Royal Enfield dream racer now rusted

A Royal Enfield land-speed record project that had deteriorated to a quaint bit of "lawn art" went up for sale recently. Asking price was $500, but it was the picture that caught my interest.

What was the story behind this collection of Royal Enfield parts, advertised as being from 1947?

The seller, Jeff Aldrich of Boulder Creek, Calif., was kind enough to explain:

"The bike was an old project of mine (10 years ago), going for a vintage 350cc record at Bonneville and El Mirage. Never finished it and it sat around 'til I stole the girder for another project."

He sent a photo of his land speed racer "about as complete as it ever got."

Jeff called his position on the motorcycle his "under the paint riding posture." You can see that he was serious.

Thanks for sharing, Jeff. Better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all.

Classic Motorworks' parts service shines

My Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle is a long way out of warranty. Ten years old, with 40,000 miles, it has earned a few replacement parts. But it lives in the real world, not in a museum, and its owner is lazy — and cheap.

So, if something can be glued back together rather than replaced, that is what is going to happen.

Except, not this time, thanks to Classic Motorworks.

I wrote on this blog about how another plastic turn signal stalk had broken. Nothing lasts forever, and 10 years is apparently the limit for these. I knew I should just buy nicer looking replacements (many owners buy them, first thing, as soon as they pick up their bikes from the dealer). Being stubborn, though, I just kept gluing the old ones back together.

Then a box arrived from Classic Motorworks. "Did you order something?" my wife asked.

"No, but my birthday is coming up," I replied. "I'll bet one of the kids ordered me a T-shirt. Isn't that nice."

"Well, give me the box," Bonnie replied. "I'll wrap it up."

A moment later, from the bedroom, came the words: "Err...this isn't what you think it is."

What the box contained were two brand new turn signals, stalks, lenses and all. There was no invoice in the box.

Typical customer service? More likely, someone at Classic has a sense of humor. But I will say that I've never had a problem with Classic Motorworks. The people at Classic are friendly, do what they say they will do and do it promptly.

Don't take my word for it. Here's what a fellow advertising his Royal Enfield on eBay said recently: "Classic Motorworks just blows me away with their free technical hotline and exceptional parts support. I have not experienced this kind of customer support except for Moto Guzzi. "

Royal Enfield owners are lucky to have Classic Motorworks at our service. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Forgotten road ideal for Royal Enfields

Roads perfect for a Royal Enfield motorcycle are not easy to find here in Florida. Our roads are straight and flat and ruled by big SUVs doing 85 miles per hour.

Thus I have an appetite for "forgotten roads," the rare lost byways that remain as they once were: shady and friendly to vehicles that move at 40 miles per hour.

I was lucky enough to ride just such a stretch of road recently, a bit of Old Dixie Highway locked away from traffic inside the boundaries of a state park north of West Palm Beach.

The Dixie Highway was the idea of Carl Fisher and was charted 1914, not long after he created the famed Lincoln Highway that runs from coast to coast.

The Dixie Highway ran from the frozen upper Midwest south through the old Confederacy to the orange groves of Florida. This was a full decade before there was a national system of numbered highways.

Fisher didn't lay down any pavement. His Dixie Highway Association simply blazed the trail, painting alternating rings of color around occasional telephone poles to guide the Model T's and motorcycle sidecars south.

It wasn't necessarily the shortest way to get there. Communities along the way were encouraged to buy in to the association, thus reaping the benefit of having the tourists routed through their downtown.

Unlike modern highways, the mighty Dixie was not just one route, north to south: it was a loop, with many connectors, from Detroit south and eventually down the east coast of Florida, across Florida to its west coast and then north by a different path to Chicago. This assured the maximum number of paying communities a chance to get a spot on the route.

In Florida, the eastern leg of the Dixie Highway naturally followed the tracks of the Florida East Coast Railway. That's where the towns were and, besides, the railroad had chosen the highest, driest route that required the fewest bridges. The road alongside the tracks was excellent — for its day.

