Royal Enfield, an old racer

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"Made like a gun." For Royal Enfield, the cry did make sense. The company was a manufacturer of precision parts for weapons. It was founded in 1896 and took the first steps in motorized two-wheeler in 1901. Royal Enfield was a pioneer in the use of chains for secondary transmission. The use of kick-starters, Enfield was also very early on. In 1921 they switched to self-constructed engine blocks

Known for the Bullets

Of course Royal Enfield is mainly known for people born after 1930 for the 350 and 500 cc 'Bullets' .. Those Bullets were very good motorcycles. When they were almost too dated in terms of everything, the entire factory was shipped to India. The Bullets were updated so carefully that it seemed as if time stood still. This did not prevent active dreamers from driving their Enfields, which were purchased in India, 'over land' to the west. Public interest in those Enfields was minimal. The local importers noticed that too. But in India it is now chic to ride Royal Enfield and in terms of export the high-quality engines are not doing badly in the nostalgia wave that is now prevailing.

Our Royal Enfield

It is a competition machine with a saddle tank. To the extent that motorcycles were already equipped with lighting and a speedometer as standard, that stuff was collected, together with the license plate, to transform an ordinary motorcycle into a racing engine. An option that was fairly common until the 1950s. The RE consists of purely essential elements. The remark "of an old lady" is not a sales pitch here. The Royal Enfield is from the widow of the former owner.

Originality after 90 year ...

For lack of better we orient ourselves on the license plate. It contains an indication that we do not find directly in our documentation. We would stand here with an 40 TT L. The license plate states that the machine comes from 'around 1927' and is not protected from the use of lighting. But he can therefore only be driven during the day. But with that indication 40TT L on the license plate we are in our stomach. According to the books, the 350 cc REs from 1924 have a rear brake and kickstarter for the first time. According to the picture books, the machine looks like a somewhat malnourished 500 cc EL30 from 1930, including the manual switch. Browsing even further, we arrive at the 355 Sports head valve from 1929. 100% resembles our photo model. Would the deceased owner have driven a 250 cc machine registered as an 350 cc for years? There is also the chance that we are here watching an early BO 250cc ohv Bullet. Because what all the search has done so far is that the machine probably has a pretty good estimate of the year of manufacture on its license plate and was built around the second half of the 1920s.

The conclusion

This Royal Enfield is an engine that we will encounter more often in the coming ten years. A machine that used to live for many years with its last owner until the owner realized that he was too old to drive or died. This type of engine usually comes on the market shortly after the owner's death. Or they stay under cover for years because the emotional bond first has to wear off.

FOLLOWED MESSAGE:

What exactly is it for Enfield? Via the Royal Enfieldclub NL we ended up in England. We were told from England that it must be a model 355, a 350cc OVH from 1928. Notice that the magnet drive that is not in a cover but is driven directly on the left. Thanks to the RE club Netherlands and England

 

Royal Enfield

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