Great old Classic Motorworks catalogs

Classic Motorworks catalogs delighted U.S. Royal Enfield customers. 

 A recent home improvement project required me to empty my bookshelf. I was somewhat surprised to find there editions of Classic Motorworks' "Parts and Accessories" catalogs from the 20-oughts. 

They were numbered, in those days, so I have Catalog numbers 9 (2007), 10 (2008) and 11 (2009). 

I was only "somewhat" surprised because these were useful and very complete catalogs, with photos, and U.S. prices. Mixed in their 200-odd pages were bits of advice regarding Royal Enfield motorcycles and motorcycling in general. 

Well worth saving, I thought at the time, and I still do. 

Today you can find what you want on the Internet, sure, but there was nothing as satisfying as sitting down with a beverage and the catalog, paging through it even if there was nothing special you needed to buy. 

The classy, distinctive "Statesider" kit.

There was so much to dream about. There were sidecars, and vintage-style single-wheeled trailers, and "kits" that could convert your Royal Enfield Bullet into the Cafe Racer or the chrome-laden Continental or the high-piped Scrambler.

Maybe you didn't have the money for those. But it was only $1.95 for the "Spark Plug Disc Gap Gauge."

Now any ordinary catalog of that day would have listed the disc, maybe even shown its photo, and given the price. But here's what the Classic Motorworks catalog said about it, next to its photo:

"The spark plug gap on the Bullet is supposed to be .020" to .028" (.020" for better kick-starting). As you may have noticed it is hard to find a plug gapping tool that goes that low. This disc gauge measures spark plug gap from .020" to .080". Perfect for the bike's tool kit or your keychain. The stated gap works best for a kick start only bike. You can increase the gap up to .028"-0.30" for electric start bikes."

Catalog put a lot of work into description of $1.95 gauge.

And this is not an exceptional description. Many entries are just as informative.

The catalogs include helmets, hats, every imaginable shape of turn signal and even variations on the Bullet's valve tappet cover. 

Among the accessories shown in the catalog are items I see on many Royal Enfield Bullets in the U.S. 

One of these is the "Tombstone Taillight," despite the dutiful warning in the catalog that it does not illuminate your license plate.

And then there are items I have never seen on any Royal Enfield, although they must exist (there's a picture). An example of this is the "Chrome Speedometer Visor." Made of shiny plastic, it easily affixes to the speedometer, the catalog claims. 

"Besides its period appearance, you will appreciate the reduction in glare, especially if you run a windshield," it claims.

Simple and unusual but would you pay that much for it in 2008?

Perhaps $21.95 seemed a bit much in 2008 for something made of plastic. But, given the Florida sun I ride under, it might be a great thing to have, painted in non-glare black.

A lot of thought and design work went into the Classic Motorworks catalogs. No two of the three catalogs I possess are identical. They're artifacts of an earlier time, before all information had to fit on a smart phone screen.

"Browsing" didn't mean "scrolling" in those days.

Classic Motorworks, in Faribault, Minn. delivered Royal Enfields to the United States as the distributor, back when I first learned about the brand.

Royal Enfield of India took over and created its own network of dealers, struggling at first, and never, as far as I know, bothering with printed catalogs of parts and accessories.

You can read the story of Royal Enfield's return to the U.S. and of Classic Motorworks in my profiles on this blog of Martin Scott and Kevin Mahoney, the two men who led the way in the U.S.

The modern story of Royal Enfield naturally will be told by the vibrant, successful corporation it has become. I'm glad I learned about Royal Enfield early enough to experience some of the value created by the guys who first brought me my Bullet.

Royal Enfield takes on its own distribution in the U.S. as Kevin Mahoney and Classic Motorworks carry on

Many in the United States wouldn't know Royal Enfield without the involvement of the importer Classic Motorworks and its owner Kevin Mahoney.

Now Dealer News reports that distribution is transitioning to Royal Enfield America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eicher Motors, Ltd. of India. President of the new company is Rod Copes, formerly of Harley-Davidson.

Kevin Mahoney built a new foundation for
Royal Enfield in the United States.

