Vintage motorcycle show in Dania Beach displays bikes from polished perfection to come-as-you-were

Reflection in tank of 1954 BSA Gold Star; this motorcycle took third place in the Miller 500 at Daytona in 1954.

Not a single Royal Enfield motorcycle was on display Saturday at the Dania Beach Vintage Motorcycle Show, and mine wasn't eligible to enter. The show, at Frost Park in Dania Beach, Fla., was for motorcycles more than 35 years old.

My 1999 Royal Enfield Bullet still has a way to go. I hope it's still running at 35. For that matter, I hope I'm still riding it when I'm 84!

There were plenty of other great motorcycles to see. Here are photos of some of my favorites:

1908 Indian board track racer entered by Sherry and Ed Mechan of Sea Ranch Lakes.

 This pristine Indian board track racer got plenty of attention.

1911 Indian Twin entered by Alexander of North Miami Beach.

"What an adorable little toolbox," one woman enthused about the tiny leather box atop the tank on this blindingly bright Indian. I had to agree.

1967 Norton P11 entered by Bill Scherer of Fort Lauderdale.

Just as bright and just as red was this Norton, with lovely pipes curved to run inside your calves. Must be good for keeping warm on a cold day.

Veteran rider aboard veteran Indian motorcycle.

 This weather-beaten Indian parked at the swap meet wowed the crowd when it started on the first kick. "Nothing wrong with that engine," the man declared. "I use that bike every day."

1943 BSA M20 entered by Mark Tortora of Fort Lauderdale.

The prop rod on the side of this BSA M20 exceeds the concept of "kick stand" by a good margin. It must provide tremendous support.

1972 Triumph Tiger TR6R entered by Tim Purvis of West Palm Beach.

To my delight, a good number of motorcycles were deliberately unshiny. Check these dusty dials and wrap-around cables. The fun is in the riding, not the cleaning.

1947 Triumph 3T entered by Roger Rodriguez of Hialeah Gardens.

I even admired the rusty barrel of this Triumph twin. This motorcycle has not hidden from the elements.

1970 Triumph TR6 rat bike entered by Larry Wingett of Sunrise.

You can't top this prize winner, in the "Rat Bike" category, who plopped a (fake plastic) dog plop on the seat as a finishing touch. The kickstand of this motorcycle was secured by a sort of auxiliary spring the manufacturer never dreamed of.

Just part of the crowd visible up one aisle of motorcycles.

The Dania Beach Vintage Motorcycle Show is not a gated affair, so there are no numbers available, but everyone I talked to thought the crowd was bigger than ever at this Fifth-Annual affair.

New CEO wants to restore Royal Enfield to past glories

Dr. Venki Padmanabhan, Royal Enfield CEO.

"Charged with the responsibility of restoring the company to its natural place among the leading luxury classic motorcycle marquees of the world. As customers' dreams are fulfilled with great rides behind them, a threefold increase in top line and bottom line is to be accomplished by 2015."

That's the remarkable goal Royal Enfiel's new chief executive officer sets for himself on his LinkedIn profle. It sounds wonderful for the company and for its customers as well.

Dr. Venki Padmanabhan (the doctorate is a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh), was kind enough to talk with me by phone from the International Motorcycle Show in New York last weekend. He was there along with Royal Enfield USA president Kevin Mahoney to unveil two new models.

But, first, I had to look up "Top Line." What did he mean by that? Everybody knows that a company's Bottom Line is how much profit it has once expenses are deducted. According to one definition I found, Top Line turns out to be: "An allusion to a course of action that increases or reduces revenues... A company that increases its revenues is said to be 'growing its top line.'"

I found this interesting, because so much of Dr. Padmanabhan's resume emphasizes his role in lean production methods in the automotive industry. He has had a remarkable career bringing "lean" to General Motors (including at Buick and Cadillac), Chrysler and Mercedes Benz.

Me: Isn't "lean" just about the bottom line? Many people think it just means cutting costs, saving pennies.

