Royal Enfield Big Head Bullet became a saga

John Ruff shares the saga of his Big Head Royal Enfield Bullet.

Royal Enfield motorcycles are the hobby of John Ruff of Huntsville, Ontario, Canada but, as he admits, his collection has gone way beyond a hobby. In a series of emails he walked me through part of his amazing collection of Royal Enfield bikes and bits. Come along for the ride. We'll start with his Big Head Bullet.

Below is the edited (for length) story in John's own words. (Note: the pictures are somewhat out of date and many of his projects have moved beyond what you see here).

"Here are a couple pictures of my Big Head Royal Enfield . I now have a GP carb for it . This bike is a work in progress . First heard about and had a look at a very sad appearing Big Head about 30 years ago. At that time I was new to British bikes but was trying to find parts for another sad project, an early Interceptor that I paid $300 for and brought home in the trunk of a Toyota Corolla. That's another story .

"Did not get any parts for the Interceptor, but instead bought a really rough RE 125. While there the guy let me have a look at some of his other stuff, one them being the Big Head, as he called it. Dirty and not much to it, but the engine hit me as a beauty.

"The frame had been chromed at one time. Looked pretty good. Well it was not for sale, and he was looking for parts for it . Over the next few years I ended up finding quite a few motorcycles while looking for parts for the Interceptor and RE 125 . Several of these were Royal Enfield parts bikes as well as what others considered good bikes. I traded the others for Royal Enfields and parts — usually the others got the best of the deal, but at the time I thought I was the winner.

"Some of these went to the guy with the Big Head for future considerations. I was left with the understanding that I had first dibs on the Big Head. Over the years I bought at least eight bikes from the guy, paying the going price. Finally, at a rally about 10 years ago the guy said he was going to sell the Fury, as he then called it . 'How much?' I ask. Three Thousand U.S. I am told. Quite a lot of money for a frame, motor with tranny bolted into it and a front end on it with two wheels. That's all. No bars, seat  fenders, footpegs, fuel tank,   carb, mag, etc.

"I made the deal that weekend basically sight unseen since a trip to his place about 20 years before. Went to his place one last time to pick the bike up and pay for it . I must say that it sure looked a lot tougher than I remembered. For some reason I thought it was a lot more complete and in better condition. As mentioned the frame had been chromed , but the rear footpeg loops had been cut off with a hacksaw first, then the frame was chromed . They did not even bother to file the rest of the loops smooth . Just left the stubs there and chromed over them. Later the front seat mount had been cut off, also not cleaned up. By now everything was rusted up some.

"One thing I got was a gas tank that he said was his and that another guy had at his place and I could have. I later had to pay another $200 for it as the buddy said that other buddy had not paid him for it. Turned out it was incorrect anyway. Still have it.

"Well, now I am committed. Here I have three grand in a parts bike. Could not find a tank, so I used a rather battered Model G tank that was on the shelf (another trade, another story). Did some reconstructive surgery. Stuck a couple alloy fenders on it, made up the brackets for fenders, tach, Triumph seat, bars, Mikuni carb and whatever else I could cobble up over the winter. Had it looking not bad (or so I thought at the time) and took it to the following year's CVMG Rally. Had it running at home before bringing it , but only for a few minutes. She drew a bit of interest there and I was excited to ride it around. Bitch to start, and when it did it farted and missed like crazy. Gas tank began to leak all over the place. One short burst was all I  got out of it at that time and I realized there was sure a long way to go .

Rough when found, it now gleams.

"So over the next few years all that was done was try different parts on it. Added new chrome (take off) fenders from the India Enfields. Made up new rear seat fender brackets to more of original styling. Put on one of the cafe seats for the new Enfields. Took a rusted out new Enfield gas tank and reworked the bottom of it to fit over the head. Remade all the cables, added a GP carb. That was made from scratch (castings and machine work and everything, a work of art in itself). Cleaned it all up. Looks pretty good again, although still not original.

"Never did try to run it again until last summer's REOC Rally here in Canada. Now that weekend is another story altogether. If you want I can tell you about that as well one day."

GP carb that Royal Enfield guru Roy MacMillan cast and machined.
John had to find the internals. 

I'll show you more of John's amazing collection of motors and motorcycles soon.

UPDATE:  John Ruff advises that he sent his frame and engine numbers to Graham Scarth of the Royal Enfield Owners Club, keeper of the original Redditch dispatch ledgers. Here's what he learned: "Big Head is a matching numbers 1959 Indian Westerner (built by Royal Enfield). Have a story out of a November, 1995  issue of Classic Bike that says the American Bullet had formerly been the Indian Woodsman, a Redditch-tuned version of the 'small head' single. For 1959 only, Indian sold the Westerner, the first big head single in the U.S., and the RE-badged Fury followed that model's pattern. Some early advertisements depicted it with the earlier head."

Royal Enfield Big Head Bullet motor powered Indian hillclimber to the top

Back in July, Denis Gagne of Maine told us about his father Jerry's exploits on an Indian hillclimber powered by a Big Head Royal Enfield motor. At the time, Denis didn't have pictures to show us, but recently he sent me a treasure trove of photographs. He sent color shots of the motorcycle as it looks today, and black and white photos of his dad in action. There's even a DVD of the 1994 documentary Indian Summer, a Fiasco Films feature about Indian motorcycles by Timothy Cataldo. It includes takes of Denis' son Bruce talking about the hillclimber and then riding it. Here, again, is the story of this rare Big Head Royal Enfield hillclimber, in Denis' own words: "My father bought this bike, around February, 1959 from an Indian dealer in Springfield, Mass called Albert Thibodeau (Tibby's Indian Sales). "In the show room there were other bikes — Westerners, Woodsman, Apaches — and three motors in their crates. "(The dealer) told my father, Jerry, if he wanted to build a hillclimber, the crate motor would be the better choice over all models, because it was a race tuned engine, special from the factory. "So he bought the crate motor for $200 and, during that winter, he and his cousin Gates Pinsonnault built a hillclimber with that motor. They started hill climbing it in the summer of 1959. "It was No. 1 in the 500cc class for over 12 years! It was faster than others that came along; BSA, Matchless, Triumph, Woodsman, Westerner, etc. All the newer bikes.