Classic Motorworks will carry on supplying parts and sidecars for a variety of motorcycle brands, and its popular online Community Forum will continue, but without Royal Enfield branding, Kevin told me.

Royal Enfield was absent and invisible in the U.S. until Kevin put his full energy and money into it in 1999. He told me the full story of how it happened almost by accident when he unwittingly became a "dealer" by ordering motorcycles for himself and a few friends.

Dealer News said Mahoney is confident that the resources Royal Enfield corporate can bring to the brand will benefit dealers and customers.

“I have enjoyed every minute of being in the industry," it quotes him.

"It has never been about motorcycling as such, but rather the chase of business and most importantly the great people, dealers and customers I have been able to interact with. The people I have laughed with, complained with, and generally loved the industry itself, have made this the best business adventure of my entrepreneurial career. Not the best money maker but the most fun for certain.”

The transition means many changes for Royal Enfield in the U.S., Dealer News said, including locating new sales, marketing and administration headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis. and moving vehicle distribution, perhaps, to Dallas, Texas. Parts distribution will be considered too.

Mahoney told me that "Royal Enfield has been putting a lot of money into enhancing the brand here, and improving the customer experience. If I was a customer I would see this as nothing but upside."

As distributor for Royal Enfield, Mahoney said he personally read every warranty claim.

Not every customer was happy.

On the Community Forum Mahoney took that in stride. He was always frank about the perceived shortcomings of Royal Enfield motorcycles (mercifully fewer now than in 1999) but reassuring that the fun would still be there if you fixed what was wrong and carried on.

Classic Motorworks will carry on in Faribault, Minn., where Kevin told me he has "the best team I've ever worked with in my entire career."

New Royal Enfield execs want you to ride

Ron Greene will bring the Royal Enfield Rider Experience
to Daytona Bike Week March 3-6.

Two former Piaggio executives join Classic Motorworks, the U.S. importer of Royal Enfield motorcycles. Ron Greene is vice president of sales and Bill Stone is director of marketing and dealer development.

Classic Motorworks President Kevin Mahoney called this "a stroke of good luck for us... We have been able to hire two of the powersports industry’s top executives: Between them, they have over 75 years of experience with the finest motorcycle companies in the world. Both of these gentlemen have also been long-time Royal Enfield owners and enthusiasts. I have known them both for many years and could not be more delighted or proud that they have joined our team."

I reached Ron Greene at his office in Springfield, Mass., the historic home of Indian motorcycles. Born in Springfield, he said "I came home in the sidecar of a '47 Indian." His father worked in the Indian factory from 1947-'53.

Greene said he has spent 42 years in the motorcycle industry, with Kawasaki, Triumph, Harley-Davidson and Piaggio.

He ran the Aprilia Adventure Ride while at Piaggio. Instead of a short demo ride at a motorcycle show, participants paid for an experience that was an hour and a half long, included lunch, and they left with t-shirts, hats and decals to remember it by.

Greene will bring this knowledge to the Royal Enfield Rider Experience during Daytona Bike Week. This free but still "quality ride" will be based at the Royal Enfield of Daytona dealership, Scooter Superstore, on U.S. 1 in Ormond Beach, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and until noon Saturday March 3-6.

Greene said he is aiming to provide an "enjoyable time". It will be a 30-35 mph ride, perhaps 45 minutes long.

Just as important, participants will to talk to people who live and breathe Royal Enfield and love the bikes, and get to share the enthusiasm.

Greene is certainly one of those. He has five Royal Enfield motorcycles, including one with a sidecar that has 6,000 miles on it.

"I've put a lot of miles on them," he said

"I have the first '99 in the U.S. Bought it in 2001 from a dealership (for another brand). The dealership couldn't get it running. I put it in my truck not running and got it going."

He said he ridden motorcycles across the U.S. three times, once as one of the riders on a Kawasaki Voyager Boston-to-Los Angeles speed test. He was a Six-Days Trials rider for the U.S. in 1973 and 1975.

"I figure I'm closing in on a quarter-million miles," he said, adding that he has owned 150 different motorcycles.

