Royal Enfield Bullet goes to war in graphic novel

A Bullet takes enemy fire in a scene from Royal Enfield's graphic novel.

Royal Enfield's history as a military motorcycle is a proud one. It is also true that the only reason Royal Enfields are built today (in India) is that the military there wanted them. We civilian fans of the brand all over the world can thank them for that.

The Royal Enfield is a war horse.

So it is appropriate — but a bit unsettling — that Royal Enfield's official website is featuring a "graphic novel" (a comic book) glorifying military courage under fire.

Unsettling is that we see a young boy's head turned by a grandfather's war story. The boy yearns to become a soldier himself and.... well, we will have to wait until the next installment to find out what happens.

I'm a huge fan of comic books and, as a boy, devoured the stories of Sgt. Rock and Easy Company ("nothing's ever easy, in Easy"). So this Royal Enfield war comic is a guilty pleasure for me.

I don't wish combat on anybody, but I can't wait to see the next chapter. That assumes there really will be a next chapter. Despite the "Watch This Space For More" teaser this could be a one-off.

1968 Interceptor chopper was best of the best

This 1968 Royal Enfield Interceptor chopper takes you back

The Royal Enfield Interceptor motor powering a grizzled hard-tail chopper also propels a lot of memories for the owner. The motorcycle is for sale now on CraigsList in New York State.

"I love it and am saddened to put her up for sale. I always said I never would. But my body is starting to get a little too old to ride a hard tail anymore. And she deserves to be ridden by someone who will appreciate her as much as I have," the seller wrote.

His ad reads:

"1968 Royal Enfield 750 Interceptor, Old School Cool, hard tail springer chopper. Runs and rides like an old British chopper should. Better than all the Triumphs I've had over the years, and I loved my old Triumph's, but not like this one.

"To me, This ol' girl just outshined 'em all. With her unique looks. She turns heads everywhere she goes."

Asking price is $3,900.

I don't personally have enough arm hair to ride a motorcycle that looks like this. But if I did I would leave it just as  it is. It is the most perfect reminder I've seen of how long it has been since I was 18.

Was 1968 really so long ago?

250cc Chinese hard tail chopper worth a closer look

What's this 250cc motorcycle from China doing at a polo meet?

The valets at the polo grounds in Wellington, Fla. were going to have to deal with two Bentley convertibles — both white — observed my friend, author Douglas Kalajian, as he waited to park his Acura at a recent match.

Would they park the Bentleys side by side?

Bentleys by the bucket load were no surprise at polo in Palm Beach County. What I did not expect to see, tucked away near the clubhouse, was a 250cc Chinese motorcycle built to resemble an American hard tail chopper.

Among the Google ads you'll see on this blog from time to time is an ad for just such a motorcycle from Scooter Depot, a California importer.

Catalog picture of the 250cc chopper from Scooter Depot.

Their bare bones chopper, with apehanger handlebars and a just-introduced springer front end, was offered on the Internet recently for $2,559, plus $69 for a six-month warranty, plus $299 for shipping. Roughly $3,000.

It might be fun, but the stark, over-long frame and exaggerated handlebars are unattractive. I can't get over how long the drive chain looks! There is no vintage reference to the motorcycles of yore, either: Scooter Depot is careful to hide any sign of a brand name in its catalog pictures. You've doubtless never heard of the Chinese builder anyway.

The Scooter Depot ad indicates that I can specify my first choice and second choice for a color (black and matte black are the only two offered) but presumably I will have to take what comes in the box.

Despite the obvious resemblance, the motorcycle I saw at polo was not one of those; not exactly. The motorcycle I saw was labelled "thaHeist 250," by Cleveland Cycle Werks. The spelling of "tha" and "Werks" tell you this is a motorcycle from the age of rap, not rock.

The motorcycle I spotted was thaHeist 250 from Cleveland Cycle Werks.

Despite a likely common origin, Cleveland Cycle Werks claims bespoke touches to its motorcycle that the Scooter Depot machine may lack. According to its website:

"We do not completely assemble our bikes in the USA. We leverage Chinese cost advantage to complete our bikes and keep them extremely affordable. We do however support over 50 families in the USA with jobs. Our products are the result of passion put forth by many people in Cleveland. The motorcycle business is not easy and we would not be doing this if we were not passionate about it. Many late nights and 20 hour workdays were spent to complete the Heist. Designed, prototyped and engineered in Cleveland Ohio."

