Royal Enfield motorbike - why would anyone buy one?

Grimly Curmudgeon · Jul 28, 2006

I'm not really sure that an Enfield can be described as a 'consumer
durable', TBH.

It's really more of a 'consumable'.
Click to expand...

I think the 'umable' is superfluous.

Wicked Uncle Nigel · Jul 28, 2006

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Grimly Curmudgeon

You can hop, skip and dance all you like in an attempt to justify your
untenable position. The fact remains - you took on a shite bike and your
attempt to sell it, while laudable, remains pointless.

Shoot yourself, shoot yourself now; it's the decent thing to do.
Click to expand...

He'd miss.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer As featured in
Performance Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

Grimly Curmudgeon · Jul 28, 2006

We see him pick up a tall drink with an umbrella at the bar. He turns,
and we see the piece of toilet paper still on his cheek, and the pen
in his pocket has already leaked onto his shirt. He taps a beuatiful
woman on the shoulder and says, "Do you come here often?"
She looks at him in utter disbelief.
<the camera freezes>
<voice over>
"Have you ever yearned for that accessory that tells everyone who you
really are? How about the machine that just suits you perfectly?"
<cut to a side shot of a sparkling new Enfield>

"Royal Enfield - it's you!"
Click to expand...

Heh. Classic.

Pip Luscher · Jul 28, 2006

ISTR the name "pling" from somewhere waybackwhen - Acorn related?
Click to expand...

Yep, that's how I recall it being called. I used to work on an
"industrial" BBC Micro-alike.

Pip Luscher · Jul 28, 2006

Anyone care to comment about how *thrifty* these things are in practice
compared to 'modern' 500cc bikes?
Click to expand...

No idea

Do the Enfields really to 60-70 MPG... and how does that compare?
Click to expand...

To compare:

My litre Quota returns 53-55mpg commuting, and that's a 110mph
quarter-tonne shaft-drive monster with a skyscraper chassis made out
of old bridge girders.

My old CB250RS returned 60+mpg and had a top speed of 75-80mph on a
good day.

A former G/F's CBX250RS returned (she claimed) about 80mpg and was
almost certainly faster than my CB250RS - it definitely had more poke.

So, for the claimed performance, I'd doubt Enfields are worth buying
for economy's sake.

I've never ridden one, but I actually quite like them. maybe it's
better if I never do...

tomorrow · Jul 28, 2006

Beav said:

I find it reasonable to be controlled by my reasons. Why else would I buy
food that nourishes me, rather than just tastes good or looks good? It must
be my unreasonableness and ability to be controlled.
Click to expand...

On that score, there's **** all reason to buy *any* motorcycle.
There's certainoly **** all reason to chose what YOU ride.

platypus · Jul 28, 2006

ship said:

Hmm on reflection, maybe buying a Royal Enfield is more about choosing
to be
an *individual*. Choosing to stand out from the crowd.

...And not a VICTIM. A victim of The Media, of motorbike mag reviews,
of marketing
budgets, mass produced plastic and logos, and of multi-national
corporate brand names.

I mean why NOT make a deliberately "bad" buying decision?
After all it's your money and it's a free country here in the UK.
Click to expand...

Don't give me this shit. I owned a Drifter for five years.

platypus · Jul 28, 2006

SpamTrapSeeSig said:

The people I know in the U.S. who have bought them have done so
purely for nostalgia's sake. [snip]
Next time, you should ask about Urals.
Click to expand...

I am *so* enjoying this thread.

See your Ural. Raise you a Cossack+chair...
Click to expand...

Dnepr. Wiv reverse.

Beav · Jul 28, 2006

Turby said:

OK, here's your ad:

<scene opens in a bathroom.>
Our hero is getting ready for a date. He's wearing a wifebeater
t-shirt. He cuts himself shaving and puts a piece of toilet paper on
the cut.
He gets dressed, but leaves his zipper undone. He puts the pocket
protector in his nice clean white shirt, but when he puts the pen in,
he misses the protector.
<cut to street outside a nightclub>
When he parks the Yugo, one wheel is on the curb. When he gets out, he
slams his finger in the door.
<inside the club>
We see him pick up a tall drink with an umbrella at the bar. He turns,
and we see the piece of toilet paper still on his cheek, and the pen
in his pocket has already leaked onto his shirt. He taps a beuatiful
woman on the shoulder and says, "Do you come here often?"
She looks at him in utter disbelief.
<the camera freezes>
<voice over>
"Have you ever yearned for that accessory that tells everyone who you
really are? How about the machine that just suits you perfectly?"
<cut to a side shot of a sparkling new Enfield>

"Royal Enfield - it's you!"
Click to expand...

I GOT to get me one of those!

--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

tomorrow · Jul 28, 2006

platypus said:

SpamTrapSeeSig said:

The people I know in the U.S. who have bought them have done so
purely for nostalgia's sake. [snip]
Next time, you should ask about Urals.
Click to expand...

I am *so* enjoying this thread.

See your Ural. Raise you a Cossack+chair...
Click to expand...

