Flying Bullets

This is where six hundred and twelve cubic centimetres will get you. Hitchcock's Twin Shock series scrambler, nipping along you would of thought.

New Cistern Ornament

This dropped through the door this morning, the 2011 Hitchcock's Soft Pornorama. The 2010 copy can now be replaced from it's position of honour on the cistern above the throne. Not really much new for the Classics other than the prices, lots of extra pages on EFI models and a section covering Amal carbs and bits in the back.
There is a new oil pressure relief valve been added, cuts in at 30 PSI and splices into the rocker feed line and diverts flow back into the tappet adjustment window.
Bound to be more in there on closer inspection, got a year to find out.

The Modern Alternative

Grant sent this across, obviously a unit Bullet, but looking every inch the real deal trail bike. Really cobby and purposeful, probably the nicest variant that I've seen up to now.

A Couple Of Teasers

Craig sent this pic across, for sale on the Bay e few years ago, nothing much else known other than it got a good price.

This came off of the new AEE blog, built by Tom McMullen when AEE was just a bike shop. Again no other pictures.

What do you think........?

Peter pointed me to this 350 Bullet on the US Bay of Fools. Striking with the choice of colour, wouldn't ya say? Nice combination of parts, not much done at all really, but what has been done has been done with care and attention.

I reckon that's a Hitchcock's tank on there, all you need do is, stick a pair of Renthals on it, instant Flat-Bob, Brat Trakker, whatever. Nice, the more I look at it, it does show an instant access to the custom world for very little down and it is the basis for constant change and ya can still use it.

Like this, Hmm? belt drive ya say?
Don't know if the folding footrests are standard US issue, be handy if they are.

As Rare As It Gets!

---

Saw this when I visited Andy the other weekend, a genuine 1936 ex-works racer. I never knew that Enfield got seriously involved with Road Racing as they are better known for their exploits in Trials. But this goes to show that they definitely had intentions in that field.

---

---

As can be seen from this, not particularly good, shot, it featured a 4 valve bronze head, similar to what Rudge and, I believe, Excelsior were doing at the time. Andy said he also has the original Magnesium crankcases for it, but they are put away somewhere safe as they really are irreplaceable.
I have sent Jorge at My Enfields a copy of these pictures and he is going to contact Andy for a more in depth chat about this unique bike, and do a far more informative write up.

---

Oh yes,

Sumo from Vintage Chop sent this over, he thinks it's taken at The Mooneyes Show in Japan, this is probably the best I've seen so far, the bar has been set.

Craig's Mullet

Well, Craig has answered the call and sent in a write up on his Meteor/Bullet, or Mullet as he would rather have it. Although I'm posting it here, there has been a page created as well so it is not lost in the passage of time to the older posts section. Thanks Craig you are a star.

When I bought my Royal Enfield in 2003 I wasn’t looking for or even considering a Royal Enfield, I wanted another Triumph like I’d had in my yoof! But bloody hell they were a lot more than the old days!! I got directed to Haywards in Cambridge by a guy just outside Biggleswade, we’d stopped to have look at his roadside advert for a BSA Golden Flash which turned out to be in a right state! However he was keen to show us his recently acquired Royal Enfield Bullet Clubman that he was storing in his dining room extension! He raved on about how friendly & helpful Haywards were so we decided to pootle on over! The rest they say is history!
The Bullet (as it was known when I originally bought it) was a fairly ordinary 350 single, but it had that ‘Olde britbike character’ look to it. I enjoyed its plodding ability for a while, but started getting the itch to give it a bit more oomfff! Even before It came into my possession it was a bit of a mongrel, the engine was a 1963 brit motor in a 1970’s Indian frame.
At the end of 2004 I spotted an advert in ‘The Gun’ magazine of the Royal Enfield owners Club, for a 1953 Meteor 700 twin engine that said the engine would easily fit a modern Bullet frame, my itch was beginning to get scratched!
A call was made, beer tokens exchanged, & I became the owner of said engine, not only that I have kept in touch with the Mark & we are now good friends! Also Mark is a font of knowledge when it comes to all things Enfield, a good friend indeed!
The engine had been sitting under Mark’s workbench for quite a few years, having bought it ‘sans motorcycle’ for spares for his own ‘proper’ Meteor, & never got round to using it. There was no knowing when it last ran, we just knew it was a flipping long time ago! I didn’t want to throw a whole load of money at it so removed the heads, barrels & engine covers to check for any obvious issues & was pleasantly surprised to find that when the engine was laid up, it had been filled with lovely clean oil, & that no serious problems were apparent. So I thought that I’d just whack it in the Bullet frame & see if I could get it running. It really was a straight swap, honest! Using the same engine plates, chain & even the 350’s carburettor!
The ‘Mullet’ was born.....
......that was eventually!! Despite correct sparky things, petrol, timing etc we couldn’t get the bloody thing started, even after much kicking & my mate pushing me up & down the road. It wasn’t until I wondered what would happen if I switched the plug leads over that we had instant success!! Definitely a Doh!! moment. After a bit of tinkering it ran pretty good for motor that was over 50 years old, hadn’t been started since god knows when & was using a carb from a 350 single! It ran quite happily like that for at least 18months, but I eventually treated it to a brand new 30mm Amal Concentric scored off ebay for £30!! Couldn’t believe it! That made it run a bit better!
I’m not one for loads of spit & polish so I’ve been letting it slowly grow into itself, don’t get me wrong though I like it to be relatively clean & tidy but with the ‘patina’ of use! After something like 4 years use which included trips to South Wales & Devon as part of the Round Britain Rally, without any major mishaps or surgery, I decided to give the motor a bit of a makeover & had a re-bore, new old stock pistons (which again I got from ebay dirt cheap! Luckily they turned out to be the correct next rebore size too!!) I also fitted new valves, guides & had the distributor rebuilt. It still rattles like buggery though, which would probably be helped by replacing the timing & dynamo chains.
I have made various changes over the years to make it mine, like fabricating a new battery carrier from an old rubber battery & relocating it between the rear mudguard & engine, making up some new support brackets for the rear mudguard. I’m not trying to make it fit any style or label, just doing things on a budget and that are pleasing to my eye. There are a few more ideas in the pipeline, so we’ll see where it ends up!

