How to buy a used Royal Enfield in India

Jean-Paul van Buul has produced a useful blog about how to buy a used Royal Enfield when in India. He takes a hard-nosed and opinionated view of the pleasures and (mostly) pitfalls of dealing with buying, registering and riding a Bullet in a country that often confounds foreign travellers.

You know you are getting straight-from-the-shoulder tips when van Buul opens his blog with: "I would highly recommend a Honda." This guy is not misty eyed about the delights of a vintage thumper. Enfields are over-priced, over-rated and unreliable, he says.

But, then, you have to realize, van Buul is talking about riding in some pretty drastic conditions. This statement, for instance: "However the Big issue I had with the drum brake was when I was coming down from the Himalayas." Yeah, coming down from the Himalayas on primitive roads could be an acid test.

I disagree with van Buul on a couple things. He thinks points ignition is a problem because it never can be set perfectly. I would argue that, well, it doesn't have to be perfect, and you don't need a strobe light to come close enough to ride.

But much of his advice is probably right on target. One thing that surprised me was that he suggested paying more for a newer bike, even though India is capable of restoring anything. He is a colorful guy and his blog is worth a look. I especially like that he links to my own WikiHow article on how to buy a used Enfield in the United States.

Below is van Buul's video of himself crossing a river in the Himalayas.

One bike had to go, so he sold the Honda

I sold my Honda motorcycle. It was newer, shinier, faster and far more dependable than my Royal Enfield Bullet, but there never was any question which bike I would sell.

The new owner got a good deal: many hundreds less than I had paid for a motorcycle that still looked new, had new tires and zero mechanical issues. But we both noted, as he looked it over, that he could buy a brand new version for not that much more. The seller of a used Honda has a serious competitor. For what you get, Honda's new motorcycles are still bargains.

To me, all motorcycles seem under priced. I am biased, I suppose, since I live in Florida, where a motorcycle is year-'round transportation. Honda motorcycles are as dependable as Honda's legendary cars.

And that is part of the reason I chose to sell mine.

My Honda motorcycle demanded no affection from me: it ran, perfectly, and gave every indication that it always will. I changed the oil regularly. But that is all I did. As closely as I watched it, the clutch didn't need adjusting in all 11,000 miles I rode. For the owner of a Royal Enfield, this was amazing and a little bit boring.

Thus, the Honda, by being care free, left me caring less about it. My Bullet, on the other hand, actually responds to my constant fiddling. It may not run at all without it!

But it's not just a matter of how motorcycles are wired; my involvement with one motorcycle and not the other says something about how people are wired.

My friend, screenwriter and wit Douglas Kalajian, says "I never get attached to material things." Yet he buys exciting new cars regularly. If they disappoint him, he sells them.

I'm not like that. The last thing I want to do is learn how to use some new "nav" system or paddle shift. And unless a vehicle has marked its spot in my life with a massive oil slick, or stranded me in some imaginative wilderness in the rain, I don't find it interesting.

I suppose that makes me a demanding customer: I demand imperfection.

Enfield riders take 'impossible' route

Five Royal Enfield motorcycles and video director Gaurav Jani take us on One Crazy Ride along uncharted roads in Northeast India. The five riders do an "impossible" route through the Arunachai Pradesh of northeast India without a film crew or back-up vehicle.

The trailer here is well worth watching to the end for a hair-raising look at a long suspension footbridge the team is about to ride across a deep gorge.

The format of One Crazy Ride is the same as Jani's well-know video Riding Solo to the Top of the World. Both are by Dirt Track Productions. These trips by Royal Enfield seem to define bare-bones adventure travel. There is no staff of chefs turning out gourmet meals, no support trucks full of mechanics to baby the motorcycles.

If you're shy about taking your Royal Enfield out on a rainy day, watch this trailer, and learn. One Crazy Ride will be available from Dirt Track Productions in February.

Royal Enfield dragster goes for a run

Christmas Day was the perfect time for a test run of his Royal Enfield drag bike, Kunal Bhaskaran decided. The Pune, India motorcycle shop owner has pictures and a report of the break-in ride on his Monster Dog blog.

One of the photos shows his stretched drag bike next to a stock 500. It looks like an exciting ride.