Elsewhere on the site, Cycle Werks founder Scott Colosimo dismisses concerns that his 250cc motorcycle might be unsatisfying.

"I get guys telling me all the time that they are too much a man to ride a 250cc bike. Really? They tell me that I have no idea what it is like to ride a 1000cc bike. Well, before CCW, I was pursuing a lovely track day and race addiction piloting my Ducati 749s Monoposto past many GSXR 1000 and 750s. For the street, I go straight for the smaller bikes every time. A liter bike gets me into too much trouble on the street."

ThaHeist I spotted looked left out in the weather.

The Heist I spotted was obviously not new and perhaps not well cared for, as spots of corrosion peeked through on the bright work. Photos on the Cleveland Cycle Werks website show the no doubt improved 2013 model. MSRP is given as $3,295.

2013 thaHeist in Cleveland Cycle Werks catalog photo.

Indian Patrol Car gave meter maid a risky ride

This Indian Patrol Car has an unusual throne like passenger seat.

Equipped with a side seat for a meter maid, a Royal Enfield powered Indian Patrol Car for sale on eBay in Orlando, Fla. is the first of its kind I've seen.

This three-wheeled motorcycle is a survivor from 1959, when Royal Enfield and other British motorcycles were marketed in North America under the Indian brand.

A meter maid could easily chalk tires from here.

Indian had built a "Patrol Car" for police and service station use. When Indian went out of business as a manufacturer its dealers were supplied with a Patrol Car built by Pashley, in England, with the 350cc single-cylinder Royal Enfield motor.

Catalog picture showed the conventional cargo box.

What makes this Orlando Patrol Car so unusual to my eyes is the curious side seat cut into the cargo box at the rear. Other Patrol Cars I've seen in photos don't have the seat.

The seat would be ideal for a riding meter maid who could chalk the tires of cars along the street and return later to write tickets for overtime parking. It would be ideal, too, for collecting coins from parking meters along the street.

Power came from a 350cc Royal Enfield single-cylinder motor.

That said, it doesn't look like a very safe place to sit! I see no sign of even a seat belt.

The seller says this three-wheeler has the three-speeds-and-reverse version of the Albion gearbox, with hand shift, that is typically fitted to these machines.

Hand shift gave three speeds and reverse.

Finding a fix for broken Royal Enfield turn signal stalks

Oh no! This time both rear turn signal stalks broke, leaving the lights dangling.

Broken turn signal stalks are as certain as oil spots on the garage floor for older Royal Enfield Bullets. I've whined here before about how the plastic stalks seem to crumble, leaving the lights dangling by their wires.

My 1999 Bullet was fine when I left for the British Car Show in Boca Raton, Fla. Feb. 10 but when I got to a parking place at the show both of my rear turn signals had snapped. Of course, people passing by on their way to the show asked about my Enfield.

It was embarrassing.

"Did you hit a bump?" one fellow asked.

"The motorcycle is made of metal," I replied, "but the DOT safety equipment is plastic."

The obvious solution is to buy better after market turn signals. But I am stubborn. And cheap. And, besides, I now have a box full of perfectly fine turn signals and their bulbs, all with snapped stalks.

I've accumulated a box full of turn signals, each with a broken stalk.

The temptation was to find a way to attach the plastic heads of the turn signals directly to the tail light housing, without the weak stalks.

It appeared that all I would have to do would be to trim off what remained of the broken stalks and drill two holes on each side of the tail light housing to accept the screws that formerly attached the stalks to the heads of the turn signals. These would now hold the turn signals directly to the housing, without the stalks.

With age the stalks become so delicate they literally crumble.

It was almost that easy.

I did anticipate that I should buy longer screws (1.5-inch long No. 8 machine screws were perfect) to give the screws a bit more purchase on the plastic heads of the turn signals.

The head of the turn signal, with the stalk trimmed off.

I also realized that the base of the plastic heads were not contoured to fit flush with the gently curving metal of the tail light housing. This meant that a bit of the screws would be seen between the housing and the turn signals. I slipped black rubber faucet washers onto the shiny screws to provide a bit of camouflage.

Surprise! Turn signals are not interchangeable.
Choose left and right signals so drain hole is at bottom.

