Royal Enfield 500

[Sylvester]

Does anyone have or have knowledge of the Royal Enfield line. I had a thumper (Meguro made by Kawasaki) in the 60s that I bought from a serviceman. It was a 250 and really could climb a hill. Also I had a 441 BSA that was a screamer for torque. I have been thinking of another.

[Freebird]

Are you talking about the old ones or the new ones? I think all the new ones are made in India. Don't now much about them other than that.

[RandyR]

supposedly the current Royal Enfields made in India are made at a plant that has origonal tooling to make bikes for the Indian police and military. They've been upgraded the last couple years to have better brakes and commercial paint with old Royal Enfield colors. They've also raised the price to the point where you could get a low end Vstar for about the same money, which is probably a better buy.

[Evan]

Does anyone have or have knowledge of the Royal Enfield line. I had a thumper (Meguro made by Kawasaki) in the 60s that I bought from a serviceman. It was a 250 and really could climb a hill. Also I had a 441 BSA that was a screamer for torque. I have been thinking of another.

 

Don't know much at all but talking about these two bikes in the 60's brings back memories. I had a 305 Dream for a while and my best freind had a RE. I remember towing him back home several times. Another freind back then had a 441 BSA that he raced and I recall the day I rode it and went over backwards at a 4 way stop (the torque caught me by surprise). I held on to the bars and the bike landed and spun around on the footpeg one and a half turns before I jerked it up and jumped back on. All that was damaged was the licence plate. It really was a screamer!

[davecb]

Now, if only they would start making the 650 Enfields...they were the cadillac of motorcycles in there day.. A beautiful bike...

[aharbi]

Does anyone have or have knowledge of the Royal Enfield line.

 

I thought the same thing. It would be nice to have one again. There was a dealer close by and I stopped in for a look-see. Kinda disappointed, the quality is not there. Most models still had drum brakes front & rear. The ones that have disk are still drum in the back. I agree with an earlier post, for the money, best spent on a used something else. Also, the dealer no longer sells them, he dropped them just couldn't sell them.

[Sylvester]

I was talking about the current models, Freebird. Thanks to all for the replys. I have the desire/urge/itch for something smaller for local riding. My buddy has a 06' RSV, 09' HD Ultra and an 06' Triumph Bonneville; I rode the Bonney a couple times. It is OK but I want something with class that performs a little better. I understand the new Bonnevilles have a little more performance and are redesigned. I also read that Norton is back in British hands and will be on the market in a year. I have ridden the 650 V-stars and they really suck for any performance.

 

[RandyR]

sounds like you're ready for a hayabusa:225:

 

On a more serious note. If you want a current production bike with that 60's Brit style, and some pep, then the Triumph Thruxton is as good as you'll get today. Or the Scrambler version. They should run rings around a 500cc single

Edited June 28, 2009 by RandyR

[Dave77459]

The current issue of Motorcycle Cruising has a two-page spread on the Royal Enfield Bullets. The most interesting thing is that they made the fuel injection system look like the original carburetor. The new bikes are 499cc.

[mraf]

Another freind back then had a 441 BSA that he raced and I recall the day I rode it and went over backwards at a 4 way stop (the torque caught me by surprise). I held on to the bars and the bike landed and spun around on the footpeg one and a half turns before I jerked it up and jumped back on. All that was damaged was the licence plate. It really was a screamer!

 

 

Evan, you could be the inventor of "Doggy Doughnuts"! :rotfl:

[Sylvester]

I believe that I may make a proposal on a 2000 Kawasaki W650. Great performance and styling with a modern engine but 60's style.

[RandyR]

Here's a pic of my 2001 Triumph 885cc Thunderbird.

 

http://www.randyrick.us/motorcycles/Triumph/TBirdLeft.jpg

[OldBear]

Cycle world did a story on the Enfields a couple months ago. Part of it was on the new version while another section covered the "old". Good story be Pete Egan on them. Looks like they'd be a "fun" toy, though dealers are kinda scarce in this neck of the woods.

[davecb]

Bonnevilles don't have class???? :buttkick::buttkick::buttkick:

[Yammer Dan]

Triumph looks Great!!!

[V7Goose]

I believe that I may make a proposal on a 2000 Kawasaki W650. Great performance and styling with a modern engine but 60's style.

That W650 is a fantastic machine - I put about 24,000 miles on one before I bought my RSV. Motorcycle Consumer News did a side-by-side comparison of one with a new Triumph "fake" Bonneville and an original late 60s Bonnie; their conclusion was the W650 had all the style and character of the original and was a much better bike all the way around. In fact, they were very specific that it was a better Bonneville than Triumph's own new Bonneville!

 

ALL the current Triumph twins are huge disappointments to me and many others who love the old Triumphs because of their stupid insistence on not using a 360 degree crank for the new engines. The W650 has this very important engine design, just like the original Bonnies.

Goose