Dr. Padmanabhan: Lean is like a religion, and like a religion, everybody takes away something different. Here is what I think. Lean is all about empowering people at the lowest levels to act as owners. It worked well in the manufacturing plant in Lansing, building Cadillacs. But I came to wonder, does that even apply to other aspects of the business, sales, marketing, design? I'm finding out that, not only does it apply, it is not being applied as we speak.

You take someone talking to a supplier. Why does it have to be beating the other guy into submission to get the absolute lowest price? What a difference it makes when we say, 'OK, you're an owner, I'm an owner; let's get together and work on solving some problems.'

I'm talking to Kevin here, we're here at the show, and he points out that the Royal Enfield is a small bike, it's 500cc, why shouldn't it be the bike of choice for young people who are taking classes to get their motorcycles licenses? You'd just need to make the seats a few inches lower.

So Kevin might raise this point and typically he's going to get a big argument from the guys at the plant and the plant will win. I would say to them, 'Look, you're an owner. Wouldn't you want to sell more motorcycles in the U.S. as training bikes?'

(At GM) we were the first to apply lean in a United Auto Workers plant, and the union guys thought, 'yeah sure, you're going to beat us down with that.' But that's not what it's about at all. It's about empowering people to make a change. That's what I take away from the "religion."

Me: What about the U.S. market? Does Royal Enfield have a chance to become a bigger player?

Dr. Padmanabhan: At the show we're two booths away from Triumph. It is gratifying to see what they have done in the U.S. From 2,000 bikes to 12,000 bikes in 10 years. That is encouraging.

Last year we built 52,000 bikes; 5 percent of them sold outside India. I look at the world and I see that there are whole countries where the Royal Enfield brand is known, and I'm not selling there. It's reasonable to think that in a couple of years we could sell 10 percent of our bikes outside India.

So I say to Kevin, you're selling 400 to 500 bikes a year in the U.S. We should (set a goal) to be selling 700 or 900.

Everything is in place. Talk about romance on a motorcycle! The first 10 minutes of the new Harry Potter movie is the Royal Enfield Classic! I tell people at the show, coming by the booth, especially the ones with kids, this is that bike!

And I don't think we talk enough about this: 80 miles per gallon. Eighty miles per gallon! There's nothing else like that on the market.

(He went on to tell me about plans to introduce a parallel twin Royal Enfield along the lines of the legendary Meteor.)

But we're going to approach this quite humbly. We really need to work on fit and finish, and we are not there yet. I can no longer say, 'well, you can't expect perfection at this price point.' People expect quality at every price.

Me: How do you explain India to Americans you meet? We tend to be surprised by the energy and technology coming out of India, and here is an Indian product.

Dr. Padmanabhan: I'm an American (he is a U.S. citizen) and I can tell you, Americans like two stories. They like the story about "Hey, I'm getting a lot for my money." And the second story is, Americans love an underdog.

But I don't think there's any need to emphasize that this is an Indian product. Triumph is a British bike, but it's made in Thailand. It's completely made in Thailand. The Royal Enfield is an international product with big design influence from Britain.

Royal Enfield is a global brand. It had a global presence before and the challenge is to have it again.

I'm a little riled up just looking at Triumph and wondering, at my production cost point, which is actually below Thailand's, how is he a 12,000-a-year bike guy in the U.S. and I'm a 500-bike guy. We have the right story behind the brand. We just need to bring bikes that are worthy of the brand.

Me: Do you ride?

Dr. Padmanabhan: As you know, I'm a car guy through and through. My wife has threatened to leave me if I ride — in India it is so dangerous. I don't even drive in India, I've been there four years and haven't driven. But I have my motorcycle license in India and I ride a little bit. We have some great motorcycle riders in our company and I am always with motorcyclists, finding out what they want.

Me: What about your family?

Dr. Padmanabhan: My wife is also an automotive engineer. We worked together at GM. She was involved in their electric car program in the U.S. and in India is working on hybrid buses. I have three kids; a 12-year-old and two 10-year-old twins; two boys and a girl, so I am very lucky.

Me: The new Bullet 500 you are introducing reminds me of the motorcycle that was so beloved in India. Did you have to bring it back because people missed it?

Bullet 500 looks like India's beloved 350, but it's thoroughly modern.