Today, Old Dixie Highway is mostly like other Florida roads: beset with stoplights and big box stores. But a short length is frozen in time (1950, to be exact).

That's because, in World War II, the United States built Camp Murphy astride Dixie Highway. Soldiers there learned to operate radar. The soldiers arrived by rail, as did the Top Secret radar equipment. Presumably, having the tracks (and Dixie Highway) at the center of the camp instead of at its edge aided secrecy. Civilian traffic was detoured around to the new Federal Highway to the east.

Camp Murphy became Florida's Jonathan Dickinson State Park in 1950, with a mission to preserve the almost untouched landscape of Old Florida there. In the process, the state preserved about four miles of Old Dixie Highway within its boundaries.

My friend, screenwriter and wit Douglas Kalajian, has congratulated me on the hypocrisy of writing motorcycle blogs without ever riding my motorcycle. And, it's true, the two-wheeler I rode was a bicycle. No motorized vehicles are allowed on what the park calls its "Paved Bike Path."

But I have an active imagination, and I hope you do too. The old road had a lot to tell. I expected it to be as straight and flat as the tracks alongside it. Instead, the road follows the contours of the old sand dunes beneath its pavement and its curves swing around the pretty ponds that have filled the borrow pits needed to build up the railroad right of way. Vultures stand guard.

The narrow width of the road and the tight radius of its turns would have held motorized traffic here to a casual 35 mph, I am sure. Big trees laden with Spanish moss shade the path. It is an ideal place to ride a Royal Enfield, if only in the imagination.

It ends, as so many things do in Florida, in the artificial terrain of an over landscaped golf course. Sad as that is, it at least guarantees that this stretch of road will remain forever locked in the past.


Here's a map to help you find your way to Florida's Jonathan Dickinson State Park:


View Larger Map

Indian builder plans supercharged Bullet

Taking a supercharged Royal Enfield to the Bonneville Salt Flats is the goal of Kunal Bhaskaran, the author of the Monster Dog blog. He says his inspiration is racer Burt Munro.

Reader Chris Bartlett pointed out a new YouTube video featuring Bhaskaran and the blower Enfield. It's fun to see this modest man with the immodest dream describe what he wants to accomplish in 2011.


Bhaskaran admits on his blog that supercharging a Royal Enfield Bullet is no easy thing. His blower is a Mercedes Benz part! Will it be a powerful advantage or parasitic drag?

He promises to find out.

Royal Enfield perfect for a Tweed Ride

Royal Enfield motorcycles are the perfect mount for a new weekend activity that started in London and is spreading across the United States: the Tweed Ride.

So far, these dress up like your great-grandfather riding events have been for bicyclists. Except for pesky helmet laws, I can't see why the event would not adapt perfectly for vintage style motorcyclists.

Wearing helmets would at least eliminate the search for a cap or bowler. I don't own either, but I do have an old sports coat that might do.

The point is, I do own the perfect motorcycle for it: a Royal Enfield. Ever notice how the old advertisements for Royal Enfield motorcycles always showed people dressed like ladies and gentlemen? No doubt they had servants to remove the oil stains from expensive clothing.

Washington, D.C. conducted its Tweed Ride Nov. 15. Pictures make it clear that participants had a hard time replicating by-gone eras. Not all clothing was appropriate to previous eras, and not everyone had an old bike.

It still looks like they had a lot of fun. While some riders were not picture perfect, they still achieved an effect. Minus the shorts, t-shirts, jeans, flip flops and spandex, they automatically transported their appearance back to at least the 1950s.

One participant told the Washington Post that it was really just about "dressing like an adult" for a change.

Big sprocket equals more speed? Maybe

Want to make your Royal Enfield Bullet go faster? Why not just increase the size of the front sprocket? That means that, without increasing engine rotations per minute, the rear wheel will turn faster. And away we go! Maybe.

"Andy" in Callahan Florida happens to be selling a 2002 Royal Enfield and notes in his ad that it has a 22-tooth front sprocket. That's the biggest they make. I asked him what it's like.

