten, in some shed. This story begins with an email from Jennifer, in Lynden, Wash.

"Hi David, I thought you could help. I just purchased/inherited a 1961 Royal Enfield. They told me it was a 500cc engine. I am having trouble figuring out the model because they haven't come across the papers yet (it was a death in the family and we are still going through everything. He has had the bike since the early '60's...). Do you know the possible model? I will be heading over this weekend to get the bike and could send pics."

Here's her next email, and picture that came with it:

"So I got in there to take a pic. A very poor one. The next few days I will be getting it into my garage and taking it home but I'm so anxious to see if you knew what model this was. Charlie, who owned it, said he was positive it was a '61. He bought it new or a year old. That's what his wife said. And Charlie told me a few years ago that it was an English bike and not Indian because I had questions about it back in the day. The bike is originally from Northern California, so they tell me."

I shared the picture with Jorge Pullin, who writes the My Royal Enfields blog.

"The picture isn't terribly clear, but it looks like a Big Head Bullet to which someone affixed a heat baffle using the banjo bolts of the top head lubrication system," Jorge commented. He graciously sent some pictures of the Fury from Gordon May's book.

Then came another email from Jennifer.

"I went and picked up the bike last night and moved it to my garage. I have attached a few pics. Thanks for your help with this!"

Here are her pictures:

Well, readers, what do the experts among you say? What has Jennifer got here? Is it a Fury?

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