Dr. Padmanabhan: That model, the original Bullet was, I think, in production longer than any other model in history. Others have started up again, but this one never stopped. So when the iron barrel went out of production and we changed the engine and made the transmission shift on the other side and all this we were scared. We thought we were going to get spanked by the Indian public. But time passed, and they're OK with it now.

But the reason was that you didn't want to sell it in the U.S. market and other markets and have the buyer say "Oh my God, I bought a relic." So it's more modern but at the same time it has all the old features, the kick start...

Me: There are fewer exhibiters at the Motorcycle Show this year. The U.S. motorcycle market is in a slump.

Dr. Padmanabhan: Sure. It's a discretionary buy. It's a toy. So when times are hard, you don't. But Royal Enfield is maybe in a little better position than other manufacturers. We don't depend on this market to make a profit. It's really the reverse. Right now the waiting period to get a new Royal Enfield in India is nine months! We're addressing that by building a brand new factory, with a Royal Enfield museum.

Me: You never experienced that kind of overwhelming demand at GM, or Chrysler.

Dr. Padmanabhan: It's crazy. My whole life I have worked where supply was twice demand. Now I'm in a place where demand is twice supply. It's a lot more fun. You're adding jobs, creating jobs instead of reducing costs and fighting with the union. No one works just for money. You like to feel in business that you're making a contribution to society. It's much more rewarding.

Me: But there are risks to expanding too. Isn't it a bit frightening?

Dr. Padmanabhan: You know, Siddhartha Lal, the head of the company to which Royal Enfield belongs, is a motorcyclist, a very dedicated motorcyclist. And he formed a partnership with Volvo, not the car maker but the truck company, which is the second biggest maker of trucks in the world, and he has learned so much from them. You know he just passed the $1 billion level in the size of the business.

Here I am, only a $100-million division of this billion-dollar company, but his interest in us is so strong. The big risks that you would think we would be scared of, we're not. Because he's saying "Just do it."

Execution I can do. If the customers didn't want to buy, or there was no financing, then I would worry. But execution I can do.

Royal Enfield is working on parallel twin that will remind you of the Meteor, CEO says

Royal Enfield is working on a parallel twin motorcycle and a multi-fuel adventure touring bike. The new Bullet 500 model will have a new, low price. And a kick start lever is coming for Royal Enfield C5 motorcycles imported to the United States.

Royal Enfield's new CEO, Dr. Venki Padmanabhan made these revelations public at the New York International Motorcycle Show this weekend.

Dr. Padmanabhan unveiled two new models there, the Classic Chrome and the Bullet 500. Both are based on the C5 with its unit-constructed engine, but the Chrome looks like the popular Deluxe model of old and the Bullet 500 looks like a throwback to the beloved 350cc Bullet in production in India for 50 years.

Dr. Padmanabhan was very enthusiastic about Royal Enfield's future and its new, thoroughly modern but retro-looking motorcycle.

"The only piece missing is that it is 500cc and I don't want to be getting on the expressway at 500cc. We are addressing that with a well thought out program. At the India Auto Show we announced the cafe racer, with 600cc, just enough larger. Now you're in the mainstream. We are working on a parallel twin that will bring back the idea of the Meteor and the Interceptor."

A parallel twin rather than a V-twin, I asked?

"If you come to the factory you will see unbelievably heated debate. Right now it's leaning to a parallel twin."

A parallel twin would indeed bring back fond memories of Royal Enfield's powerful and legendary Meteor, Constellation and Interceptor motorcycles.

"People will say this is exactly the Meteor, except it doesn't leak, it doesn't seize — all the old problems of British motorcycles — and you have modern fuel injection and so on," he said.

The cell phone connection was poor, but Royal Enfield USA President Kevin Mahoney managed to tell me Dr. Padmanabhan said Royal Enfield is developing "a multi-fuel (diesel, gasoline, kerosene, etc.) adventure touring bike. The Himalaya touring bike."

Meanwhile, C5s in the U.S., currently available only with electric start, will get the old-fashioned kick start as well. C5s sold in India have had it all along.