"Motorcycles have been a way of life for me. I've met a lot of nice people and had a lot of fun."

He was a U.S. Navy submariner and diver, raced boats with his father and has a son (who builds custom Harley-Davidsons) and two grandchildren. Playing hockey runs in the family. Greene proudly notes that his grand kids are carrying on that tradition. Greene's hobby is radio controlled model helicopters.

At work at Royal Enfield he has been calling every dealer asking how long they've been a dealer, how many units they stock and sell, whether they have parts, have a Royal Enfield sign and what Royal Enfield can do to help them.

"I just got the greatest compliment you can get from a dealer," he said. "He called and said, 'Ron, this is the most fun bike I have ever ridden.' That's what you want to hear, because we are not in the arena of racing against the best suspension, beating Ducati, the techno stuff.

"We're winning our own race. We're not the fastest bike; we don't need to be."

Greene hopes 100 people will be able to enjoy the Royal Enfield Rider Experience over the four days at Daytona. Although there will be a Royal Enfield booth at the convention center motorcycle show, participants will need to go to the Scooter Superstore in Ormond Beach to register for the rides. It's OK to go directly to the dealership to sign up.

Those who show the most interest by showing up prepared will ride, Greene said. Requirements:

• 21 years of age.
• DOT approved helmet (yes, even though Florida doesn't require it).
• Long pants and sleeves.
• Motorcycle endorsement on license; you can not ride on a permit.
• Eye protection advised (sunglasses OK).
• Gloves are always a good idea.
• No open toed shoes; shoes that project the ankles preferred.

Address is 1459 North U.S. Highway 1, Ormond Beach. Call (386) 671-1977 for directions.

Classic Motorworks forum lets you speak

Royal Enfield motorcycle riders are special. They can hop on the Internet and chat with the boss, U.S. importer Kevin Mahoney.

They can also share in the combined wisdom (and humor) of 2,300 other Royal Enfield owners, mechanics, dealers and employees.

This wide-ranging free-for-all, with (almost) no holds barred is on the Royal Enfield Community Forum, at the web site of Mahoney's Classic Motorworks. That makes it an "officially" sponsored discussion, but what you find is obviously not the polished offspring of a corporate marketing department.

Mahoney explained why in this recent post:

"This forum's main purpose it to do what it does and that is build community and to help each other. It does that fabulously. A lot of people have gotten a lot of help from you members. The amount of flaming is about zero, which is unheard of on similar forums.Again it speaks volumes about the quality of our members.

"Secondarily it is to help my business. I have been open about this from the beginning. For the most part people seem to respect that. One thing it does really well is give a prospective customer the 'inside' story. Even if comments are not good I rarely edit them. It is important to be open and let the bike speak for itself. You customers and owners are our best spokespeople."

One example of getting the "inside story" is Mahoney's recent comment about Royal Enfield raising prices in India: "This is NOT the case in the U.S.," he announced, as soon as the news from India hit the Internet.

"Our prices should remain stable for 2010. I just wanted to post this before I got lots of questions."

Mahoney and Classic Motorworks were very "early adopters" of the Internet, using the web site to connect with the huge U.S. market at a time when few (myself included) knew about Royal Enfield motorcycles.

I well remember checking it out myself, a decade ago, and being pleased at the way customer questions and complaints were addressed on line, even way back then. Mahoney was frank but never defensive or rude. It was a marked contrast to other message groups, and impressive, because this was, after all, his forum.

Today's Royal Enfield Community Forum is far more wide ranging than the batches of monthly messages posted in the old days. There are separate discussion groups for each model, accessories, sidecars, suggestions, technical tips. Probably the one unfortunate aspect is that is too large to grasp. As of Wednesday it was just about to exceed 60,000 posts.

Want to see what the Classic Motorworks Message Board was like when in started in April, 1999? The old board lives on as a link from today's Royal Enfield Community Forum. Take a look; you'll be interested to see how much has changed and how much has not.

Classic Motorworks' parts service shines

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

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

Except, not this time, thanks to Classic Motorworks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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