Indian Enfield

There's Enfields from India and there's Indian Enfields. A rare Indian badged Interceptor seen at Geoff's yesterday,it belongs to his son Dean who is the Enfield guru who lent me the girders.
The running gear is pretty much the same as the Bullet and the engines will go in, or so I'm led to believe. Craig has got a 500 Meteor engine fitted into his Bullet, couple of pictures of that would be handy Craig.

World's fastest Indian..................Enfield

Good luck chasing your desires Kunal, read more here.

From the Sub-Continent

From the boys at Rajputana Customs in India, comes this board trackeresque modern unit motor Classic.

........and then there's the other way.

Peter gave me the heads up on this bike listed on the bay. Starting price of one thousand pounds, surprisingly no bids at the moment. It's listed as a Bobber, now that will raise a few eyebrows in parts of this parish that's for sure. I'm not knocking the guy's efforts here, beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that, but this bike represents the very antithesis of we're trying to achieve here.

A recurring theme that seems to run through virtually every custom Enfield on here so far, is that people don't want to change major components and are prepared to live with the standard offerings. This is reminiscent of the 70's when loads of Trumpets and Beezers suffered the indignity of slugged forks, high bars and a seat with a backrest, all in the name of Chopperdom.
It's almost as though the Bullet is not generally regarded as a contender for customisation, this will be changed.

Underlying theme here.......

This picture of a restored '47 came from The Garage Company in LA's site, if you squint whilst looking at this picture, you'll see the hidden Bobber trying to get out. Shit can the front muddy, shorten the back, lower the seat and all of a sudden it begins to make sense.

Nice Lines

A bit of a mixture of styles and parts sourcing here, but overall the lines work well. The Fat Bob tank set-up sits well as do the forks. Also love the 16/21 combination at each end, the swinging arm has been changed to accommodate the wide tyre, but I'm sure chain clearance is not going to be an issue running a 5" or 130 tyre.

1938 Factory Poster

Do like that high level/Fishtail combo

A rare sight indeed

A very unusual bike to see nowadays, a genuine Big Head Bullet, well the motor is to Fury spec anyway.

A Bit Close to Home

Went over to the local Vintage Motorcycle Club concourse event last night and got talking to Farmer Rob and his brother. They said that there was a guy working on an Enfield that was worth a look. So with the sun blazing, work was knocked on the head early and I scooted 'round there to check it out as it's only about 3 miles away.
This is what I found, all pretty simple stuff really, but effective in altering the overall look. The swinging arm has been stretched by six inches, the front muddy put on the back and some small adjustment done to the tool box mountings. A weekend's work and virtually no cash outlay, not a bad result

A Different Approach

Board Tracker stylee, from The Speed Metal Shop. It looks a bit radical until you check how much of it is still standard. A bit of the less is more approach perhaps. Stripped out as lean as this a Board Tracker does look inviting....... Hmmm?

This is a bit more like it

Found this pic whilst surfing the images on the big G. Far more in tune with what is being sought after. Taking the gearbox as a scaling reference, the complete bike must be very much on the small side, things are looking up.

There are some out there

This is another bike that I am not sure of, nice touches like the pipe and the 21 hangin' out the front but too H-D alike maybe