"Already (this change has been made). From this year forward," Dr. Padmanabhan said. "Kevin and the other guys said to us, 'Hey, what about us?"' and we said sure, it makes it easier on us: the same bike for everyone.

"The kick start has a simple mechanical charm. It's just like the bike: a simple, simple, simple basic mechanical device. I think it may be the last motorcycle in production that you can kick start," he said.

Mahoney said that the Classic Chrome and Bullet 500 bikes unveiled in New York will be here in late Spring. The cafe racer is due in 2012. The kick start C5s will come when the model year changes.

As for the multi-fuel adventure bike, Mahoney said "Everybody sells a touring bike, but that would be pretty nice to have, one that could run on any kind of fuel."

The new Bullet 500 unveiled in New York will start at $5,495, he said. It will be an entry level bike, available in black only, and there will be limited numbers of them, he added.

Royal Enfield's new CEO unveils two new models at New York International Motorcycle Show

The new Royal Enfield Classic Chrome

Royal Enfield's new CEO unveiled two new Royal Enfield motorcycles today at the International Motorcycle Show in New York City.

The Classic Chrome looks to me like a "Deluxe" model of the C5, with chrome fenders.

New Royal Enfield Bullet 500 likes like the 350 of old.

The Bullet 500 bears a startling resemblance to India's much beloved 350cc Bullet, the model that was in continuous production for 50 years. With its full rear fender and two-up seat, it will bring a tear to the eye of those who mourned the passing of that iconic motorcycle.

The pictures posted on the motor show website both show motorcycles with kick start levers. C5 motorcycles sold in the United States so far have had electric start only. Those sold in India come with both. Will the U.S. market get kick starters, a popular feature? The New York debut is described as a "world unveiling" of these models, so features may differ in our market.

Dr. Venki Padmanabhan, new CEO of Royal Enfield.

Doing the unveiling is Dr. Venki Padmanabhan, Royal Enfield Chief Executive Officer, effective this month. For two years he has been chief operating officer for Royal Enfield. These were two years in which Royal Enfield posted a 21 per cent growth in sales volume.

Dr. Padmanabhan (he has a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh) is a U.S. citizen with extensive experience in the U.S. auto industry. He started his career in 1989 with General Motors at its Warren Technical Center. In 1999 he was at Buick City Assembly Plant in Flint, Mich., where Buick Park Avenues and Pontiac Bonnevilles were assembled.

From 2000-2004 he was a production shift leader in Lansing, Mich. where the Cadillac brand was restored to its former glory with the CTS, SRX and STS.

In 2004 he joined DaimlerChrysler Corp., moving in 2006 to Stuttgart, Germany to serve with the Mercedes division.

A remarkable careeer, but here is the interesting part for Royal Enfield owners and enthusiasts: Dr. Padmanabhan's biography notes that "throughout his automotive career he has experienced the agony and ecstasy of struggling to resuscitate fabled brands at GM, Chrysler and Mercedes."

Royal Enfield must be ecstatic that demand for its motorcycles is so great that production can't keep up. Popularity brings rewards, but there will be risks ahead as well.

Siddhartha Lal, head of Eicher Motors Limited, which includes Royal Enfield, put it this way when he announced the promotion of Dr. Padmanabhan to CEO:

"Venki has been with Royal Enfield for... two years now and brings with him a great experience and ‘can-do’ spirit which will be required to scale up our operations and get us towards our world-class quality and other long-term ambitions."

As CEO, Dr. Padmanabhan replaces R.L. Ravichandran, who moves up a wider role at EML.

What's the best year for a Royal Enfield? Just depends what features you want

What model year is best for Royal Enfield motorcycles? That's the question this reader asked:

Hello David. I love the Enfields. I had a BSA 350 in 1965 and still wish I did. I read your web page and all the info but I thought perhaps you could help direct me. I wish to buy a used Enfield. My question is, with 1999 or later, is there an advantage in any years for reliability, desirability or value? Is there any general rule about desirable years? I am mechanical and that is not an issue. Thank you for any guidance. Sincerely, Terry

Dear Terry, it sounds as though you know more about mechanical matters than I do. You will be fine, as long as you realize that a modern Royal Enfield may well be slower than that BSA of long ago! Britain had brought its motorcycles to a high standard by 1965, but speed is still not the first requirement in India.