I failed to appreciate that eliminating the stalks would bring the turn signals into close proximity with the flat back plate of the tail light housing. I could just barely wiggle the lenses off the turn signals to attach the wires. You wouldn't want to have to remove the tail light housing and take off the turn signals just to change a bulb.

So I used a hack saw to remove the plastic tab from one side of each lens. This gives me a little more wiggle room to get the lenses off with everything else buttoned up and in place. The screw at the back of each turn signal still holds the lens on tight.

I cut the tab off  each lens to ease removal in tight space.

Surprising, even to me, is that I failed to realize that with the turn signals now tucked in tighter to the tail light housing, the flat back plate would obscure part of the signals. Luckily that plate is cut down at the top, leaving most of the lights visible.

Tucked-in turn signals peek around tail light back plate.

The result is not too bad looking, I think. It remains to be seen if it is strong enough. And this fix doesn't answer what I will do when the front turn signal stalks (inevitably) crumble.

Effect on the road is little changed, I think.

Royal Enfield shared sacrifices of World War I

A sentry going up to his post at the battle of the Somme, July, 1916. © IWM (Q 729)

Two hundred former Royal Enfield employees died in World War I, Jorge Pullin reports on his My Royal  Enfields blog. "The horrific carnage of World War I is difficult to comprehend with our modern eyes," he writes.

Jorge's item is complete with a clipping recording the Peace Day 1919 decorations at a Royal Enfield office  in London.

Jorge has mined many such World War I era clippings from contemporary publications to illustrate the part Royal Enfield motorcycles played in the war. You can learn a lot about Royal Enfield's role during World War I and in the years leading up to 1930 in the Royal Enfield Early Years Virtual Museum on Jorge's blog. Just click on the year that interests you.

Surprising, to me, is that several of Jorge's items indicate that Royal Enfields remained available for sale to the general public early in the war.

In 1916 there was still speculation that motorcycles with sidecar mounted machine guns would soon be racing around battlefields, as Jorge illustrates with this June, 1916 clipping.

July 1, 1916 would put an end to that notion, with the massive British attack on the Somme that immediately bogged down in trench warfare. British General Douglas Haig had not expected a breakthrough, but had kept his cavalry handy in case one came. He was ridiculed for thinking mounted lancers still had a role to play.

Romantic thoughts of shooting machine guns from speeding motorcycles were set aside for the moment. They would reemerge for World War II.

Haig called the Somme "The Opening of the Wearing Out Battle." The war would be one of attrition, demanding all the soldiers and material Britain and its allies could muster. It would not end until Germany ran out of soldiers and materials to resist.

Motorcycle production for civilian use was one small casualty. Enfield plants soon filled only military contracts, for munitions if not motorcycles.

In later years, Haig and the other generals were condemned for wasting the lives of a generation in trench warfare. Historian William Philpott disputes the justice of that in his recent book "Three Armies on the Somme." It's a big book: 640 pages. But Philpott's basic argument seems to be that the empires of the day had no other way to fight World War I.

He points out that, at the time of the battle, Haig's tactics were openly criticized, but his strategy — bloody war to the death — seems to have been accepted by public, politicians and soldiers alike. Only later, when the sense spread that World War I had failed to put an end to war, was its human cost judged a bad investment.

The memorial to the missing of the Somme, at Thiepval, France bears more than 70,000 names (the exact number changes as bodies continue to be found and identified). The memorial is to the dead of Britain and South Africa alone — and only to those (a minority) who have no known grave.

For us, it seems an unimaginable horror. And yet, as Philpott writes, "Those who fought the battle of the Somme judged it a success..."

Royal Enfield Meteor Minor restoration presses on

The Meteor Man feels his Royal Enfield should look like this.
It doesn't.

Ah, the woes of a young father trying to restore a 1959 Royal Enfield Meteor while minding baby and stealing time to consider his next step in the restoration.

Meteor Man Thomas Russell is a young man in the UK gifted by his wife with a needy Royal Enfield Meteor in 2011, just before she gifted him with a bouncing baby "meteorite."

Now a second meteorite is on the way, but Thomas is busy contemplating front mudguard valences when he should be shopping for a two-seater baby buggy.

He writes about his dilemma on his blog 1959 Royal Enfield Meteor Minor Overhaul. Check out the latest installment. You will enjoy his sense of humor.

