Royal Enfield

MartytheMartian

MartytheMartian

Legendary Knight
Well gents I did contact the chap, a very nice fellow, who unfortunately has decided, for the moment at least, not to sell them. He says that all his mates were on the phone to him asking what on Earth he was playing at. He tells me that the green framed one cost him over four grand alone, has had a ton of top quality, expensive bits added to it by it's previous owner but still needs a bit of tweaking, service and MOT to get it back on the road while he uses the other one. He is in the middle of a lot of things at the moment, moving house and such and so has decided to step back, take a breather and leave deciding whether he wants to sell one or both of the Enfields to a later date and he will keep me in mind as a potential re-homer
 
Scrappy

Scrappy

Legendary Knight
MartytheMartian said:
Well gents I did contact the chap, a very nice fellow, who unfortunately has decided, for the moment at least, not to sell them. He says that all his mates were on the phone to him asking what on Earth he was playing at. He tells me that the green framed one cost him over four grand alone, has had a ton of top quality, expensive bits added to it by it's previous owner but still needs a bit of tweaking, service and MOT to get it back on the road while he uses the other one. He is in the middle of a lot of things at the moment, moving house and such and so has decided to step back, take a breather and leave deciding whether he wants to sell one or both of the Enfields to a later date and he will keep me in mind as a potential re-homer
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I bet his mates gave him a bit of a reality check. Damn shame the timing wasn't right for you Marty. That Sportsman looked particularly nice, and a potential bargain combined with the Cafe Racer.
 
Don the Don

Don the Don

Legendary Knight
MartytheMartian said:
Well gents I did contact the chap, a very nice fellow, who unfortunately has decided, for the moment at least, not to sell them. He says that all his mates were on the phone to him asking what on Earth he was playing at. He tells me that the green framed one cost him over four grand alone, has had a ton of top quality, expensive bits added to it by it's previous owner but still needs a bit of tweaking, service and MOT to get it back on the road while he uses the other one. He is in the middle of a lot of things at the moment, moving house and such and so has decided to step back, take a breather and leave deciding whether he wants to sell one or both of the Enfields to a later date and he will keep me in mind as a potential re-homer
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something will turn up @MartytheMartian get yourself flush and before you know it as one door closes another one opens,
 
MartytheMartian

MartytheMartian

Legendary Knight
I was looking at that online t'other night and I have to say that it's like the new Goldstar to me. I don't know why and whether it's because of the Euro regs but these bikes seem to becoming really chunky looking and losing their sleek and spindly elegance.
 
MartytheMartian

MartytheMartian

Legendary Knight
Maybe it's market forces more than the legislation and the market wants bikes that are more 'chunky' or bulky looking I don't know but to me it makes them look more toylike. Kind of like the way that, if Corgi made a model of a 1959 Bonneville, it would, because it would need to stand up to kids playing with it, be made more 'chunky' than the real thing. In the early days I think we looked for bikes to be pared down to the minimum to imply that they were lightweight and built for speed where bulky and without any air inside the frame is the way now.
I was giving the new Goldstar a thorough ogling online t'other day and I just can't square the circle - It simply don't look right to me but I had my eyes tuned up by ogling the real one's in my youth I suppose.
 
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Don the Don

Don the Don

Legendary Knight
MartytheMartian said:
Maybe it's market forces more than the legislation and the market wants bikes that are more 'chunky' or bulky looking I don't know but to me it makes them look more toylike. Kind of like the way that, if Corgi made a model of a 1959 Bonneville, it would, because it would need to stand up to kids playing with it, be made more 'chunky' than the real thing. In the early days I think we looked for bikes to be pared down to the minimum to imply that they were lightweight and built for speed where bulky and without any air inside the frame is the way now.
I was giving the new Goldstar a thorough ogling online t'other day and I just can't square the circle - It simply don't look right to me but I had my eyes tuned up by ogling the real one's in my youth I suppose.
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Don't forget to allow for bigger bastids these days as well, or they could be had up for size-ism :whistle:
 
MartytheMartian

MartytheMartian

Legendary Knight
Anyone ever experienced something like this?

Couple of weeks ago my black 500 Bullet wouldn't start. Well she kicked over once as if she was going to start and then refused to fire any more. Because of the weather, between downpours, snow and ice, I didn't get around to having a look at her until today.

I pulled the spark plug, plugged it into the plug cap and laid it on the engine. Kicked the bike over a few times and there was no sign whatsoever of a spark. I then picked up the spark plug cap to unplug the spark plug and, though I definitely didn't touch the plug itself I got a thump through my thumb on the plug cap. I thought perhaps the plug hadn't been touching the engine well enough I moved it to where I knew it was definitely making contact with the metal. No spark but again, when I took hold of the plug cap I got a thump through my thumb. Nothing obviously wrong with the plug except that the gap looked a bit too tight. I pulled the plug from my other bullet, plugged it into the cap, kicked the bike over and got a healthy spark. Screwed the plug into the head and she fired up first kick.

It's a new one on me... I've had HT leads that were breaking down and zapped me when I touched them, I've had the thump holding the plug while turning the engine over but never been zapped while holding the plug cap before. Given that a swap of plug sorted everything out I would imagine it's something to do with the plug rather than anything to do with the plug cap.
 
MartytheMartian

MartytheMartian

Legendary Knight
I did wonder if perhaps there was a fine film of condensation over the plug cap causing it to conduct of if the spark jumped the gap from the metal to my thumb. On the plus side, with the plug from the other Bullet there's a big fat spark so I think it'll be alright. I've ordered some more plugs and my other Bullet isn't on the road at the moment due to it's MOT having expired and I'm not going to put her on the road until the spring.
 
Sarky B’stard

Sarky B’stard

Legendary Knight
It was the curse of early 1970s Jap bikes designed for Californian conditions. My Yamaha would arc out in rain and replacing the metal shielded plug caps with Champion jobbies effected an instant cure. They otherwise arced to the nearest cooling fins on the head before completely shutting down the motor.

It was a bit like stopping the lawnmower with the bendy tab and your fingernail straying beyond the rubber portion. Wham! Jerky arm and flat on your back on the lawn!
 
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