It's gas mileage; something we hardly even think about in the U.S. Royal Enfields are motorcycles made for conditions in India, where they cost only a fraction of what they do here, use little gas and where labor (for maintenance) is less expensive.

Model year isn't as important in a made-in-India Royal Enfield as it is in some other motorcycles. Kevin Mahoney, president of Royal Enfield USA, wrote this:

"The boys at the factory cannot understand for the life of them our obsession with model year. You have to remember that for 50 years when a model year changed all they did was change the calender in the parts room."

This is why you can't always tell just by the year of manufacture what a Royal Enfield will be like. Just make sure the bike you buy has the features you want. Here's how things seemed to progress, in the U.S. market (this information doesn't apply outside the U.S.):

For years, the dividing line was "mid-1999." Early '99s had three wires going into the generator; late '99s had four. This was a big improvement in the electrical system and, supposedly, there were unrelated quality improvements made as well. Late '99s were just better. That said, I have an early '99 and it has served me well for 40,000 miles. How to tell them apart? Early '99s have red horn buttons. Late '99s have yellow horn buttons.

Next up: electric starters, around 2002. Prior to the unit-constructed engines of the C5 and G5, which came along in 2009, electric start was something of an afterthought for Royal Enfield and they didn't get it perfect, initially. The problem was that the starter's sprag clutch could not withstand any backlash from the motor, and the old motors reversed themselves more often than anyone appreciated, kicking back on starting and on stopping, too.

Many electric start sprag clutches shattered before a fix was found: a new rectifier. You want a GREEN rectifier, not a black one. Royal Enfield sent enough replacement green ones to the U.S. to replace every one sold, and Royal Enfield USA handed 'em out for free.

Still, many careful Enfield owners press their compression release lever when starting, until the electric motor really gets the engine spinning, past the point where it can kick back. These owners also will only stop the motor with compression release, again avoiding any chance of backlash (without compression, the motor just wheezes to a stop).

Today's Royal Enfield motorcycles, with the new unit constructed engine (UCE) have a different, more reliable electric start system. Even so, they actually have an "automatic decompressor" as a safeguard!

Then came the five-speed transmission, in 2004 (some 2004s have it, some don't). This was a definite improvement. In the U.S., an under-the-tranny shift linkage had been used to move the four-speed gearshift to the DOT required left side. This linkage introduced slop. The five-speed transmission was designed from the start to shift on the left.

Left-shift linkage on a four-speed Royal Enfield (red): levers, cotter pins, washers.

Also, on the road, the four speed had a big gap between third and fourth; you just needed one more gear, and the five-speed supplied it.

That said, I love my four-speed transmission because it has the lovely "neutral finder" that allows you to go from fourth to neutral with one stoke of your heel. The five-speed doesn't have a neutral finder but most people agree that it doesn't need one.

The next watershed was the AVL or "Lean Burn" engine, introduced in the U.S. about 2006. It had an aluminum barrel instead of cast iron — aluminum sheds heat better than iron. You also got a roller bearing bottom end, improved combustion chamber design, high volume oil pumps and electronic ignition. Traditionalists say the iron head is still better, but that's what you expect to hear from traditionalists.

Kevin Mahoney has said that he does not believe parts for the AVL engines will be a problem, even though they were a brief interim step between the iron barrel classic of 50 years and the new unit-constructed motors of today. After all, many, many thousands of the AVL bikes were made and sold in India, so there will be demand for parts for a long time.

And, finally, Terry, here is a link to my blog item on identifying model years.

One last thing: all bets are off if you buy a motorcycle that was a direct, private, gray-market import to the United States. There are differences between the home market models and the official imports and, on top of that, restorers in India are very creative; there is no telling what such a bike might be like internally, for better or worse.

Royal Enfield dealership is far off the beaten path

Royal Enfield motorcycle in Frostproof, Fla.

Possessed of a fancy new phone with the ability to take and email photographs, my friend, screenwriter and wit Douglas Kalajian, decided to tease me.

