Graham, the Australian importer for Royal Enfield, gave us a call the other day – so Ms M Snr and I popped up to beautiful downtown Kyneton (Vic) to sample the latest.

Okay, for those not in the know, here’s a quick recap. The honourable British marque Royal Enfield (of rifle and motorcycle fame) was sold off to India some decades ago. And that country, to its eternal credit, kept producing and developing a basic 500cc single-cylinder road bike called the Bullet.

It has gone through various incarnations over time, and sold here with some success for a couple of decades. (It has also generated some wonderful club names, such as the Madras Bulls.)

The news is the Bullet now has a modern fuel-injected powerplant, albeit air-cooled. And this is the biggest thing to happen to the model since the 1950s.

Now before you dismiss this as some sort of teary-eyed sentimental waffle, I can assure you that many horsepower hounds out there love Bullets. MC Trader road tester Rob Smith is one, I (as the owner of a 220-horse Hayabusa) am another, and I know one national motorcycle distributor, of a rival and more flash brand, treasures his. So does spouse Ms M Snr, who couldn't give a fat rat's arse about horsepower...

There is a real joy in sitting astride a simple understated single as it thumps along.

The problem for Enfield has been that traffic has got faster, while its product has not. Also, let’s face it, who among us has time for quirky starting regimes and short service intervals – no matter how simple they are?

Enfield now produces trucks and other automotive devices, and I got a chance to talk to the heir to the company throne a couple of years ago, by phone. He was clearly switched-on and prided himself on his engineering background. No wild claims were made, but he did quietly say something along the lines of “watch this space”.

Now I can see why. Though based only on a brief afternoon ride, I can at least say the new Bullet is a revelation for the brand. It starts quickly on the button with no throttle, and has loads more bottom end and midrange than before. Top end is still modest, but better, so it will tap out at an honest 130km/h.

Having just stepped off an Electra (the previous flagship) I was genuinely surprised at how willing the new monster is.

Also – and this is as important as performance for many, I suspect – they’ve got the styling right. The Electra didn’t really look the goods, but the new one is right. As is the ‘classic’ variant.

If you mention an Enfield to many (most?) current riders, they will stare at you in either ignorance or disbelief. But for those of us who’ve ridden a good one, it’s one of life’s great pleasures.

Look for a more comprehensive squiz at the new toy in the next Motorcycle Trader mag, number 221.

Meanwhile, you can see the localEnfield website at this link.

Shed clean

Spent much of last weekend trying to clean out the shed, which is a hopeless job. Daughter Ms M Jnr got involved, thank heavens, so we’re no longer wading through a mildly sticky level of crap as we wander from front to back.

A wet winter is a real problem down this end of the country. Though we haven’t had a proper soaking rain (farmers call it a green drought), it’s been cold and damp for weeks.

Which means you become reluctant to pull sparkling bikes out of the shed and take them for a run, if it just means getting them filthy. (So the humble 1980 Honda CB250 has been getting a lot more work than it expected…) But we had a dry patch and I took the sidecar for a run (still not working right – another story), plus Hannibal the Hayabusa, Trevor the T150V Trident and Casper the GTS1000. Rocinante the Daytona 1200 got a wash, and a run, too.

Our Kingswood also got a tub and a gallop.

The only problem was that I got to see the proverbial elephant in the corner, the as yet un-named SR500 project bike that is still awaiting assembly. Seeing it reminded me of all the dirt bikes out the back which also desperately need to be revived. Bugger.

Anyway, the squirt with Dr Gange the sidecar confirmed that I’ve completely buggered up the jetting – way, way, too rich, probably. Spannerman has offered me a set of carbs off his similar Suzuki GS1000G (running 107 mains versus my 125s) and I’ll pick them up tonight. I really want to get this sorted, so we can move onto the SR.

Home movies

Project vehicles have dominated my life for the last couple of years, which has damaged the wallet beyond repair. Still, a couple have worked out well.

Casper the Yamaha GTS1000 features in the current issue of Motorcycle Trader magazine (#220) and there is an accompanying video at this link.

Last issue, the magazine featured Trevor the Trident, and it too has a home movie at this link.

Guido

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