"I find the 22-tooth is better for the top end (but) you have to rev up a little more to start off. I have no power problems 'at all,' possibly since Florida is flat.

"I still have the same problem as before though: it only revs so high with the stock carb so top speed is still limited but about at 77 mph instead of 68ish. I weigh 190 lbs and I usually carry about 5 to 10 pounds in my side bags. As far as shifting down (for hills, in traffic), no! It didn't make that much of a difference. It made a difference but not a considerable amount.

"I actually wish it did take me to the point where third was more cruisable but I still pass it by and ride in fourth going 40ish and it pulls real good and maybe even better than the stock gear when riding with the big dogs; they actually can't pull away from me 'til I top out, then I am toast."

He adds:

"If they made a 25 or 26 tooth I would buy it to try out and cruise third on the steep bridges and hit forth on the down hills and flats to push 85-90."

Like many owners of original Bullets, I have increased the size of my own front sprocket.

My 1999 Bullet 500 came with a 17-tooth front sprocket and 38-tooth rear. Using the Dropbears.com Sprocket Ratio Chart, my original ratio was 2.24. The change to an 18-tooth front sprocket brought the ratio down to 2.11. That's a change of just about 6 per cent. Sounds modest.

My wife added the discarded 17-tooth sprocket to a very nice shadow box she made for me.

On the road, the improvement was phenomenal. There was no noticeable difference in the way the motorcycle accelerated from a standing stop. Presumably, my educated left fist was smart enough to release the clutch just the right amount to compensate.

What was different was that I no longer needed to shift to second half way through the intersection. I could actually hold first long enough to get across, building up some real speed. The time saved by not having to shift gave me a bit of a jump on traffic.

Second lasted longer, too, and third, previously a milquetoast gear, was now a tiger, good for all sorts of situations that previously would have had me lumping along in fourth. The 18-tooth front sprocket was such a good idea, and so popular, that Royal Enfield eventually made it standard on the 500.

The only problem in the old four-speed bike was the huge jump up to fourth, which now felt like overdrive. This is where you confront the fact that you don't really have much power. Fourth was a real show stopper for my unmodified Bullet but — oh well — it was good for cruising.

"Top Speed" on my Enfield is a concept more influenced by wind direction than gearing. But I will say that casual cruising speed seemed to bump up a bit, from 38 mph (indicated) to 41 mph.

Now let's use the Dropbears chart to try out a 22-tooth front sprocket. The ratio is now 1.73! That's a 23 per cent change from my original 17-tooth wheel and fully 18 per cent from even my upgraded 18-tooth sprocket.

It's hard to imagine. But I would love to give it a try.

Royal Enfield poll results: Let's go riding!

Ninety percent of Royal Enfield owners who read this blog have 1,000 miles or more on their motorcycles. That's the conclusion of the poll you readers responded to over the last 30 days.

Yes, I am surprised. So many of the "Royal Enfield For Sale" ads you read on this blog are placed for motorcycles that aren't even broken in yet — although some may be 10 years old.

"Didn't have time to ride it," is the excuse most commonly heard.

I understand. Weather here in Florida allows comfortable riding all year 'round. Yet in the year since I lost my job and stopped commuting, I've put on barely 1,000 miles myself. I mean to ride more. Truthfully, I now DO have time to ride it.

I find excuses not to ride. They're pretty lame. The lawn needs mowing, for instance. Yet the lawn somehow used to get itself mowed when I had a full-time job and a two-hour daily commute. Explain that!

I can't. It's time to get back to the recreation I used to enjoy so much when it was work.

So many of you will soon be cooped up by winter weather. I haven't got the excuse of bad weather. It would be a sin to waste this beautiful Florida winter sitting at the computer, blogging. I'm going riding!

Hopefully, you'll read about it right here at www.RoyalEnfields.com

Royal Enfield rolls into Canada in 2010

Royal Enfield motorcycles are coming to Canada in 2010. Distributor Bullet Motorcycles Ltd. of Edmonton has a web site up at www.enfieldmotorcycles.ca promising motorcycles, accessories and dealers across Canada.