Royal Enfield's wizard ride with Harry Potter

Here's a bit of Royal Enfield magic on display in London.
(Lizbt Action Photo)

Royal Enfield motorcycles may someday be the first choice of a particular group of young riders just becoming old enough and wealthy enough to afford a motorcycle. These would be the youngsters who will never outgrow their childhood fascination with Harry Potter.

A magical Royal Enfield and sidecar figures in two of the movies made from the series of books about Harry Potter, a young wizard growing up in the "wizarding world" that parallels the "Muggle world" ordinary people like you and I live in.

In our world, a Royal Enfield motorcycle is often fitted with a sidecar. Riding one is fun. In Harry's world,  riding a Royal Enfield is thrilling.

The excitement isn't over just because the movies aren't in the theaters anymore. There's a whole industry devoted to keeping it alive. Harry's Royal Enfield and sidecar is on display at Warner Bros. Studio Tour, London.

Here in the U.S. there's "The Wizarding World of Harrry Potter" at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Fla. It's popular. Universal has announced a significant expansion for the attraction and there will be a similar attraction for its Universal Studios theme park in Hollywood, Calif.

Universal warns on its website that the popularity of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is one reason you'll want to purchase a two-day pass to its many attractions in Orlando. The implication is that otherwise you won't experience it all — presumably you'll be spending some time waiting in lines.

A two-day pass will give you time to "dine on authentic British food" in the park's Three Broomsticks Tavern.

You can take a remarkable (and free) interactive tour of the theme park right from the comfort of your computer. Sorry, no authentic British food is served on the virtual tour.

Pictures I've been able to find on line don't show the motorcycle and sidecar on display at the Orlando Park. But we know that Watsonian Squire was building one for Florida and the attraction is being expanded, so I expect to see it there one day.

I'm way too old for Harry Potter and my children are grown. But for younger people, the Royal Enfield will be an iconic suggestion of what it must be like to be just like Harry — and an invitation to find out for themselves.

Motorcycle accessories give that custom touch

1978 Suzuki custom of Thomas J. Albarano of Cooper City, Fla.

Sometimes it's the accessories that make a custom motorcycle really stunning. These little surprises delight the mind and the eye.

Plenty of examples of this were on view at the Dania Beach Vintage Motorcycle Show Jan. 26.

The custom motorcycle above was one of my favorites. It's a 1978 Suzuki with an adjustable wrench for a suspension strut and tail lights from a space commander's rocket ship.

1978 Yamaha from Fort Worth, Fla.

A Yamaha XS400 had its gas filler relocated and replaced with a snap-off jar lid. Why? I don't know, but I like it.

Norton side stand is impressive.

A vintage Norton sported a chrome side stand to end all side stands. It wasn't in use. I wonder if it works or just looks amazing?

Chrome spot for your knees on the Moto-Guzzi of Robert McKee of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The chrome knee patch on the tank of this 1972 Moto-Guzzi 750 Ambassador completely reverses my idea of where paint and chrome belong, but it looks great. It's not a custom touch; apparently they came this way. It suggests the importance of keeping an open mind.

Simple wing nut holds simple saddle bags to naked fender.

Simplicity of design or simple necessity must have inspired the single wing nut fastening a set of saddle bags to one old Indian.

Simple stealth technology on a Chang Jiang.

You've seen the elaborate tin "black out" hoods on British motorcycles of World War II but here's a far simpler canvas version on a Chang Jiang 750 M1S military sidecar tug.

"Happy Days" lunch box.

But perhaps the cutest accessory I spotted wasn't even attached to a motorcycle. The "Happy Days" lunch box sporting Fonzie and his 1949 Triumph Trophy looked fine all by itself.

Painting of 1954 Royal Enfield Meteor has own power

This Royal Enfield Meteor looks ready to rock'n'roll.

Artist Ian Cater shared with us his story of the Royal Enfield painting he never finished.

It was his first painting of a motorcycle. The artist and illustrator has gone on to do portraits of other motorcycles from the age of the cafe racers. You can see his work at his website, Motorcycle Art UK. His paintings make you want to put on your oldest leathers and ride to the sea.

And now, at last, he has done a Royal Enfield. And, unlike his first (a 1962 Royal Enfield Constellation), this one is finished.

"Attached is my latest effort," he wrote, "a '54 Meteor twin which for some reason I don't understand looks a bit like it was painted in 1954 too.

"It's not turned out quite the way I had expected. Which may have been what the Meteor's designers were thinking as the first one rolled off the Redditch production line.

