Kick start, carbureter make a Royal Enfield C5 "vintage"

This Royal Enfield C5 really does look like a motorcycle of the 1950s.

Lots of owners add "vintage" accessories to make their Royal Enfields look older than they are, but few go to the trouble Maciej of Warsaw, Poland did.

This Royal Enfield enthusiast changed the look of his 2010 C5, eliminating the nacelle and fitting a period tail light structure and lights. It looked great.

That was just the beginning.

"I started with some cosmetic changes to make it look more like early '50s models but this was not enough," Maciej wrote.

"I missed something in the experience. I was fortunate enough to find guys in the town who are not afraid of serious work and they are also RE enthusiasts, so in stages kick start was added, Amal carb replaced EFI stuff, electric starter was removed, big bore kit installed, new exhaust fabricated and fitted, etc.

"It ended up as a genuine ‘modern classic’, and while one could say this was a step backwards, I’m delighted with the outcome; after some teething problems it’s an absolutely fantastic bike to own and ride a daily basis."

Early Royal Enfield C5 Bullets came with electric start only. Customer demand forced the factory to add the kick start on the production line but it was not an option owners who didn't have it could retrofit.

Maciej bought his C5 in early 2011, as a compromise between the genuine vintage machines he admired and a reliable modern motorcycle he could ride daily. Even before it left the dealer he chose cosmetic modifications to make it look older.

"But as it turned out all of it could not help the fact that I started to be bored with the simplicity of starting it with a button; also I discovered I would prefer it to be more ‘mechanical.’ Too many computers in our lives! I know this sounds weird but this is how it was; it’s about feelings."

Maciej's C5 with vintage look but still with fuel injection and without a kick start.
Compare it with the stock photo below.

Trading his C5 for a newer one with kick start would have sacrificed the modifications already made. And so it began.

"After I came to the decision to go radical, then no obstacles could stop me, although identifying and then obtaining correct parts was a nightmare indeed.

"Hitchcocks helped as they could but they were not sure themselves what needs to be installed; also they sent me some parts they thought OK while in reality they weren’t, for which I don’t blame them at all — they admitted at some stage they tried to develop a kick start conversion kit themselves but they gave up as it was too complex to be practical.

"Anyway, you could imagine the frustration when we discovered the kick start shaft they’d sent was a B5 part, which was 3-to-4cm too short. This we realized after the crankcase was assembled.

"I think this gives you a flavor of what it was. There were also many other lessons to learn with the carb conversion.

"The Polish Royal Enfield dealer also helped a lot in sourcing the right parts, although getting things from India could take some time. And of course without the clever guys at www.multi-moto.eu garage nothing would really happen.

"Yes it was frustrating, yes it was costly and time-consuming, and yes I think it was worth it."

Royal Enfield Continental GT is a proud throwback

On hallowed ground: Royal Enfield Continental GT at Brooklands.

By introducing its Continental GT cafe racer in the United Kingdom, Royal Enfield virtually committed the cliche of "carrying coals to Newcastle."

India's Economic Times faces the issue in an article entitled "Why Royal Enfield's Siddhartha Lal is betting on British market."

"It was an audacious launch," The Economic Times writes, of Eicher Motors CEO Siddhartha Lal's introduction of Royal Enfield's Continental GT at the famed Brooklands race track.

The made-in-India Continental GT is a "nostalgic throwback" to the British-made Continental GT of 1965, The Economic Times writes. For England, the motorcycle is also a reminder that Royal Enfield is "a great brand that it virtually ceded to India..."

Lal innocently suggested to the world's press, gathered for the Sept. 11, 2013 launch, that the new Continental GT is mostly a pleasant and stylish answer to traffic congestion in countries like the UK. And it might be. But the Economic Times sees a bit more:

"Still, there is an unmistakable pride and chutzpah in plying a British brand that was saved by India back to the Britons. But in a century where Indian entities have salvaged Tetley and Jaguar Land Rover, that should hardly come as a surprise.

"In fact, Lal is looking even further afield to America for Continental GT, and the irony of doing that — going up to 500 cc, even as Harley-Davidson is puttering down to 500cc for the Indian market — is not lost on bike aficionados."

But it's all to the good for consumers and, in the end, The Economic Times can not resist this very clever kicker:

"Evidently, there is vroom for everyone."

New video captures the legacy of Royal Enfield Bullet

New video explains how Indian craftsman preserved the Bullet.

"Old Delhi Motorcycles," a new YouTube video from Colorblind Production, celebrates the Royal Enfield motorcycle in India.

Colorblind calls its film "a tribute" to India's maestro mechanics, who create beautiful Royal Enfield Bullets with oil blackened hands.

They're selling themselves short. Less than 20 minutes long, "Old Delhi Motorcycles" is nothing less than an attempt to explain the universal appeal of motorcycles — and especially old British motorcycles.