For starters, they're inviting Canadians to come see Royal Enfield motorcycles at their booths at motorcycle shows across the country:

Toronto Dec. 11 to 13, 2009
Calgary Jan. 8 to 10, 2010
Edmonton Jan. 15 to 17, 2010
Vancouver Jan. 21 to 24, 2010
Montreal Feb. 26 to 28, 2010

The web site invites dealer inquires. Anyone with questions is invited to contact Rob McMullen of Bullet Motorcycles at rob@enfieldmotorcycles.ca

Canada has not had authorized imports of Royal Enfield motorcycles since 1995. With a Royal Enfield prosperous and expanding in India and more than ever interested in its export markets, the Canadians can expect full support.

"We have been working with these guys for quite a while and I think they are going to be very good. At long last," U.S. importer distributor Kevin Mahoney commented, on his Classic Motorworks Forum.

Royal Enfield C5 has kick start in India

A Royal Enfield Bullet Classic 500 (usually called the the C5 in the U.S.) shows off its kick start lever in this actual photograph out of India. This is not just artwork from a press kit: it's a photograph from the online journal WheelsUnplugged, "India's Leading Automotive News Source."

Royal Enfield C5s sold so far in the U.S. have had electric start only. The kick start lever is a feature of all other Royal Enfield models, and there was some concern that it was missing from Royal Enfield's top-of-the-line model. "You don't need it," seemed to be the attitude of company engineers, proud that they had created a reliable electric starter.

But, for the Indian home market at least, the kick starter is back. Will it come to the United States?

Royal Enfield C5 gets a kickstart in India

New Royal Enfild Classic motorcycles sold in India will have kickstarters, according to Royal Enfield's press release on the new bikes. The text of the press kit specifies both electric and kick start, and the press kit picture shows a Classic 500 (usually called the C5 in the U.S.) with a kickstart lever.

C5s sold here so far have only the electric start. Many Royal Enfield fans consider having a kick start lever part of the appeal, even if some admit they rarely use it. Owners of original Royal Enfield Bullets use nothing else, of course, since kick starting was all they had.

It takes a bit of technique to do it right, and that is seen as part of the fun (occasionally the frustration) of owning a Royal Enfield motorcycle.

Electric start is standard now on all new Bullets in the United States, but only the C5 drops the kickstart entirely.

Adding kickstart parts to a C5 without one would be no simple matter, since the mechanism is well inside the unit constructed engine and transmission. In contrast, the electric starter parts are easily reached. You can see the thinking of the engineers here: the kick start mechanism in fact is a liability; losing it eliminates one more thing that can go wrong in an expensive way.

Still, there it is, in the press kit picture. I am indebted to my sharp eyed reader Andrew Marsh for spotting this (it also has received attention on the Classic Motorworks Forum). Andrew is the fellow blogging about the decisions he faces in his quest to own a Royal Enfield motorcycle. Check out his Quest for a Royal Enfield blog.

Royal Enfield shows off classy new color

Royal Enfield's recent announcement that it will sell its new Classic motorcycle in India included a look at an interesting new color for the motorcycle. This was pointed out to me by reader Andrew Marsh.

The new color is available in India and only on the 350cc Classic. I've posted a picture here. Is it silver? White? I think I will refer to it as the "Gray Ghost." Or, maybe, "London Fog."

Marsh is interested in buying a new Royal Enfield, and has started an interesting blog about his quest for a Royal Enfield motorcycle. Among other things, he will have to decide what color he wants.

The new color he noticed on the Royal Enfield India web site looks fairly subdued. It is far from the crass silver metal flake on the Honda I once owned. If anything, Gray Ghost looks appropriate for those more conservative days of the early 1950s, when even the picture on your television was black and white.

Since it is only on the home market 350, not the 500 we get here in America, we may not seen it soon. We're familiar with the Classic 500 in red, black and teal. I'm still saying black is my favorite color. What's yours?

