THIS IS AN ADVENTURE BIKE!
My 500cc Bullet is little changed from its original design of the 1950s. So adaptable was it for rugged terrain, heat, cold and straightforward repairs, that the entire factory was bought from Redditch, England and shipped to Chennai in India in the 1960s. They could see it would be the best machine for the country’s police and army at a time when the British motorcycle industry was being soundly beaten by Japanese imports. Enfields have been made in India ever since with new models popping up from time to time. Now the range has grown to include off-road motorcycles, adventure bikes, cruisers and I'm happy to report that a new Royal Enfield Bullet 350 is a new addition to the range. My 2000 model has drum brakes and a kick-start but new ones have disc brakes and electric starters and meet worldwide noise and emission requirements. In March 2007 when it was seven years old, mine just scraped into the UK in time, before new controls would have meant it not being allowed to come home with me. It would have been like abandoning my best friend.
From Chennai to Bristol, between 2000 and 2007, this wondrous motorbike took me about 40,000 miles (67.500km). That has to be an estimate as I wiped off the speedometer hub drive when I did a sideways pirouette on a muddy road in Nepal and was without one for a while.
My bike has dents and scratches and quirky alterations and odd replacement parts that have been fitted along the way. It would never win a ‘Best Bike’ prize at any show but each knock and idiosyncrasy recalls an event.
I’m not a brilliant mechanic but I can do some basic maintenance after all these years and miles. All I know is that when I’m riding it, I get a happy grin. People get ‘high’ from drugs or aerobic exercise. I just have to ride my Enfield and listen to the engine.
When I first returned to the UK it lived with me for 3 years on a Dutch barge moored in Bristol harbour. Now residing in an inelegant but dry and secure bin-store, I keep it close to me in my city centre flat. It is still my only means of transport. I know it’s just bits of metal, but the whole is much greater than the sum of its individual parts!
From Chennai to Bristol, between 2000 and 2007, this wondrous motorbike took me about 40,000 miles (67.500km). That has to be an estimate as I wiped off the speedometer hub drive when I did a sideways pirouette on a muddy road in Nepal and was without one for a while.
My bike has dents and scratches and quirky alterations and odd replacement parts that have been fitted along the way. It would never win a ‘Best Bike’ prize at any show but each knock and idiosyncrasy recalls an event.
I’m not a brilliant mechanic but I can do some basic maintenance after all these years and miles. All I know is that when I’m riding it, I get a happy grin. People get ‘high’ from drugs or aerobic exercise. I just have to ride my Enfield and listen to the engine.
When I first returned to the UK it lived with me for 3 years on a Dutch barge moored in Bristol harbour. Now residing in an inelegant but dry and secure bin-store, I keep it close to me in my city centre flat. It is still my only means of transport. I know it’s just bits of metal, but the whole is much greater than the sum of its individual parts!
Copyright Leigh Wilkins, Traverse Magazine