He transmitted the picture above, of a new Royal Enfield motorcycle, without explanation. My only clue to its location was that I happened to know that Douglas was on a road trip through Florida at the time.

I replied to his message at once, with one word: "Frostproof."

Frostproof, Fla., is the home of one of the most unmistakable Royal Enfield dealers in the U.S., O'Hara Motorsports.

Unmistakable? Well, how many motorcycle dealers can you name that also answer the phone for a dry cleaners?

Their website, OharaRestorations.com explains that the business is owned by Bob and Sandy O'Hara, who moved their car restoration business to "downtown" Frostproof in 2002.

“We have done restorations on hundreds of cars, trucks, tractors and even boats, over the years...We have restored Aston Martins, Maseratis, Rolls Royces, Fords and Chevys, Fiat 500, Isetta, Daimler, Packard, Cadillacs and more,” the website claims.

The parking area in front of O'Hara's is full of intriguing cars of the past including, when I visited, a big Packard and the Metropolitan featured in Doug's photograph.

That Metropolitan was my tip-off. I could only peer into the store windows when I was there: it was the weekend and, contrary to what you might expect, O'Hara's is open only Monday through Friday (weekends by appointment).

The view through the big plate glass windows reminded me more of an antique store than a motorcycle dealership. The past lives on here.

But what's this about dry cleaning?

"We're just a drop-off point for dry cleaning in the area. But we do a variety things. We rent U-Haul trucks. We wear many hats here," office manager Donna Murray told me over the phone

Frostproof is in the middle of the state of Florida, off the beaten track, but close by the old roads that tin-can tourists took on vacation in the 1920s and '30s. They were called "tin-can" tourists because these were the days before motels; tourists didn't just check into a Best Western — they camped with gear unloaded from Fords, and ate out of tin cans.

It's not hard to believe that some of them left their old Packards and Plymouths in Frostproof, waiting for the day someone would want to restore them.

The big new highway bypasses Frostproof. "Downtown" Frostproof is now on what's called "Scenic Highway." Population is only about 3,000.

Surrounding roads meander through orange groves across the Lake Wales ridge.

It is a fine place to ride a Royal Enfield motorcycle.

Royal Enfield in World War II, a proud record

Book details Royal Enfield's contribution to war effort.

Full credit to Jorge Pullin and his blog My Royal Enfields for finding online the lovely book A Proud War Record, the story of Royal Enfield's contribution to the war effort between 1939 and 1945. It's also now available in book form, from Gordon May.

Reading it online, it's interesting to see Royal Enfield's sincere regret that civilian customers were largely shut off from its products during the war years. Its budding lawn mower production facilities were packed up and stored for the duration. Even after hostilities ended, production of military products continued, further delaying availability of consumer goods.

Royal Enfield clearly felt that customers might forget the high quality bicycles and motorcycles it could offer.

Lack of customers obviously deeply threatened a company whose production facilities had vastly expanded from one factory to five. Royal Enfield was geared up, with modern production equipment.

Happy workers are pictured enjoying sports and even artificial tanning lights in their "romantic" underground factory.

They had helped win a war. Now they would have to survive a peacetime economy.

Royal Enfield's determination would help make the next two decades the glory years of the British motorcycle industry.

Tire and tube on my Royal Enfield were far tougher than I thought

Inner tube still holds air.

Classic Royal Enfield motorcycles benefit from a quick walk-around before you ride off. I check the oil, lubricate the clutch cable at the lever and squeeze the tires, feeling for any softness.

Just this once, the other day, I gave the back tire a spin to examine it for nails. Sure enough, to my horror, a quarter-inch of razor sharp wood screw appeared, sticking out of the middle of the tread.

"No riding today," I sighed, and I used a pliers to carefully unscrew the offending object. It just kept on unscrewing; I couldn't believe how much of it was inside the tire, yet no air was gushing out. When it was finally removed it was half an inch long and the tip was needle sharp.

Yet, still, no air came from the tire.

Knowing I shouldn't, I started the bike and went for my ride. And, a few days later, another ride. And another. And another.