The Royal Enfield Bullet is an icon in India and a rare survivor of a vanished species. Production continues but, as the film explains, the Bullet is much bigger in India than the Royal Enfield company itself.

The Bullet owes its survival in India to special factors, including war and isolation, but also to a special breed of craftsmen. Working crouched in dark alleyway shops, they devote their lives to this motorcycle.

"We have to keep their legacy alive," the film concludes. "We must not let this die."

Reader Michael O'Reirdan pointed out the video to me and vouched for its veracity.

"I visited the market where that was filmed, it is amazing. Alleys with old and young blokes all crouched over motorbikes tapping away making things. It was spectacular."

There's more about the real Old Delhi Motorcycles on Facebook.

Gordon May to ride UK to Cape Town on 1953 Bullet

Gordon May's 1953 Bullet as it looked for his Overland to India ride.

Royal Enfield author and adventurer Gordon May's next long distance ride on his vintage Bullet will be Overland to Africa.

"The 1953 Bullet I rode to India has been heavily modified for off-road riding and will be used to carry me from the UK to Cape Town," Gordon announces in the recent edition of his Royal Enfield Books newsletter.

It's a challenging new adventure for Gordon, whose 8,000-mile journey from the UK to India on the Bullet made him the world's most famous living Royal Enfield traveler.

His Royal Enfield books, including the reference book "By Miles The Best," established him as the leading authority on the brand.

"By Miles the Best" covers every Royal Enfield model, year by year, from 1930 to 1970. The recent newsletter announced that he's now assisting another author in research for a book covering the brand from 1900 to 1929.

Gordon is such an authority that Royal Enfield chose him as master of ceremonies for the worldwide launch of the new Continental GT cafe racer in September.

According to the newsletter, he ran off with the boss's motorcycle and nearly missed the official debut ride from the London's Ace Cafe to Brighton.

"Early in the morning, an hour ahead of the official flag off, I nabbed a new GT in order to familiarise myself with it. But whose bike was it that I purloined? The one reserved for Royal Enfield CEO Siddhartha Lal!

"What’s more, I missed the turn-off for our meeting point at the Ace Cafe, which meant I sped for many miles further around London’s North Circular. My phone was vibrating constantly as I jostled with heavy rush hour traffic trying to find my way back.

"What a relief it was when I made it to the Ace Cafe just before the official send off without having dropped his bike.

"The crazy ride did reveal something to me, though: this is a cafe racer that can make it through busy city streets without turning the rider’s hands, wrists and neck numb. That’s good design."

Gordon will also serve as master of ceremonies for the Continental GT launch in India.

One note: Because Gordon's book covered Royal Enfield so completely from 1930 on, blogger Jorge Pullin built a Royal Enfield Virtual Museum  covering the years 1898 to 1929. It's my go-to source for those years.

Royal Enfields race up the Highest Road in new video

Is this Royal Enfield Bullet going too fast, too near the edge?

Reader Michael O'Reirdan pointed me toward the latest GoPro video featuring Royal Enfield motorcycles on the "Highest Road in the World."

GoPro, maker of helmet cameras, gave us a hint of its adventure with Royal Enfield motorcycles in its original "Be A Hero" video.

But this time it's all Royal Enfield Bullets, close up, at speed and right on the edge of the cliff all the way up the Himalaya Mountains.

The story-behind-the-story is on the Vintage Rides blog. Vintage Rides arranged the logistics for the GoPro raid through Delhi, Jaipur and Ladakh.

The video features world-girding motorcyclist Alex Chacon. Of his first time on a Royal Enfield he told Vintage Rides that "The Bullet was a great, classy looking bike with plenty of power to enjoy the on and off roads of India."

Watch the video for a stomach churning bash through the traffic of India and up the rutted roads of the Himalaya. Would you treat your Bullet the way these guys do?

Surely — surely — the video directors speeded up the footage of the riders flying along the edge of eternity on those terrible roads. You'll see what I mean:

Watsonian Meteor sidecar inspired by RAF Mosquito

The Watsonian Meteor sidecar appeals to the aviator in you.

There's a new champion in the universe of cool accessories for your Royal Enfield motorcycle.

The Watsonian Motorcycle & Sidecar Company will re-launch its Meteor sidecar, 60 years after production of the original ceased.

The Meteor was sleek and rare — only 601 originals were made, between 1946 and 1949.

Mosquito bomber fuel tank inspired the new Meteor.

But here's what makes them cool. According to the November Watsonian Newsletter, they were made from a "a batch of RAF Mosquito bomber reserve fuel tanks (ringed in red on the above photo) that they had bought from the Air Ministry shortly after the end of the Second World War."

Mosquito bomber reserve tanks being on the rare side these days, the body of the modern Meteor is fibreglass, from a mold of one of the originals.