Bruce rides the Big Head hillclimber in "Indian Summer"

"Around 1971 my dad quit hill climbing and the bike retired. Around 1988 the bike was brought out by me and restored to running condition. Although it is not competitive with today's machines, I just wanted to keep the bike alive and the memories to go on. This motorcycle was an important part of my father's life and (the source of) a lot of memories in my life. "I didn't want this special machine to be forgotten."

Royal Enfield Big Head motor in a crate made his father fast and Furious

The Royal Enfield Fury and its Royal Enfield Big Head motor are rare and sought-after. Yet no fewer than three owners of motorcycles with Big Head motors contacted me recently.

There was CF, in France, who has what must be a Fury, fully restored for sale. There was Jennifer, in Washington state, who inherited what may be a Fury and hauled it home not even knowing it was a rare find.

I'll wrap up "Big Head Week" here on this blog with Denis, who grew up with a motorcycle that has a Big Head motor. Denis is new to email, and has not been able to send pictures. But he did share his story. Here it is:

"I have a 1959 Enfield Indian 500cc single, high compression Big Head with 2-inch intake valve.

"This motor is bored out 100 thousands, has a homemade piston and it has about 300 pounds of compression. It broke a few guys' feet trying to start it back in the day.

"It has the aluminum cylinder/steel sleeve Big Head. The engine number is 3271. My dad bought it new in 1959 as just the motor in a crate. He said he bought the motor from our local Indian dealer at the time, and the dealer had three of the motors there. We don't know where the other two went.

"My dad and his cousin put the motor in an Enfield frame and made a hillclimber. He hillclimbed it from 1959 to 1972 in New England, New York and Pennsylvania, and was No. 1 for all those years. Then it sat in my cousin's barn for about 20 years.

"Now I live in northern Maine, but I am from Springfield, Mass. Born and raised there. Hillclimbing has been my whole life. In the late '80s I got my kids into hillclimbing. They loved it. After awhile I decided to get the old girl running. I took it all apart and got parts from a guy near Boston. His name was Sam Avellino.

"Sam was so knowledgeable, but he passed away. He is the one that told me this bike is very rare. He said he and a guy on the West Coast were the only two that imported the bikes and that in 1959 there were only 12 Big Head motors imported; six for the East and six for the West Coast. I am not sure how accurate those numbers are, but I know they're rare.

"Anyway I finally got it together and was hillclimbing it myself. It was a lot of fun. The compression release leaked and I bought a new one from Boston and it still leaked, so I took a valve spring from a Briggs & Stratton 5-horsepower motor and my problems were over. I also put a 38mm Mikuni flat-side carb on it. That bike was always hard to start with the 1.5 Amal. Now it starts beautifully — one or two kicks.

"I can't ride much anymore because I was injured in a big truck accident. But I do love to start it once in awhile and drag it out now and again."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then came another email from Jennifer.

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

Here are her pictures:

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

Royal Enfield Fury: very fast, super rare, but they're out there if you look

I've written with reverence about the Royal Enfield Fury, a very rare model of the single-cylinder Royal Enfield Bullet. Its distinguishing feature, I gather, was that the Fury, built in Britain, had the "Big Head" motor, along with other parts that made it go fast.

It all started in 1960, according to Ian Chadwick's The History of The Royal Enfield Bullet:

"Huge, one-piece alloy cylinder head ('Big Head') casting... The Royal Enfield Fury, produced at this time for the U.S. market, is essentially the same bike as the Bullet (both 350 and 500cc models), capable of reaching the 100 mph mark... It differed from the Bullet by having a larger inlet port, an Alfin aluminum alloy barrel with cast liner (instead of the Bullet's iron) and a higher compression piston (8.9:1 instead of 7.3:1). It also had a flange for mounting an optional rev counter, an 18-inch rear and 19-inch front wheel. Between 1959 and 1963, only 191 machines were made. The 500cc boasted a 40 bhp output, up from the UK models' production of 27 bhp. A 600cc model was also made for a short period. "

With so few made, I never thought I would hear of one and, yet, in the last few weeks I have been contacted by no fewer than THREE readers who have — or appear to me to have — Royal Enfield Furys. I am asking for you readers to help me out here. I am not enough of an expert on these things to tell, for sure.

First, let's look at the pictures here of a Royal Enfield Fury emailed to me from Couturier Francis, who is offering it for sale near Reims, France. Rather than expose his address here, if you want to buy it, just email me and I will forward your address to him. He prefers to communicate in French.

My French is not good, so I have been able to get only a few details about this lovely machine. Here, with the help of Google's language tools, is what CF has told me:

"The price is €8,400 (there are some parts included). Contact me in French if possible (I do not speak English well). The Fury is equipped with Big Head, 50mm exhaust valve, all-aluminum cylinder, special (9-1) high-compression piston, racing cam, GP 38 carburetor, racing magneto, close-ratio racing transmission, K-81 tires. New paint and mechanically restored."