Royal Enfields From India, Anyone Had One? Any Good?

Ah, same engine as the Mash? I thought it looked like a Honda XBR500 unit. I guess they must have managed to make it a bit larger capacity. I gather Mash downscaled the engine to 400cc but were trying to go up to 500cc and, for some reason couldn't do it which is why they have the very odd situation of having a 400cc bike called the Mash Five Hundred!

 

Just glanced at Fleabay and the SWM's are no cheaper than the Enfield's. When y'all mentioned their 'disposability' I thought they were going to be ridiculously cheap

 

Well I am getting very, very, very close to spending some moolah on an Enfield Trials as there is simply nothing else really worth taking a pop at on the market. Boy have bikes changed while I was away. Some very freaky and uncomfortable looking machines around and all the 'standard' styles of the 80's and 90's seem to have largely disappeared. The image I am getting is that the Chinese stuff is an unknown quantity, might last forever or might explode tomorrow and I have no idea what the spares situation is like as, while they are 'based' on a good(ish) honda unit (If I remember rightly the XBR500 unit wasn't considered really any more than OK) I am guessing, that doesn't mean they are neccessarily as robust or durable and, anyway their prices are not really low enough to make them really worth the risk. I was tempted by the Triumph Scramble but I do tend to think that, while it might do OK in the scrambler role and I could get one for a couple of hundred more than a brand new Enfield Trials, it is probably really only a scrambler in name only. That's not to say that the Enfield Trials is a genuine scrambler either but I reckon it probably will potter up and down forestry roads fairly well and does 'look the part' of a classic Scrambler much better than the Triumph. It may be just my aging and jaded eyes but the Triumph looks far too chunky and bulky to be taken seriously in the role of off-roader. I feel that it's kind of 'neither here nor there' and like someone has bastardised a road going Bonnie for no good reason.

Next thing I have to wrestle with is - Would I be able to live with a red frame in order to buy a Royal Enfield Trials (ex-demo with only 57 miles on the clock) at £3850 saving £850 on the Brand New 'OTR' price that I would probably have to pay for a green one?

 

Well, I have to admit that, from being on the point of picking up the phone and buying a brand new one in Green for the required £4,700 (not sure if shipping is included as I never got that far) I have, once more pulled back from the abyss. I have removed the rose tinted goggles and done some more research and I am starting to really think there are four main reasons why I shouldn't drop my money on one.

1. Someone on Youtube pointed out just how much cleaning and polishing is required on that model to keep it from disintegrating before your very peepers. I hate cleaning and polishing and like good honest dirt.

2. Over the period of viewing a number of videos the recurring theme seems to be having to fix numerous recurring faults with any model of Enfield. Yes I like to get the spanners out but I also like to be able to ride the machine for reasonably decent periods of time without incident.

3. Actually comparing it to original British built Enfield Trials bike it really isn't that close a 'replica' but really just a bog standard bullet in a thin disguise.

4. I have watched a number of videos that make me think that, despite my reservations, perhaps a good used Triumph Scrambler would actually be a better handling off roader and also a much more reliable machine and probably a lot more durable finish also.

The other options are to buy a much more reasonably priced second hand Royal Enfield Classic (around three grand seems to be the going rate) and stick some dual-purpose tyres on it or buy the 2001 green and silver Bonnie that keeps calling to me for three and a half with 15 thou on the clocks and stick some dual purpose tyres on it and just have some fun.

I have to say that this is possibly the most difficult motorcycle hunt I have ever been on. Ain't got a bleedin' clue what attributes I really need to have some fun up the forestry trails balanced against not really wanting to spend too much on something that might well get quite badly bent.

 

@Callumity Montessa's are a bit thin on the ground (there are only two on fleabay, a 250 and a 315 both for two grand and are probably for exploits much more ambitious than I am aiming at.

I am definitely leaning towards an earlier Triumph 865 Scrambler or the aforementioned 2001 Bonnie with a tyre change. I was impressed by several videos I found of folk hammering around on the Triumph scrambler. There is one in particular which is filmed at Triumph's own off road experience place and despite spending much of his time screaming like a girl the fellow actually seems to be really enjoying his off-road experience on surfaces quite a bit looser than I am thinking about.

 

Thanks for that advice @Tiglet Well I have done the deal and put the deposit down on the 2001 790cc Bonnie in green and silver from Superbike factory. Apparently the bike needs a new reg/rec, battery and MOT which will all be done before she is shipped. The bike comes with a screen, centre stand and Givi hardcase panniers. It also appears that the engine side casings are chromed which I don't believe was standard. Might whip them off and put them on 'Britt' (my current 2001 Bonnie) as she only has polished ally casings. The bike is showing 15 thousand miles and, according to the fellow I spoke with, she had done 11,000 miles by the time of the first MOT they have in 2005 and has been MOT'ed every year since then but did little more than mileage to MOT station and back each year. All in I think it looks like a well kept and cared for bike. Not sure about the exhaust but they look a bit short to be the standard pea shooters and, if they are Toga's or the like I will be whipping them off to keep as spares and replacing with them with something else.

Any recommendations for sump guards?

Any recommendations for good tyres for both off-road and on-road use?

 

Hi @Alatamoc This is the actual Fleabay listing for the bike and has good pictures of both sides. She has had the Tacho, centre stand, panniers and screen added which I would imagine, implies she has been well looked after in terms of other aftermarket. Do those pipes look standard? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-TRIUMPH-BONNEVILLE-ALL-TYPES-OF-CREDIT-ACCEPTED/363064947867

 

Thanks for the heads-up @Alatamoc Just looking at the photos myself and comparing them to pics of the America in the splendid book my wife gifted me today "Triumph Bonneville 60 Years" I see just what you mean about the left hand engine cover difference and it's definitely not an America engine.

I'm not sure when exactly the Bonnie's went on sale but I see that, according to the DVLA this one was registered in January 2001 on an X-reg plate. Looking at the MOT history, between 2001 and 2006 she covered 14,121 and since then, over the next 14 years she only covered a further 1,064 miles. Literally between 30 and 120 miles a year. Now that's light use!