According to the Newsletter, "It sits on a tubular steel chassis, which is uprated from the 1940s' design with addition of a shock absorber."

Royal Enfield's Maj. "Bunty" presses on, regardless

Maj. Bunty?

Just when all seemed lost, who should rush once more into the breach but Maj. Bunty Golightly MBH, Defender of the Kickstart, Companion of the Royal Floatchamber!

The good major is possibly the Internet's most devout living fan of Royal Enfield motorcycles — a status he has achieved despite in all probability being a completely fictional character.

Maj. Golightly appears (as far as I can tell) only in occasional postings on Yahoo Group message boards devoted to Royal Enfields.

Recently, Yahoo imposed a new Groups format that has left users across the Internet gasping in rage. Important features they depended on seemed to disappear. But "Bunty" (as readers know him) has not disappeared.

While the situation is not yet firmly in hand, the major has made it clear that he, at least, is still standing.

In a message posted recently on the Royal Enfield Yahoo Group, he fires a volley across the bow of a contributor who suggests stuffing a Yamaha twin cylinder motor into a Royal Enfield Bullet frame.

"Ye Gods," he opens, "...The Yamahaha engined Enfield is an abomination..."

In line with standard operating procedure, his post is complete with appreciative references to lusty barmaids, unappreciative references to "tartish" Triumph motorcycles and a politically incorrect swipe at the Japanese.

Apparently, all is well with Bunty. Carry on.

The major's postings, always bracing (and often outrageous), come and go. After first appearing in August, 2000, he seemed to disappear from Yahoo in 2005. In January, 2006, fearing the major had gone for good, I compiled all of his postings into a file entitled "Hand Salute!" in the Files section of the Yahoo Royal Enfield Group.

Another group member, Michael Bevins, unwittingly did the same thing in 2007, compiling the postings into a file he called "Maj. Bunty Golightly."

I am delighted to discover that Yahoo's new format did not erase these compilations. They're still there, on the Royal Enfield Yahoo Group, for your pleasure. (Click the "More" button to find "Files" and then scroll way, way down to find them.)

Both files make for — as Bunty might say — dashed good reading.

I've suggested that Bunty's creator, whoever he is, patterns the major after the pre-war British cartoon character Col. Blimp.

Col. Blimp may outrank Maj. Golightly, but in the ranks of blowhards, the major nearly surpasses him.

In the ranks of Royal Enfield motorcyclists — fictional ones, at least — Bunty remains unsurpassed.

Custom Royal Enfield C5 is named Tequila

You'll never guess what I like most about this custom Royal Enfield.

"Tequila" is the name of this customized Royal Enfield motorcycle. It has an unusual history.

Its builders saw an opportunity, not a problem, when a 2012 Royal Enfield C5 fell over and was damaged a few days before the 2013 Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Dallas

Jeff Azcona with Royal Enfield of Fort Worth brought it back to life as a custom for the J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Competition. It won the People's Choice Award.

Lots of late night hours went into meeting the deadline, but my favorite touches are the ones that probably took the least time! I like the black tape on the headlight and especially the colorful Mexican poncho strapped behind the seat.

Here's a video walk around of Tequila:

Royal Enfield Desert Storm photos with Army tanks

Royal Enfield Desert Storm poses with an Army tank.
(Jeff Allen/Cycle World, used with permission.)

Cycle World's article on the Royal Enfield Desert Storm posed the motorcycle with Army tanks.

The remarkably appropriate photos appeared with a series about "Bikes With Soul & Character."

Editor-in-chief Mark Hoyer liked the Desert Storm as modern alternative to the 1954 British-made single he'd owned.

"The character is there when you're riding, and you get it without all the character building in the garage," he wrote in the 2012 article.

I overlooked the photos at the time but came across them again recently. Cycle World staff photographer Jeff Allen made them at a military museum in the California desert. Take a second look.

Is a debugged Royal Enfield Bullet worth more? Yes!

This 1999 Royal Enfield Bullet looks great and is "debugged" too!

"Debugged." That's the selling point cited by the owner of a 1999 Royal Enfield Bullet trying to sell it on CraigsList in Allentown, Pa.

Need he say more?

Royal Enfields built and exported to the United States in 1999 were built to mixed standards. They were said to be far improved over the first batch of the modern era, received on these shores in 1995.

But they were still improving. Running changes at the factory meant there is a distinction between "early" 1999s and and "late" 1999s. An improved electrical system was the main difference.

My Bullet is an "early" 1999. Of the electrical system, my dealer told me "don't add any lights; it can't handle them."

As far as "bugs" go there really was only one on my bike: a loose wire in the nacelle left me stranded twice until I figured out I could get it started by reaching into the back of the nacelle and wiggling the wires until the ammeter moved.