Royal Enfield Military honors veterans

Royal Enfield's Military model motorcycle is a big seller in the United States because its olive drab, military-spec appearance hearkens back to World War II. That's my opinion, at least.

While all wars are awful, there remain many positive associations with that time, when the United Nations banded together against true evil, and won.

There is particular pride in the military of those days. This is not to say that Americans aren't proud of all their veterans. The size of the undertaking of 1941-45 and the unity it inspired nonetheless gives that war a special significance.

Is there some special significance to a Brit-style military motorcycle? Yes, I think so.

Britain's lone stand inspired many Americans. In Trinity, Tex., an 8-year-old boy hung a painting over his bed of an RAF pilot in his Spitfire, patrolling the night skies of London.

That boy was Charlie Wilson, who would grow up to be the congressman who tries to chase the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan in the movie Charlie Wilson's War.

A Royal Enfield Military is a more practical substitute for a Spitfire of your own.

Jorge Pullin, who blogs at My Royal Enfields, spotted this newsreel clip of British motorcyclists in action in World War II. They're setting Belgium free, the narrator says. Inspiring, isn't it?

Thanks, Jorge. And best wishes today to U.S. and allied veterans, who made the world free.

Royal Enfield raffle date now Dec. 14

The drawing for a new Royal Enfield Classic 500 motorcycle will be Dec. 14. Chances are $25 (or two for $40). No more than 1,000 tickets will be sold by the Arizona school that benefits from the raffle.

The drawing was originally set for this Thursday, Nov. 12, but more weekends are needed to sell tickets, according to Marc Hayes, admissions director at the not-for-profit Caepe School. The new date will allow the school to offer tickets at a couple of biker events planned in Arizona.

You can still buy tickets online at the school's web site (as long as you're at least 18, a legal resident of the United States and NOT a resident of California). The rules are on line here.

The prize motorcycle is a red Classic 500, U.S. importer Kevin Mahoney told me. Usually referred to as the C5, this is a dramatically new, yet distinctly retro-looking new Royal Enfield motorcycle.

Its appearance is intended to remind you of a 1951 Royal Enfield Bullet, but it comes with electric start, electronic fuel injection, unit-constructed engine and a more modern frame painted in the body color.

It is the most expensive Royal Enfield model, at a suggested retail price of $6,850.

Royal Enfield: California here they come!

Royal Enfield will invade the California market in 2010 with high quality dealerships, I've heard. Royal Enfield will show off its motorcycles at the International Motorcycle Show Dec. 4-6 in Long Beach Calif.

The news is long awaited. Until now, if you wanted a new Royal Enfield in California you needed do some fancy work-arounds on your own and hope the DMV didn't mind. Your nearest dealer would be across the state line.

California's tougher emissions requirements were the problem, requiring an evaporative emissions recovery system. Royal Enfield has now perfected that, and California testing is proceeding.

This means that next year you should be able to buy new Royal Enfields from official California dealers. These could include South Bay Triumph of Lomita (Los Angeles area), Munroe Motors of San Francisco and Triumph Performance Cycle in Sacramento. There would be "more to come," I'm told.

If this is right, these three dealers look like the sort of people who would understand and care about the Royal Enfield customer. Munroe has been in business since 1958. South Bay Triumph says it is the "home of the world's fastest Triumph" and Performance Cycle has been with Triumph since 1997.

Chang Jiang makes Enfield look modern

"Makes the Royal Enfield look like crap." That's the pitch in an ad for a 1968 Chang Jiang motorcycle in Whittier, Calif.

The seller is just having fun with a bit of attitude. That's obvious, since he also refers to how well the Chinese motorcycle rides with his own "fat ass" on it. (Just for reference, he says his own specifications are 6-feet tall, 240 pounds).

His Chang Jiang is interesting, since it appears to be a solo motorcycle; like the Ural and Dnepr, Chang Jiangs are usually seen hooked to a sidecar. Because not everyone is familiar with it, the seller provides a link to a great Chang Jiang web site.