Worry finally got the better of me, and I took the wheel to Wes Scott Cycles for a new tire (I needed one anyway) and inner tube. To everyone's surprise, the tube still had no leak at all, although there was a divot where the screw point may have contacted it. Even when deliberately over inflated, it would not leak.

I put the tube away for use as an emergency spare. It's unlikely I ever will need it. But I am delighted to learn that these things are far tougher than I ever imagined.

By the way, I would have liked to have shown a picture of the screw here on this page but, although I set it aside, I can't find it in my garage. It's in there somewhere, maybe on the floor, waiting to get me again!

Electric motorcycles move, but do they move you?

As the owner of an old-fashioned Royal Enfield motorcycle, I somehow don't see the appeal of modern motorcycles powered by electricity.

My brother Phil, a motorcyclist and mechanic, agrees — and he disagrees.

Modern electric motorcycles are mechanical wonders, he says, having read about them in recent editions of motorcycle magazines.

"They're really thin," enthused Phil, who is also really thin. Thinness is good, I suppose, although I never thought of it as a  reason to choose one motorcycle over another.

"The only trouble," Phil said, "is that they don't vibrate, make noise or leak."  I suggested that electric motorcycles might also be very reliable and, thus, slightly boring.

Phil theorized that electric motorcycles separate motorcyclists who really love riding from people who want to make noise and tell amusing stories about breakdowns.

An electric motorcycle removes the distractions of noise, vibration and harshness.

"If you really want the experience of moving on two wheels, what could be better?" Phil asked.

This made sense to me, since I have noticed that partisans of electric motorcycles include many experienced and capable motorcyclists. Perhaps theirs is the more pure experience.

But I'm not buying it. Would climbing Mount Everest be as big a deal if there was an escalator to the top?

"Well, it still has a great view," Phil said.

But, then he noted that "You could helicopter to the top of Mount Everest. You could fly your Alouette SA 315 right to the top. You could rendezvous with the people who walked up. But would you be equal?"

Royal Enfield shed Indian brand name for the 1960s

The story of the Foglio brothers and their Royal Enfield motorcycle dealership of the 1960s inspired me to look up the Royal Enfield distributor they dealt with, Gene Shillingford & Sons.

I learned that Gene and Elmer Shillingford of Philadelphia, Pa. were instrumental in Royal Enfield's "debut" under its own name in 1960. For half a decade Royal Enfield had supplied motorcycles to be sold under the Indian brand in the U.S. Now it would shed its "American identity of feathers and war paint."

American Motorcyclist, November, 1959

American Motorcyclist magazine for November, 1959 carried this full-page ad on page 3, promising the new Interceptor and other models for 1960. Deeper inside the magazine was this press release:

Royal Enfield Returns Under Own Name

Royal Enfield motorcycles return to the United States under their own name, with a new look and many new models. 1960 motorcycles are enroute to this country.

There will be four 700cc models equipped with 52 HP engines. These are claimed to be the most powerful vertical twins in the world today.

Royal Enfield will introduce the ultra-modern "Airflow 700" with full streamlined front fairing, giving excellent protection and comfort to the rider, plus increased gas mileage and speed.

The 500cc "Fury" scrambler incorporates a newly designed large racing head with 1 1/2 inch G-P carburetor and cams that are so versatile that they bring the power range in at 2000 RPM through 6,800 RPM. 250cc scrambles models will be available shortly after the first of the year.

The Enfield Cycle Company, Ltd., of Redditch, England has established Cooper Motors of Los Angeles as their distributor for the West and Midwestern states. Gene Shillingford & Sons of Philadelphia will be covering the Middle and South Atlantic states. The Fenchurch Corp., of New York is now representing the Enfield Company, appointing distributors and dealers in the remaining territories.

Spare parts depots have been established to cover the U.S.A. The locations are Los Angeles, Detroit and Philadelphia.

Frank Cooper and George Caswell of Cooper Motors, Gene and Elmer Shillingford of Philadelphia and J.D. Bolz of the Fenchurch Corp., have just concluded a meeting in Columbus, Ohio, to coordinate their operations for an extensive sales campaign.