Biting the Bullet: Living with the Enfield

By Landon Hall

The truth of the matter is we’ve been lousy hosts. Classic Motorworks, the United States distributor for Royal Enfield, was nice enough to supply us with a 2005 Bullet Deluxe, and until early this year, we mostly just pushed it on and off of a trailer and said “what a cool looking bike.” Oh, and we busted the muffler in the process. 

Since late July we’d barely put 300 miles on the thumper, though our lack of seat time did give enthusiasts around the country a chance to see the bike at the many shows our Motorcycle Classics team attended. But, winter is upon us, the shows have come to a halt, and our rig is back at Motorcycle Classics headquarters. Despite the less than ideal weather, it was time to get this puppy broken in.

Before putting it back on the road, we performed the scheduled 300-mile maintenance. This included changing the engine oil and filter, gear oil, adjusting the valves (a curious job as there are no specs for tightness — the tappets are simply tightened until the pushrods can be moved up and down just slightly), easily adjusting both the primary chain and the drive chain, and cleaning the air filter. Getting the filter out of and back into the air box was the hardest part of the whole endeavor. But don’t let the idea of doing routine maintenance on this ride scare you. Old-school design also means easy to work on. Do have a full set of tools though, as it seems each and every bolt is a different size.  We replaced the long, heavy (and  broken ... whoops) stock muffler with a shorty muffler that has a removable baffle. We also bumped the main jet up from a 110 to a 115 to compensate for the more free-flowing system. What we found was a bit more power, better throttle response and a lot more sound. Leaving the baffle out turns the bike into a raucous little beast that will have your neighbors hating you very quickly. That said, we haven’t quite gotten around to putting the baffle in yet. We’re bad. We know.

What we have done is ride nearly 200 miles on it in the last few weeks (we should do better, but Kansas winters are cold!), and we’re still loving this little British-by-India single. Now if we can just get a few more horses out of the thing ... MC

North Motorsports taking deposits
Norton Motorsports is taking deposits for the 2007 production Commando. The 100 Commando Signature Series 961SS models (roughly $19,995) have already been reserved, but now the company is accepting deposits on the sporty Commando 961S ($13,200) and base Commando 961 ($11,000) models. The Signature Series models will be built first in mid-2007, followed by the other Commandos.

All three versions will share the same air-cooled, 961cc parallel-twin engine. Norton claims 80 rear-wheel horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 65lb-ft of torque at 5,200 rpm. The three models will also share a welded chromoly steel-tube frame and an aluminum swingarm, and each bike will have a 24.5-degree rake, 4 inches of trail, and a 56.5in wheelbase, along with a 32in seat height. The pre-order process consists of a $500 deposit. For model specs and more, visit www.nortonmotorcycles.com.

The Legend of the Motorcycle International Concours d’Elegance will be the first North American event of its kind for motorcycles. With an exhibition of 200 motorcycles covering nearly 100 years of history and judged by an international panel of experts, the event has been established to create a forum for motorcycling on a level only previously associated with fine automobiles. “Legend of the Motorcycle is a celebration of the art of motorcycling. It pays homage to the rich heritage, innovation, beauty and lifestyle the motorcycle imbues,” says founder Jared Zaugg. The inaugural event’s featured marques will be Crocker and Brough, and in addition to the standard class awards, there will be a variety of special category awards. The lawns of the Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, Calif., will play host on May 6, 2006. For more info, visit www.LegendoftheMotorcycle.com. MC