revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Imho the more costly ones with the chime panels on the tank and mudguard look the best/authentic. I even like the metallic turd coloured one.

KungFooBob wrote: Thu Aug 17, 2023 3:41 pm Imho the more costly ones with the chime panels on the tank and mudguard look the best/authentic. I even like the metallic turd coloured one.

Is that instead of a horn?

Skub wrote: Thu Aug 17, 2023 3:43 pm

KungFooBob wrote: Thu Aug 17, 2023 3:41 pm Imho the more costly ones with the chime panels on the tank and mudguard look the best/authentic. I even like the metallic turd coloured one.

Is that instead of a horn?

That's the professional RE owners way of spulling Chrome.

My time & money would be better invested getting my XT600 running,but if someone was offering me a free gratis Enfield I'd take the red & chrome one.

The Kawasaki, buy the Kawasaki.

Out of the Enfields, the red one is prettiest.

While you're looking at the Enfield, maybe try and blag a go on the new Goldstar.

They're only a couple of grand more than the RE.

I call in there reasonably often - they usually have an interesting 2nd hand stock worth a look round.

And, yes, buy the Kawasaki.

I still prefer the Bronze (Turd) one.

But... the matt blue/white HNTR350 is deffo the looker of the bunch...

The bloke from Shropshire has voted and gives 10 points to...

Redditch green & Halycon grey.

Dodgy69 wrote: Thu Aug 17, 2023 8:10 pm The bloke from Shropshire has voted and gives 10 points to...

Redditch green & Halycon grey.

Is that the blue one?

A mate of mine has a 500 classic in that gopping khaki colour.
It's a hateful thing. Unable to overtake cars, the spokes break with startling regularity and it eats cush drives (Fuck knows how!) It's on its 3rd set in 9000 miles. It has some exhaust emission control thing on it which went wrong when it was new and even Royal Enfield couldn't fix it for months.
I hate it and can't see the point in it....but my mate loves it. I think he actually loves the fact that whenever it's parked/broken down, there's an endless stream of boring old twats that want to admire it.

My (2014) 500 is pre Euro4, so no ABS or CAT, cos it doesn't need ABS it gets away with a rear drum rather than disc.

It's got around 9k on it, 3 of which I've done. Never had a problem with spokes or cushdrive. I've had two problems... the grub screw holding the headlamp rim on vibrated loose and the headlamp fell out (at an indicated 72MPH, a record!!), but nothing was lost as it just dangled on the wires.

It developed an oil leak on the right side of the head. I suspected head gasket. I took the rocker cover off and then the valve rocker block for the exhaust valve as it was blocking a head bolt. It was finger loose. I tightened it up and no problems since.

The 350 is ALOT more refined, so I doubt it will have the vibration related problems the older 500 has.

All Royal Enfields have a strong sense of 'evoke' in their DNA. They evoke an era when the Japanese were still a distant and minor threat rather than market leaders, and when clunky old British iron was still regarded as quality. I know that in QC terms they are way better than bikes of the era they evoke, but performance seems pretty much the same. And of course that is precisely the nostalgia market they are tapping into.

It obviously works for many, but not for me. I resisted the siren call of clunky old unreliable incontinent Brit iron back in the sixties and I'm not about to fall for it this time, even if it is dressed up in a posh frock.

I'm test riding one of these next weekend, they seem to have a sort of roadshow thing going on ATM - maybe worth a look / test too?


https://i.postimg.cc/yNsTqRKf/IMG-20230817-103848.jpg]

Always space for an artificial classic...I see an AC rttl weekender happening.

I can't decide whether they're genii for thinking there's a decent size market for these retro bikes or whether it's really obvious that the market (at least in the UK) is mainly blokes with disposable income that remember these bikes from first time around.

What else should they conjure up from the dim and distant past? BSA Bantam, Rocket 3, Vincents? Get the prices right and they'd sell a few.

I like the Triumph 'new classics', I quite like the RE 650s, but if I am going to only have 20hp I want something small and very light, with a revvy motor. The RE 350 is not small, not light, and the motor is a plodder. Just like an original 350 I suppose, but they were always just commuters (AJS Porcupine excepted), exciting bikes were either bigger or smaller.
I hope Dodgy enjoys his, but I have tried it, and it's not for me.

Count Steer wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 7:02 am I can't decide whether they're genii for thinking there's a decent size market for these retro bikes or whether it's really obvious that the market (at least in the UK) is mainly blokes with disposable income that remember these bikes from first time around.

What else should they conjure up from the dim and distant past? BSA Bantam, Rocket 3, Vincents? Get the prices right and they'd sell a few.

You'd have to be over 65 to remember shite like Enfields first time round.