"I've been wanting to paint a Royal Enfield for some time, but it's difficult. I know this might upset your readers but, truth is, they just aren't the most exciting-looking or stylish British bikes ever made.

"I know they tried with the Continental GT and late model Interceptors were pretty awesome, but mostly the designs were pretty workmanlike and lumpy. Old man's bikes, and by the late '60s/early '70s you didn't see that many of them around.

"Years ago I had a friend who bought an RE Crusader shortly after getting his driving licence; you could pick one up quite cheap. It was ridiculously difficult to start and he was constantly replacing head gaskets and other seals to stop the outflow of oil.

"If it had looked half decent it might have been worth it, but it didn't and he moved swiftly on to a Honda. My brother's Constellation was pretty impressive, huge engine and massive half-chrome tank, but in terms of looks, a Triumph Bonneville left it standing.

"So why make a painting of a vintage Royal Enfield? Because they're rare and thus slightly mysterious; because they're a bit different, because they're harder to like than more popular models.

"I hope your faithful followers won't be too upset by my comments about Enfield aesthetics. In reality I have a sneaking admiration for the humble RE because, as a typical 20th Century Brit, I have an instinctive affection for an underdog.

"The background for the Meteor is an Art Deco cafe in Canvey Island, east of London on the Thames estuary, home to the rock band Dr Feelgood. Very 1950s."

I think the painting captures the Meteor. Solid. Built Like a Gun, in fact.

Royal Enfield One Ride is Sunday, April 7, 2013

What are you doing reading this? Get out and ride your Royal Enfield.

"Bringing Royal Enfields to Mystified HD Owners" is the theme of a Royal Enfield "One Ride" Sunday, April 7 in New Hope, Pa. Sounds like a worthy goal

The worldwide One Ride event was created by Royal Enfield, India, to get those Bullets (and Interceptors and Flying Feas) out onto the road.

The company created a handy website where you can join a ride or create your own. The top three cities are Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore. Last I looked, just short of 200 rides were planned, with 4,609 riders, to cover more than 400,000 miles!

I see only three rides planned in the United States: the one in Pennsylvania, one in Whitefield, Maine (oops! New Hampshire) and another in Waterloo, Iowa. But a reader from New York City wrote me that "me and couple of boys will be riding between New York City and Woodstock on Sunday."

So, obviously, some Royal Enfield owners are freelancing the event.

I'm no event planner, but I do plan to take my solo Bullet out Sunday, if only to go to church.

According to Royal Enfield, the One Ride philosophy is "there is no format for this ride; no route, no duration, no destination."

So even if you don't sign up in New Hope or Waterloo, let it thump!

Classy classic sidecar matched to Royal Enfield

This Royal Enfield C5 and sidecar look as though they were made for one another.

I've written before about the remarkable custom sidecar outfits being put together at Royal Enfield of Fort Worth.

There's no ignoring this latest effort, offered for sale on CraigsList for $12,995.

It's an Inder sidecar, painted to match a new teal 2012 C5. There's a custom leather seat and a "hood" ornament on the sidecar. The sidecar is marked as a Royal Enfield in the same style used on the tank of the C5.

But wait.

Fenders of motorcycle and sidecar are painted to match.

An awfully nice additional touch is the white paint on the fenders of the motorcycle, matching the sidecar fender. Who would have thought of that?

Another nice feature: the sidecar wheel has a brake!

The sidecar has front and rear grab bars; the front is shiny, the rear is painted to match the car. Someone gave this a lot of thought.

Sidecar has a brake. Note treatment of the grab bars.

Royal Enfield of Fort Worth is at at 8124 West Freeway, Fort Worth, Texas. Telephone is 214-629-4011. I have no connection to this dealer and can't vouch for them, but if I was in town I would go take a look at this sidecar combination.

Royal Enfield Continental GT may go even faster

The new Royal Enfield cafe racer is the Continental GT.

UPDATE: Photos and comments on his road test of the Continental GT, by Siddhartha Lal.

The new Royal Enfield cafe racer will be called the Continental GT, president Siddhartha Lal  confirms, as he rides the prototype Royal Enfield cafe racer to Mangalore, India, photographing it as he goes.

Royal Enfield is promising "official announcements" regarding the launch of new motorcycle. With its new frame and larger motor it is going to be the fastest production Royal Enfield of recent years.

