Update on the Royal Enfield WTB

Recently I posted a query about a '95 Bullet 500 for Cdn$5000.
Seller says it's got 12k Km on it, never had any motor work.

A few days ago I saw it posted on a local buy&sell site, still
asking $5k. From the picture it looks something like this,
except in black:

http://www.livesteaming.com/Enfield_May_2004.jpg

I phoned the guy and quoted some comments from this forum,
especially the part about needing a top end rebuild after 15k Km.

He hinted that he might take less, so I thought about offering him
$4000. Still seems like a lot of money, but every time I watch some
movie or TV show about old times, such as Foyle's War where someone's
riding around on a '30s or '40s motorcycle I get this strange yearning
for a bike like that.

I know it's too slow for highway use, but my route to work is 15 Km
to work at 50 mph max. I've already got a Virago 250 for commuting,
but somehow the Japanese seem to have engineered all the character
out of their bikes; they're so well designed that they're almost
too perfect, like some kind of appliance.

Sean_Q_

 

You're still insane. If you want an old Brit bike, buy an old Brit bike,
but offering a fortune for a used Indian Enfield is lunacy.

 

You can buy a new Bullet for $4,795 USD from here:
http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/mdl_models.html

Why do you want to pay similar money for an 11 year old one which is almost
certainly shagged, and will have little residual value or saleability when
(not if) you get sick of it?

You can get a 1950 BSA B31 for $5,500 CAD at:
http://www.walridge.com/WalridgeMotorsAdPage.html

1954 Ariel Red Hunter $6,895 CAD, 1950 BSA B33 $5,000, lots of nice 60s and
70s Brit 650s for around $5,000 or less. A 1968 Norton Atlas went for
$3,000.
http://www.classicbikeexchange.com/classicbike SALE2.htm

Any of these are infinitely nicer machines for that money IMO.

Martin.

 

Thanks for the help... unfortunately, some bureaucratic catch-22
prevents the modern Royal Enfields from being registered in Canada.

Also, US$4,795 is over $5k Canadian.

It would have residual value if that's the going rate around here.
However, if the govt suddenly approved imports of modern ones then
I'd be hosed.

As for being shagged, I don't think it is, but I'd expect it will
need some motor work soon. I first heard about it through a bike
club, and some members told me that parts are available (with
some time delay in shipping).

I suppose the bottom line is that if I'm going to use it for
every day commuting that the cost per mile will end up higher than
for my Virago.

Some nice bikes there, but mostly in eastern Canada (about as far
from me as they are from you).

Sean_Q_

 

Perhaps a better price would be Cdn$2500, but a Bullet in a condition
as good as this one (or in any condition) doesn't seem to be available
at anywhere near that low a price in my area (west coast), so it seems
that lunacy prevails around here.

Sean_Q_

ps. And there's no lunacy in the UK?

 

OK - so this one was registered before that catch 22 came in? What about
importing used bikes? But you can see that buying an 11 year old bike for
$368 less than the cost of a new one is madness. No?

I know, but you're considering paying $5k CAD plus rebuild costs for an 11
year old...

They're shagged when they're new

Seriously, that is one shedload of money for that particular bike.

Martin.

 

The Catch-22 goes something like this: you can't personally import
a bike into Canada that isn't (or wasn't) sold commerically
in Canada (something to do with quality inspection standards or
type approval).

The RE Bullet was only imported for a few years in the mid-90's.
So that means I could import a '95 but not an '05. On top of that
there's a whole bunch of other red tape and hoops to jump through
to get it registered, and it's all so much hassle that I'd rather
just pay the extra money for one that's already registered here.

Uh oh, really? Another bubble burst.

Sean_Q_

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Sean

Right, sorted. You can have my one-owner '96 for $4000 US. You pay
shipping. It's got a cafe racer conversion with a *very* sexy alloy
tank, and it's just had a brand new engine fitted because the crankpin
snapped on the old one. I'll even chuck some spares in.

Can't say fairer than that, can I?

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer

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 GTS1000

 

Thou art a paragon. When I see you bending over backwards to help out
this poor unfortunate Canuck with no expense spared, my heart bleeds.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a
Every post contains Nutri-Ceramide-R and Pre-Biotics
for your reading pleasure.
Folding@Home Team UKRM
http://vspx27.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=47957

 

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

I'm just an old softy, I can't stand to see colonials suffering.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer

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 GTS1000

 

Buy a new one and lie

 

Thanks, Wicked Uncle. The way the Yankee dollar is heading, if your
offer is still good by Christmas I'll be able to finance it out of
my beer bottle refunds.

Sean_Q_