[MikeD]

Looks like my first motorcycle, a 2010 barely-used Royal Enfield, will be dropped off tomorrow morning...

Should be fun. An Indian classic (as opposed to a classic Indian). Although with an alloy engine, international standard shift/brake setup, and electric start, perhaps not really all that classic except for being a heavy 350cc single making a whopping 18HP. It's even got a front disc brake. And that's considered a blisteringly powerful bike over here, mind you. There are almost no examples of the 500cc model on the road, and the vast majority of the teeming hordes of bikes are 100-150cc or thereabouts.

Pics tomorrow I hope.

Spent a few weeks seeking out an older, more classic model but after trying so many ancient oil-spattered POSs with right-foot shifting that was always vague and full of false neutrals combined with the worst of drum brakes front and rear I decided the newer model might just be worth it.

 

[stevew]

your custom frame being delivered anytime soon?

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Nice. I have a '65 Matchless G15-CS and have a friend who is an Enfield afficionado.

 

[jimmydean]

Sweet!

A guy in my old guard unit inherited a repro Enfield with a sidecar. It looked like a blast to ride.

 

[stevew]

I have a '65 Matchless G15-CS

pictures please.

 

[MikeD]

pictures please.

I thought he was just talking about his mustache...

 

[dhmike]

Congrats .

 

[IH8Rice]

is it this model? if so, that is one good lookin bike!

 

[4xBoy]

I could find it fun to own one of those.

 

[MikeD]

No, it's the Electra. Has a full seat instead of a solo seat and a bit of a cleaner look. No fork shrouds either.

THIS is the sexiest Enfield I've seen pics of:

 

[johnbryanpeters]

pictures please.

 

[MikeD]

Pretty nice. Check out the dual horns...sounds like a dump truck about to come through your rear window.

Rocket. Fin. Tailpipe.

 

[DaveW]

Having ridden in Indian traffic I can honestly say horns like that are essential!!!!

 

[MikeD]

I didn't remember my turn signals and I didn't even notice the lack of mirrors. I did, however, use the horn enough to get a thumb cramp.

Got pulled over by the cops, too. Driving while Obviously a Good Source of Income.

 

[valve bouncer]

Just say to the cops "Tendulkar is better than Bradman" and they'll let you go every time. Trust me on this.

 

[stevew]

how many rupees did it set you back?

 

[MikeD]

1.1 lakh

 

[hydro422]

Pure sex.

 

[stevew]

1.1 lakh

soooo.....the price of a slushee?

 

[MikeD]

Or a couple thousand of them...

Around $2500 or so

 

[DaveW]

Or a couple thousand of them...

Around $2500 or so

Man those have gone up in price since I was there back around 1995.... was about $800 back then.

 

[MikeD]

Yeah, inflation in general too, I'm sure. The standard model (drum brakes, kickstart only) are a little cheaper.

Found a few in nice shape for half what I paid but they were all right-foot shift and in the end, I figured if I was getting a newer model I might as well find one with left-foot shift. And after a few weekends hunting around the city I was just tired enough to go ahead and buy this one, ironically the first I'd looked at.

If I re-sell here I'll recoup most of the cost, and if I bring back to the States they cost a hell of a lot more.

 

[MikeD]

Sophie and I are really enjoying this.

My own best memories of childhood are from the gas tank of my dad's CB750 around 1978.

 

[stevew]

nice looking bike spy.

 

[MikeD]

NewBorn to be Wild

 

[MikeD]

Bit of the evening commute. Just testing my camera for some filming during club rides. (I'm now apparently in a biker gang...) Think it'd be better off bike-mounted than head-mounted, actually, although maybe this captures the chaos better.

Will get some pics up of the bike again soon--I've pulled off all the dumb stuff, put on some nice wider, lower bars, swapped seats (twice) etc. Waiting on a new upswept megaphone exhaust to install with a K&N filter, then re-jet. Want it to pull a little more at the bottom end...it's a bit stumbly in that range. But it still maxes out around 65mph, heh. Little guy's trying as hard as he can, and 65mph is suicide speed on most roads I ride around here anyhow.

 

[c101aviojet]

THIS is the sexiest Enfield I've seen pics of:

Me too.

 

[Pegboy]

Who needs DHing when that is your commute....Awesome!

 

[MikeD]

Pegboy, lemme tell ya, I actually miss pedaling sometimes. Think I might need to build a flat-bar CX-ish road bike to get some exercise on occasion.

But the adventure-commute is the only thing keeping me sane sometimes, too. Having a kid is fun but I have to have the "me time" refuge that the moto offers...and this way, my commute is faster and there's nothing else I could/should be doing to spoil the "me time."

I can't for the life of me figure out why dual-sport bikes aren't the standard around here. They'd be perfect. Might just be that the seating arrangements for your several family members riding side-saddle behind you are more difficult with the height/suspension travel.

Anyhow, here's another super-sexy Enfield--totally modified to a 535 bore that does 80mph comfortably (according to owner and builder...) due to the extensive engine mods. And it's pretty.

Edit: I don't know how all these cafe style Bullets are being ridden without rearsets, though. I'm crunched up enough as it is without clubman bars.

 

[MikeD]

And now I own this, too.

1977 Army model, served its time in Kashmir, and is gonna make a tasty hotrod/street tracker for me, with full cafe conversion and engine upgrade (535 bore/bottom end upgrades/modified head) when it hits the US. Gonna hold on to all the original stuff in case I ever want to do a more respectful restoration.

Oh, and I picked this up for fun, too. (For $200, why not...we can use it as a flowerpot in years to come for that price.)

Obviously I figured out that old stuff is both cool and importable to the US as a "classic."

 

[Transcend]

Shen are you headed stateside again, captain chaos?

 

[MikeD]

Late in 2013 at soonest, but we'll see what the next assignment cycle wrangles.

 

[BIGHITR]

Yeh Boyeeee! Kickin it OLD Clunker ay!

 

[jimmydean]

Sweet looking ride. I pass by this shop on my commute every day.

Classic Scooter and Cycle

That have some fun looking rides there.

 

[MikeD]

More commute garbage footage, now with music! Testing the cam for a big ride in Rajistan so I hope to have some good stuff next month.

This is morning so you can manage to get up some truly massive speed, like almost 110. (kph. But hey, that's as fast as my bike will go!!)

Part 2 is more fun, I think.

Ride to work, pt 1 on Vimeo

Ride to work, pt 2 on Vimeo


I do this ride on my bicycle, too, but I imagine the footage from that would be even less exciting.

 

[MikeD]

aaand--finally have the 1977 riding. Lotsa stuff to work on still. Sophie is treet-tracker stylin':

 

[MikeD]

Long time coming, but it's now about triple the horsepower with pretty much everything else improved too. And it's still kind of a piece of shit, mostly due to my own level of competence and experience, but I'm working on that...gradually.