Dnepr. Wiv reverse.
Click to expand...

This one certainly seemed to have "reverse":

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14047610/

Dr Ivan D. Reid · Jul 29, 2006

I GOT to get me one of those!
Click to expand...

<sigh> Me too. At least the local scrotes wouldn't steal _that_!
</sigh>

--
Ivan Reid, Electronic & Computer Engineering, ___ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

Guest · Jul 29, 2006

platypus said:

SpamTrapSeeSig said:

The people I know in the U.S. who have bought them have done so
purely for nostalgia's sake. [snip]
Next time, you should ask about Urals.
Click to expand...

I am *so* enjoying this thread.
See your Ural. Raise you a Cossack+chair...
Click to expand...

Dnepr. Wiv reverse.
Click to expand...

Bu***r. I only had a flush.

Regards,

Simonm.

High Plains Thumper · Jul 29, 2006

Beav said:

I can't believe I've seen you on here sir.

I'm just going to sit back and wait for the FOAK to comment though.
Click to expand...

I take it that Enfield is a love affair. Either one loves or not; it is 50+
YO technology in new paint. It seems to be more of a retro collectable.
As long installs decent tyres whilst keeping it off the M-1 should be safe.

What is TOG's take on it?

Beckyboo · Jul 29, 2006

Dr said:

<sigh> Me too. At least the local scrotes wouldn't steal _that_!
</sigh>
Click to expand...

Finally! A reason to buy the "Royal" Enfield.... Ship, you have a
winnah!!!

See this bike,
It's not a trike,
It may not go,
It may go slow,
What a deal,
No one will steal,
For info. you can contact Ship,
If he can close his bloody lip.

Alan Moore · Jul 29, 2006

This brings up a good (?) question - what do you do with it if you won
it?
It makes a lousy planter box.
Kinda hard to use it as a mailbox.
You can't really use it as a garden gate.
Too tall to use as a table base.
I suppose one could use it as a patio light.

Any better suggestions?
Click to expand...

Add about 20 feet of chain, with the other end attached to maybe 80
feet of nylon line, and use it for an anchor. It should hold in a
variety of situations...

Al Moore
DoD 734

Alan Moore · Jul 29, 2006

OK, here's your ad:

<scene opens in a bathroom.>
Our hero is getting ready for a date. He's wearing a wifebeater
t-shirt. He cuts himself shaving and puts a piece of toilet paper on
the cut.
He gets dressed, but leaves his zipper undone. He puts the pocket
protector in his nice clean white shirt, but when he puts the pen in,
he misses the protector.
<cut to street outside a nightclub>
When he parks the Yugo, one wheel is on the curb. When he gets out, he
slams his finger in the door.
<inside the club>
We see him pick up a tall drink with an umbrella at the bar. He turns,
and we see the piece of toilet paper still on his cheek, and the pen
in his pocket has already leaked onto his shirt. He taps a beuatiful
woman on the shoulder and says, "Do you come here often?"
She looks at him in utter disbelief.
<the camera freezes>
<voice over>
"Have you ever yearned for that accessory that tells everyone who you
really are? How about the machine that just suits you perfectly?"
<cut to a side shot of a sparkling new Enfield>

"Royal Enfield - it's you!"
Click to expand...

When does it come on the air? It's better than most of the regular
programming hereabouts!

Al Moore
DoD 734

High Plains Thumper · Jul 29, 2006

DR said:

"ship" is alleged to have written:

If the Japanese manufacturers turned out bikes of that low quality,
for the same price, it would be seppuku all round, believe me.
Click to expand...

Yamaha XS400 aircooled thumper would make a good substitute, but AFAIK is
only sold in the Asian market.

Beav · Jul 29, 2006

Dr Ivan D. Reid said:

<sigh> Me too. At least the local scrotes wouldn't steal _that_!
</sigh>
Click to expand...

Discerning scrotes in your neighbourhood then Ivan. "Our" scrotes would nick
the shirts off the backs of the scrotes who were nicking the Enfield.

--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

kenney · Jul 29, 2006

Of course, all the detractors of the Royal Enfield are right -
it is NOT a good value, it is NOT a well-engineered product by
the standards of the day
Click to expand...

It is arguable that the original was not a well engineered
product by the standards of the day either. It was intended for
commuting in the days before motorways where the chances of
getting above 50 mph were limited. This was the original with the
famous floating big end bush. From 1963 this was replaced with a
new machine developed from the Crusader, which is presumably the
one the Indians are making. A bad move from a reliability point
of view as the Crusader was notorious.

The BSA B31 was more expensive but seems to have out sold both
versions of the Bullet.

Ken Young

kenney · Jul 29, 2006

But in any case, let's face it they've still got to be a LOT
more reliable than the machines
my grand father drove. And he got by.
Click to expand...

Why would it be more reliable. Something like a B31 or a Norton
Big Four would run for years with minimal maintenance. Now a
Crusader derived, over stressed machine of questionable build
quality is in a different area.

Ken Young

Royal Enfield motorbike - why would anyone buy one?

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