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Message started by PerrydaSavage on 08/19/10 at 07:17:37

Title: Enfield Thumper
Post by PerrydaSavage on 08/19/10 at 07:17:37

For us Thumper enthusiasts ... an interesting article about the new 2010 Royal Enfield Bullet Classic. Enjoy!

http://www.royalenfieldmotorcycles.co.cc/2010/05/royal-enfield-bullet-classic-500-review.html

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by mick on 08/19/10 at 10:58:10

Sure has improved alot since my youth,my best bud had one ,not bad ,but it didn't handle very well,or maybe it was him,he did seem to fall off alot. I wonder if he is still alive ?

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by 12Bravo on 08/19/10 at 20:42:33

I wand one of the new military versions. I like the looks of the Enfields

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by Paladin. on 08/19/10 at 22:29:50

I would rather have F.I.. The last LS650 that I get will have a carburetor.

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by verslagen1 on 08/19/10 at 23:23:49

it's a pretty bike, the write up sucked.

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by mick on 08/20/10 at 01:27:47

I rode just about every thumper ever made in England, I will not include Single cylinder racers,but the Savage is about as good and in alot of cases ,better.It's a fine bike.

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by PerrydaSavage on 08/20/10 at 02:49:47

I too love the Military version ... fine lookin' Bike! The new Enfields are NOTHING like the previous gen Bikes, except in look ... all new enginge/tranny, electrics, just about all components have been re-designed in the past couple of years ... the new Enfields are fuel injected and return 80mpg :o with about the same power as the LS650. A few other reviews I've read claim that the new Enfields are now as well built as their Japanese counterparts.
Would love to get a chance to try one out!

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by John_D FSO on 08/20/10 at 05:20:49

And looking online for local dealers, it looks like the Portland Vespa dealer is going to start carrying Enfields. http://www.vespaportland.com/ Might have to go down there and check 'em out one of these days!

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by drharveys on 08/20/10 at 05:31:58

I wish them well -- I was too badly burned by my previous generation Enfield to try another before the new ones rack up a good reliability record.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e204/drharveys/DamSite.jpg

(Pretty photogenic, eh what?)

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by John_D FSO on 08/20/10 at 05:36:08

Very photogenic. I remember you posted that pic a couple years ago, and it first got me to looking into them. From what I've read, the new ones are an entirely different creature from the old ones. Much higher quality. Still not a speed demon, but they'd be a blast on the back roads!

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by BurnPgh on 08/20/10 at 15:21:09

what exactly is/were/are the major issues with the "older" REs?

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by mick on 08/20/10 at 18:48:39

6B5C5B47794E41290 wrote:

what exactly is/were/are the major issues with the "older" REs?

oil leaks,poor brakes.handled badly,generally unreliable.

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by drharveys on 08/21/10 at 06:30:46

Traditional British engineering,
Traditional Indian quality control.

In India they got them out as cheaply as possible. There's plenty of "shade-tree" mechanics there to keep 'em running. Also, Indian roads and traffic keep folks from running them over 45 mph so the overheating problems don't come into play. Even the "export grade" versions of the old ones never got it together.

I do hope the new ones have
Traditional British styling
Modern engineering
Modern quality control

Yeah, the photos of the Enfield were its best feature!
Here's another one, even though I probably posted it before:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e204/drharveys/70020sm-R1-017-7.jpg

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by PerrydaSavage on 08/21/10 at 12:38:36

Again, every single article that I've read concerning the new Enfields claim that the QA/QC problems of the past are exactly that; in the the past ... apparently this new Bike is NEW from the ground up, but retains the Classic and timeless Enfield styling!

http://www.emoto.com/img/news/200902/5209/royal-enfield-bullet-500-classic-efi-1.jpg

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by babbalou on 08/21/10 at 18:01:58

If I could afford a 2nd bike I'd seriously be considering an Enfield. Looks like it would be a lot of fun. http://www.royalenfield.com/Motorcycles/classic-500/colors-and-special-features.aspx Can't decide which color I like best. I noticed the cafe racer & scrambler aren't on their website anymore. Hopefully they're back soon.