It explains that while the Chang Jiang, Ural, Dnepr and others all descended in some ways from a BMW boxer twin of the 1930s, their histories and thus their parts and workmanship are distinctive. As far as workmanship goes, the Chang Jiang would tend to be far from the BMW original.

Brand new Urals are actively sold in the United States, often alongside Royal Enfields, and have a network of dealers. A vintage Chang Jiang is something else again.

These were built for military service with the People's Liberation Army. This means they are basic, rugged, slow and like lots of maintenance. Draftees are the cheapest labor there is. One feature the military especially liked was the shaft drive.

Although the BMW heritage sounds attractive, it's important to realize that it is long in the past. The BMW original was replaced with a new design for the German Army by 1941!

According to the web site, a 1968 Chang Jiang M1 would be a side valve model, with 22 horsepower and a 6-volt electrical system. The seller says his has less than 500 miles on it and runs perfectly. The asking price is $4,000. He says it has a California title and plate "so all you have to do is take it to the DMV."

Is his motorcycle really a 1968, or just registered that way? It looks too nice to be that old. If it's not, it may have more modern features, but it is still a long trip back in motorcycle design. If you want to dial back your personal time machine, his phone number is 702-578-1945.

Ace handlebars look great on Royal Enfield

The cheapest way to speed up your Royal Enfield motorcycle is to lean forward across the tank. Even my unmodified Bullet goes faster, without opening the throttle a bit.

Of course, that's rather awkward, unless you have cafe-racer style "ace" handlebars. I've often wondered how they look close up. "Roger," who is selling a café style Royal Enfield Bullet in San Diego, has posted a marvelous set of pictures that answer that question.

"I'm 6-foot 4-inches, 185 pounds, and no issues with the size of the Bullet," he wrote me. "I prefer a lighter bike that's easier to handle. I've got long arms, so don't really feel that I'm stretching that much for the ace bars.

"I'm usually taking short trips around town, and not cruising on it, so I prefer the more aggressive position for cornering and lowering wind resistance on flats. I ride a road bicycle a lot for exercise, and so I may prefer that positioning from biking. If I started taking longer trips on it maybe I'd want to go for more comfort.

"Changing the bars wasn't a difficult change at all. I've gone back and forth a few times on that bike. No issues with the decomp lever.

"I'm only selling the Bullet you found on San Diego CraigsList because I found this gem a few months ago in Torrance:

"I've only done a few things to this one, painted the side covers black, changed out the air filter, and swapped out a few lower quality parts. I love this bike. Going to keep it for a long long time. Enfields are such great bikes to own and work on.

"I'll definitely check in on your blog from time to time to read about what others are doing.

"Cheers,

"Roger"

Check out that vented primary drive on Roger's new café racer. Note that it manages to retain the casquette, a distinctive Bullet feature often lost on café racers. This is facilitated by a neat new hole routing for the clutch cable.


Classic Motorworks sells ace style handlebars for $45.99.

Raffle tickets remain for Royal Enfield C5

A raffle for a new Royal Enfield C5 motorcycle is not sold out. One thousand tickets were to be sold in the raffle for the motorcycle, which retails for $6,850.

"We've sold about 450," advised Marc C. Hayes, admissions director at The Caepe School in Anthem, Ariz. Proceeds benefit the private, nonprofit school serving the Anthem area north of Phoenix, Ariz.

The raffle is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 12.

"Many people have suggested that we extend the drawing for another month or so because of some big biker events happening the next month. We'd like to get to at least 800 tickets sold. We're realizing that 1,000 ticket is a lot," Hayes wrote me.

Extending the raffle might "offend some people, but everyone we've asked says 'Whatever raises the most money for the school,'" he wrote."

Tickets are available on line for $25 or two for $40.

Contest rules state that you must be 18 years old to participate and the winner should allow up to six weeks from the date of the drawing for delivery. The raffle is open to legal residents of the U.S., excluding California.