That is sort of like saying it will win any race run only by other Royal Enfields (at least those built in India).

Still, it's a mouth watering prospect for Tom Lyons and Sumanth Janardhan, who make Royal Enfields go really fast with modifications produced by their ACE Performance Products.

On his outstanding Yahoo! group Lyons greeted the Continental GT this way:

"Personally, I think that this is a direction that RE should have taken a long time ago... It's a natural fit for a single-cylinder bike with British heritage...

"I like the frame, especially the rear section which has the triangular area for the side covers and the flat mounting area for the seat. This makes it look a bit more sporty, and a bit less rooted in the plunger style. I don't really think they needed to do away with the open cradle in the front of the frame, but the duplex cradle is OK.

"Rear sets are nice, and not too extreme. The handlebars are probably OK for most people, although I personally would prefer true clip-ons...

"I think it needs a more swept-back header pipe... But the good thing about them just providing a sporty basic platform is that the owner gets a chance to stylize it in his own way, which is necessary for the real cafe racer theme. Owners must put their 'stamp of individuality' on a cafe racer to make it 'authentic.'

"What really excites me about this bike is that it will tend to appeal to the more performance-minded buyer. That means that owners will be looking for power, and that some of these owners will end up here for some work...

"I'm glad to see this bike coming out."

Real officer rode Royal Enfield Indian Chief for ad photo

Officer John Barkman demonstrated the Royal Enfield Indian Chief .

I was delighted when Hans van Heesch of the Netherlands shared a picture of a police officer riding a then new 1960 Royal Enfield Indian Chief. It's obviously an official Indian advertising photo. A different photo of the same officer is familiar from the Indian catalog of the era.

I never dreamed that we would learn the name of the stern looking officer pictured in the photo. Then this email arrived from Sgt. Andrew Fullerton of the Longmeadow, Mass. Police Department:

"Recently I found your article from June 17, 2012 which contained two photographs. One I recognized as an advertisement for the 1960 Indian Chief. A fellow officer had shown me this advertisement which pictured his relative John Barkman, who was an officer with our department from 1951-1974.

Officer Barkman in the well know catalog ad for the Indian Chief.

"Officer Barkman passed away in 1975 but his relative told me how (Officer Barkman) was approached to pose for the advertisement. He was our last motorcycle officer, riding into the mid 1950s.

"Your article also showed a photograph of Officer Barkman given to you by a Hans Van Heesch of the Netherlands. I am guessing that this photo was taken at the same time the advertisement photo was taken but was not used. I recognize the location of the picture, which is in front of our high school, built in 1959. I am very much into preserving our department's history and no one here has seen the photo from Mr. Van Heesch until now."

Royal Enfield models of the late 1950s showed up in the U.S. labelled and sold as Indians. The Chief was the most altered in appearance, perhaps (as its name suggests) for sales to police departments.

Another photo of the same Indian Chief. Note the siren powered by the rear wheel.

It really looked the part. The motor was the 700cc Constellation twin, the biggest engine Royal Enfield offered at the time. Tires were 4.5 inches wide but only 16 inches in diameter. With its heavy fenders and lengthened wheelbase, the Chief had a squat, authoritative look ideal for a police motorcycle.

Officer Barkman had an authoritative look of his own and I guessed (correctly it turns out) that he was not just a model decked out in uniform for a catalog picture. Sgt. Fullerton sent two pictures of Officer Barkman, one of them showing him astride his made-in-the-U.S.A. Indian Chief in the early 1950s.

Longmeadow Patrolman John Barkman on duty in the early 1950s.

It turns out that Officer Barkman wasn't entirely the bulldog he resembles. Said to be a "beloved figure around town," he wore Longmeadow's Badge No. 1.

An avid fisherman, he volunteered his time to the spring fishing derby for children in Longmeadow's Laurel Park. With his death it was renamed The John Barkman Memorial Fishing Derby.

John G. Barkman,  as a patrolman in 1951.

Longmeadow is a suburb of Springfield, Mass., the longtime headquarters of the Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Co. That famous American company went bankrupt in 1953. Rights to the name went to England's Brockhouse Engineering which, starting in 1955, began marketing Royal Enfield motorcycles in the U.S. rebadged as Indians.

Nearly the whole Royal Enfield line was available as Indians until the arrangement ended in 1960, but none of the other motorcycles were as impressive as the Chief.