My dealer fixed that by binding the connection with electrical tape. Bug gone.

My Bullet was the first brand new motor vehicle I had purchased in a long time. I'd long decided there was no point buying new American cars — let the first owner go back to the dealer time and again to get it working right.

Today, thanks to the Japanese, we expect all new motor vehicles to operate perfectly right off the dealer's lot.

Quite a change from that day in 1977 when I tried to drive my brand new Chevrolet Vega home from the dealer: the car barely made it back around the block to the dealer and it spent two days being "fixed" before I could pick it up again.

Or try to pick it up — I barely made it back around the block a second time!

I think the Allentown seller has a good point. A debugged vehicle has its attractions.

What does made-in-India Harley mean for Royal Enfield?

The new Harley-Davidson Street will get people talking.

"Harley's Indian Gamble" is the headline of the Ride Apart blog's first look at marketing materials for the 2014 Harley-Davidson Street 750 and 500.

"The most important new Harley-Davidson in living memory isn’t made in Milwaukee, but instead at H-D’s new factory in Guragon, India," writes author Wes Siler.

Siler wonders if Harley can succeed in India but has no doubts about why the company is giving it a go. He writes:

"Currently Harley dominates the U.S. market, making around 185,000 of the 452,000 motorcycles that were sold in the U.S. in 2012. Far fewer than the 273,000 bikes it sold here in 2006. Compare that total market volume to India, which totals in excess of 10 million motorcycle sales year and you can see why Harley is eager to explore new markets.

"Currently, Harley sells around 2,000 motorcycles in India annually."

He doesn't mention Royal Enfield, which sells far more motorcycles in India, or other Indian manufacturers that sell far more motorcycles in India than Royal Enfield. What will the new baby Harleys mean to Royal Enfield?

After all, these are the most affordable Harleys in a long time and they're modern designs, with liquid cooled V-twin engines.

My guess: it's all good. Harleys are about showing off, not what cools their motors. Inevitably, some people love this attitude, some people despise it. In other words, all Harley-Davidson motorcycles are so polarizing that their effect on a marketplace will be to get people talking and buyers shopping.

Plenty in India (and perhaps some in the United States) will consider Harley and choose Royal Enfield instead.

The reasons I'm confident of this will be obvious to anyone viewing this Harley-Davidson "Reveal" video for the Street. Just count the number of references to "attitude":

Video takes you inside a running Royal Enfield motor

Here's a look inside a Royal Enfield motor.

Something about motorcycles seems to bring out the "what if" spirit in human nature.

Ian Burns wondered what it would be like to look inside the motor of his Royal Enfield — while it was running.

Lucky for us, he uploaded his video to YouTube Oct. 27.

"Decided to take the pipe off to see what she sounded like and found it was a fire breathing beast lol. If you look to the right of the exhaust valve you can see the spark, a nice healthy blue 'n purple," he wrote.

Here's the video for all of us who would never try this at home:

A Royal Enfield becomes a cafe racer the old fashioned way

Ace handlebars started this Royal Enfield Bullet's transition to cafe racer.

John Beesley of "Sunny South Yorkshire" claims a wife, three kids, two hamsters, one cat, one kitten and an Enfield cafe racer.

Dubbed "Harry the Enfield," the 1995 Royal Enfield Bullet is making a "slow metamorphosis into a caff," he writes on his Tumblr blog.

For the full story go to Tumblr, but John OK'd an excerpt here:

"For my 40th I was gifted a 1995 Enfield India Bullet. The 500cc thumper as well! The previous owner, my father-in-law, had just up graded to a Meteor and, as a result, this old girl became surplus to requirements 'round about the same time as my birthday came along.

Vincent bars and single seat added. The looks OK, but...

"I rode her as I’d got her for a while, but didn’t really like the ‘sit up and beg’ position so I fitted flat ace bars. The more I rode her, the easier the right-hand gear shift became and the dream of a Triton from my youth reemerged.

"Let's be honest here, the chances of getting one now are the same as when I first started to ride — nil! But I had been given the next best thing to an old Brit bike: an Indian built old Brit bike.

"To me, building a caff is about two things. 1. Do as much as possible yourself and as a result, 2. do the ton!"

...a shiny tank with knee indents looks the part.

To that end (and to get "the look") John invested in a bright tank, Vincent straight bars, and a single seat. He polished some metal, worked on the inlet/outlet ports and researched how to tune a big single.

Since these pictures were taken he has "binned the back end and built a new subframe."

Harry the Enfield as work continues.

"I’m not building her to win prizes, I’m building her to make me smile," John writes. "She’s an old bike, even older in design, and I want her to show her years. None of us get any younger and if she really was a '60s caff, she’d have some wear and tear if she’d been used most days."

With bits fitted together to see how they'll look.