Winners need not be present to win and will be notified by phone, the school says. The winner will have 90 days to claim their prize.

The winner is responsible for any/all income tax liability and, since this is a raffle, your tickets do not count as charitable deductions. Should the raffle have inadequate ticket sales, a 50/50 raffle will be conducted in lieu of prizes, the rules say. Read the rules for yourself on the raffle web site.

I learned of the raffle on the Classic Motorworks Forum. The C5 is the newest Royal Enfield model, just introduced into the U.S. and is the top-of-the-line Royal Enfield.

Chewbacca fits nicely on a Royal Enfield

The Royal Enfield motorcycle is the obvious choice of Wookies everywhere, as these Star Wars creatures are adept at the occasional tinkering they require. Adult Wookies are somewhat large for the bike, but find this an advantage since, should it ever break down, they can carry it home.

You do miss something if you don't look at the comments on blogs and some of you may have missed this image on the post below, contributed by reader Chris Bartlett. I've written about his interest in Stars Wars before. Talented fellow, he has appeared professionally in a costume he made of C-3PO.

Chris has used his PhotoShop talents to imagineer different color schemes for his Royal Enfield Bullet. His latest undertaking is Royal Enfield and Brit-bike T-shirt designs available from his store, Her Majesty's Thunder.

I'm proud to have my Royal Enfield ridden by a Wookie. Thanks, Chris.

What size is right size for a Royal Enfield?

Admit it: You check out your reflection in store windows when you're riding your Royal Enfield. How cool do I look? Motorcyclists choose their jackets and boots as carefully as they choose the color of their motorcycle. Our personal appearance is a big part of the impression we give when we ride. And we're vain; we want it to be a good impression.

A vintage style motorcycle, the Royal Enfield Bullet is the same size today it was in 1949. Unlike a Honda Goldwing or Harley dresser, it can't be expanded to mini van size. People, on the other hand, come in all sizes, and Americans are bigger than most.

Is there such a thing as being too big (or too small) for a Royal Enfield?

It shouldn't be an uncomfortable question. If you like it, you want it, and you can ride it, that's your decision and I applaud it. If you're comfortable on the motorcycle, fine.

But if you're considering what motorcycle to buy, consider Jay Huffman, of Donie, Tex, who has a 2008 Royal Enfield Bullet for sale because "I am too tall for it at 6-foot-4."

Is that really too tall for a Royal Enfield? I wrote him to ask

"I really feel like the 'too tall' part is personal preference," Jay replied. It's not the only reason he is selling. "We are also in a very rural area and the top speed is not really fast enough for highway riding." Well, yes, Texas is a big place to get around at subsonic speeds.

Still, "I really feel large on the bike."

Selling will not leave Huffman without a Royal Enfield.

"I love the classic look of the Enfields, and love the 'big thumper' ride," he wrote. I am also the proud owner of a 1926 Royal Enfield RE351 in very good condition and runs good. I plan to keep it well preserved to pass on to the next generation of classic bike lovers someday."

That's fantastic!

But back to the height issue. Some people who viewed the movie Friday the 13th said star Jared Padalecki was too tall for the Royal Enfield he rode. The photo here is by April and Jason Oldag and was originally posted on the SFUniverse.com blog. I saw it on the Royal Enfield Buzz Blog. Does he look too tall to you?

In the movie, Padalecki plays Clay Miller, a character who goes to the doomed Camp Crystal Lake in search of his sister who has gone missing. According to his biography at imdb.com he is 6-feet 4-inches tall.

Looks OK to me.

Let's use a little computer magic to see what happens when the rider grows. Here is a picture of me in my very stylish yellow jacket (Yellow = International Color for "Chicken.")

Here I am at 5-feet 10-inches; average height for a U.S. male is only half an inch taller.

Here I am at 6-feet 4-inches. Not bad, huh? Hope my wife likes tall men.

This is me at a rather improbable 7 feet tall. No more leaning over the tank.