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by mikelhsr1982 on 08/21/10 at 22:10:48

31353F3728343930353139255C0 wrote:

[quote author=6B5C5B47794E41290 link=1282227458/0#10 date=1282342869]what exactly is/were/are the major issues with the "older" REs?

oil leaks,poor brakes.handled badly,generally unreliable.[/quote]Wow, much like a Harley

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by Jerry Eichenberger on 08/22/10 at 11:10:03

When I got back into motorcycles in late 2007, I investigated getting a RE. The same Suzuki dealer who services my S40 had just given up his RE franchise. He said he had horrible problems with them on the business side of being a dealer - hard to get parts delivered timely, took forever to get paid by them for warranty work- those kinds of issues that a consumer doesn't see in the business relationship between a manufacturer and a dealer.

The closest RE dealer to me is about 60 miles away in a small town in southwestern Ohio. For a guy like me who does not do his own wrenching, that is a deal killer from the beginning.

Perhaps the Suzuki dealer is right about the problems with being an RE dealer, or RE would have a far better dealer network. I don't know of any larger dealerships who carry RE products; most of the RE delaers are very small operations.

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by mick on 08/22/10 at 12:24:49

5D525E545F5259555245505245370 wrote:

Correct Jerry,the dealership in Salem is a Double garage with an ally
entrance. The only good thing about an RE is it's looks, buy one ,keep it all polshed up and just enter it in shows.
Enjoy your Savage, it is a fine bike almost maintanance free,looks great ,and reliable.
Unless they have performed magic on these new Enfields ,they are garbage. They were very cheap in England.

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by Savage_Amusement on 08/22/10 at 14:33:47

I saw a few of these today in person and sat on one. Seems like a really decent bike and I could actually touch the ground with both feet!

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by BurnPgh on 08/22/10 at 15:11:28

anyone know if they AVL engines they had for a short while were any better? Im willing to bet after a few years of this new unit engine they'll have all the bugs worked out and it will be a reliable machine. Until then...I've never heard a good thing about them except the style and light weight.

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by Ed L. on 08/22/10 at 15:45:07

Here's a link to a writeup about the Enfield. He says he likes it but it has limitations.
http://www.chuckhawks.com/royal_enfield_letter1.htm

http://www.chuckhawks.com/royal_enfield_letter2.htm

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by mick on 08/22/10 at 17:09:40

Two good letters there Ed, so by all acounts a big improvement from the old days,and that's a good thing, I wonder how long it will take before they go OHC,? hopefully never. I did actually allmost buy one at that Salem Dealership,it was a tad tall for me, at the time I was short $1800 bucks ,I asked if he would finance the $1800,he said no,we don't finance any bikes ,they are all cash only.He also had a "Ural "
dealership,and sidecars ,they look good but have heard bad stuff about them.
After that I sold my little honda rebel and got myself a savage,best single I ever had,and more reliable than my Dad's old Norton ES2.
paid cash ,no dang payments.

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by odmanout on 09/27/10 at 14:09:40

My first bike when I was 15 in '65, was a 1937 RE 500cc Bullet Super Sport. It had four valves, dual exhaust, wet sump lubrication, 2 sparkplugs, a single carb, foot shift, weighed 390lbs. It was a trials bike. You could remove the mufflers and headlight in a few minutes to make it a racer. I bought it from an old guy down the street for 50 bucks. He was the original owner, and bought it because it was the only bike at the time that had a foot shift. I had it up to 98 mph once, but it scared the crap out of me so I never did it again!
The mufflers rusted out so fast you bought them by the dozen. No kidding!

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by mick on 09/27/10 at 16:46:39

here is the best push rod single ever to come out of the UK.

http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr311/mickrowe37/BSA-DBD34-59-1.jpg

and here is another. Arial Red Hunter about a 1950.very fast.

http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr311/mickrowe37/Ariel-Red-Hunter-50.jpg

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by mick on 09/27/10 at 16:48:30

makes my old heart go pitter patter.

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by Lupo on 09/27/10 at 17:26:18

A t-shirt I saw at a bike show has always put a smile on my face, It said:
Royal Enfield
"turning boy's into mechanics"

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by mick on 09/27/10 at 23:04:25

4D504A454051260 wrote:

A t-shirt I saw at a bike show has always put a smile on my face, It said:
Royal Enfield
"turning boy's into mechanics"

very true statement.

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by LostArtist on 09/28/10 at 14:15:56

did someone on here say they wanted the Enfield as a v-twin?

http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2010/09/24/carberry-enfield-v-twins-ready-to-go/

Title: Re: Enfield Thumper
Post by thumperclone on 09/28/10 at 17:00:39

mick have always love the bsa

RE $7k
almost buy 2 ls 650