Barn-find Royal Enfield is a rusty relic with tales to tell

Rusty, crusty Royal Enfield "sloper" of the 1930s in an English countryside setting.

This blog lists Royal Enfield motorcycles for sale in the United States, so I rarely bother looking at eBay ads from the United Kingdom.

Still, I couldn't help being fascinated by this 1930s Royal Enfield barn find for sale on eBay in the UK.

Who saved this rusty old Royal Enfield, a 250cc Model S of perhaps 1934?

Could it, or should it be "brought back" — or just preserved in its present state?

Interesting location for the air pump. It hasn't fallen off all these years?

As is, it is a living record of the way motorcycles were made, circa 1934. Here are some of the details that caught my eye:

The exhaust pipe goes down the left side of the bike, under the primary drive. Never noticed that before on a Royal Enfield single.

But the exhaust is as it should be. Royal Enfield Owners Club chairman Graham Scarth emailed me a brochure for the Model S that shows the left-side exhaust system.

Royal Enfield Model S of the 1930s.

The motorcycle appears to have lived a full life — and, yet, the air pump on the front down tube has not fallen off and still looks fresh?

When I mentioned this to Royal Enfield enthusiast Chris Overton he noted that the tire inflator looks too long in this position, and is attached with clamps instead of welded pins — and is therefore likely an after-market accessory.

Unfortunately, while the brochure lists a tire pump as standard equipment, no pump is shown in the illustration, so we don't know where it would have been mounted..

Pillion seat is canted forward.

Chris pointed out that the rear brake is operated by a pedal on the right of the motorcycle — another reversal of what we think of as standard practice of the day.

The gearbox shift was on the tank, operated by hand. According to the brochure, a foot-operated gearbox was optional at additional cost.

Was the canted-forward pillion seat, a typical accessory of the period, meant to provide a place for the rider to slide back and get low over the tank? Or was it meant to ensure that one's girl got a good grip on you? (Snicker.) Hmmm. It does have the passenger foot pegs...

"Looks to have potential to be cozy," Chris commented.

It's surprising to me how many features I do recognize as different, yet obviously related to the 1999 Royal Enfield Bullet in my garage. I suspect I would even know how to adjust the valves on this old bike.

By the looks of this, I would know where to change the oil and adjust the valves.

Instrumentation is just an ammeter, but the Model S does take the trouble to have its headlight switch conveniently mounted on the tank. It could just as easily have been in the headlight shell itself, but you get that little bit of luxury, along with multiple small levers on the handlebars to address all sorts of adjustments.

Just an ammeter for instrumentation but look at all the levers.
And you've got a hand-shift to bother with as well.

"It is a lovely little thing isn't it?," Royal Enfield authority Mark Mumford commented when the eBay ad was pointed out to him.

"Thanks for sharing it. The problem as always with such small machines is where you might reasonably use them."

He went on to note that the motorcycle's pressed steel forks were considered budget items. (The period brochure offered an optional "tubular front fork," again at extra cost.) The Model S was not even a "Bullet," Mark notes: that was the next step up the model line-up.

If there's no where to safely run it, and it doesn't have the cachet of an expensive motorcycle, perhaps this Model S is not a candidate for restoration.

It's rusty, but still racy looking. What tales could it tell?

All told, the little relic of yesteryear might be better off left as is, proudly bearing the scars of time. I have to admit, though, that I am fascinated by the old 250cc Royal Enfield singles. Imagine riding a motorcycle half the displacement of my Bullet!

That would really be a trip back in time.

Royal Enfield Interceptor found in a barn still smells pretty sweet to enthusiasts

It's probably every enthusiast's dream to find a forgotten Royal Enfield Interceptor in a barn, bring it home, clean it up and discover a nearly complete and valuable motorcycle shining through the muck.

Usually forgotten, in this day dream, is what else lives in the barn.

On the BritBike forum, Al Eckstadt tells the interesting story of how he found his Interceptor in a barn — and what it smelled like:

"I don't know where to start. The beginning I guess. Several years ago a coworker says to me, 'Al you're into British bikes aren't you?' He just got a Royal Enfield from his father-in-law's barn. Paid $150 for it. After talking to him we determined it was an Interceptor.

"I gave him some photocopied articles on the bike to encourage him to fix it up. After he left the company we were working for I would still see him and say 'How's that Enfield coming?'

"Well, I ran into him two weeks ago and asked him again. This time he asked if I wanted to buy it. Wow! After a discussion with the chief financial officer (Mrs. Eckstadt) I got the OK to seriously look at it AND if it was under $500 I could bring it home.

"I went to see it and I was kind of stunned because it was not the way I pictured it in my mind. The bike was covered in crud and partly disassembled. A basket case, literally with a bunch of small parts in a little wicker basket.

"He wanted $400, I asked if he would take less and he said $300 would be OK. As bad condition as it was, I figured I can't lose at that price even if it was sold for parts. I brought it home that morning. I got a bucket and soap and started scrubbing the mud and pig slop off it. (Oh man it smelled BAD and still isn't too fresh)."

Al sought help from the forum, identifying the year and model of his Interceptor. He got it, too, right away. Chris Overton identified it as a 1967 Series 1A, a "factory customized" TT7 model.

He added:

"You are one lucky guy. A good barn find at a bargain price. Tell me if you would like to double your money!"

Rare Royal Enfield twin found half buried

Update: A Royal Enfield message group member named Richard suggests that this motorcycle is a Royal Enfield 500 twin sold in the U.S. as the Indian Tomahawk. He says the distinctive casquette seen here was used by Indian on this model; he knows because he has one of his own awaiting restoration.

It is an old Royal Enfield motorcycle Jeff found on his property in Arkansas and he refers to it as a "dinosaur." Actually, it's probably more common to dig up dinosaur bones in Arkansas than to find the well preserved remains of a 1955 Royal Enfield 500 twin.

Jeff describes himself on the Yahoo Royal Enfield message board only as 43, and from the Elkins/Goshen area of Arkansas. He writes:

"I was about to scrap out a group of old Japanese bikes that had been bulldozed over at the back of my property and I happened upon this dinosaur." He provided an entire album of pictures and a full description of the motorcycle, with frame number and engine number. He guessed that it was a Royal Enfield 500 twin, of about 1955. A group member named Graham confirmed, from the frame number, that this is correct.

According to author Roy Bacon, "after the second world war there was a great rush among the British firms to get a twin cylinder model into their lists in opposition to the Triumph, which had come out first in 1937. Not for nothing was the Speed Twin advertised as the one with the 10 year start.

"In time all the major firms produced their twins as fast as the postwar problems would allow them and Royal Enfield were no exception."

The Royal Enfield 500 twin appeared in 1948 and was soon overshadowed by bigger models of 700cc and then 750cc but it stayed in the catalog and was continuously improved right up through 1964. It was also sold in the U.S. as the Indian Tomahawk. Jeff's relic appears to have the distinctive Royal Enfield headlight casquette.

"I'm still Googling numbers in my spare time but I'd appreciate any information you might have about this particular motorcycle as it was set aside from the other wreckage," Jeff writes, indicating that he might spare the Royal Enfield from the scrap yard. I hope so.