Forum

[Bullet Whisperer]

Hi Stu, If this machine has indeed got 36 bhp available, that will be adequate for the job, but let's see a road test to find out what one of these lovely looking machines can do. If it is not quick enough [for whoever], it will be disappointing, I am not saying it should be able to take on CBR 600's and the like, obviously, but an example of what I mean is this - in the early eighties, my Father bought a 350 Bullet [Redditch] café racer from a guy who had fitted clip ons, humped seat and geared it up with a massive gearbox sprocket. It looked very fast, but was absolute crap to ride, barely having the power to pull top gear and not able to pass slow traffic and lorries, never mind 'go fast'. It is long since sorted, though and goes as well as it looks nowdays. I am not attacking this new machine, or people that obey speed limits, just saying that I hope the performance is not going to be a let down, as it is a 'sporty' looking machine and the 'Magic Ton' still has an appeal, whether you want to do it, or not and incidentally, I have several machines which will top this figure, but I don't go around flat out on them all the time to prove it to myself. The ability to perform well would boost sales, if this machine can deliver, is all I'm trying to say. Cheers, Paul.

[grunda 12]

We have a new Enfield dealer in Barnsley I will view the conti gt as soon as it arrives , on another subject I found my trusty Electra now runs on diesel ! An unfortunate error but luckily it was A small amou t it smelt like parra fin Ny way it's drained off now I will add some fresh veg oil to it and put it in the diesel! Atb paul

[apparently lucky eddie]

...fit a nice bevel drive OHC motor with desmodromic valves, Conti silencer etc., paint it yellow and add "Ducati" badges - sorted. Being an EFI it will already have right manky electrics and the Indian chrome will be easily removable, hey presto! instant wannabe desmo ducati single. Not! Shame those wily Japs bought up all the real ones whilst selling us their nasty plastic strokers! If that GT does a ton and produces 36 horses from the showroom and more to the point does it more than once I'll eat my 'elmet! Or someones.

[rustygman]

Who buys a 500 single and cares about whether it does the ton or not. The performance will be well up to back road blasting and that is the purpose of a bike like this. It looks good to me (a bit cluttered on the bars perhaps), quality components and I think the finish on enfields is actually ok. Price is reasonable too. Whether it will sell is another matter but there are a lot of newish bikers very into the cafe racer look. Being a tightwad I will of course not be buying one as my 350 iron barrel is fine. Enfield actually have a serious new competitor in the release in a few months (acc to mcn) of the Yamaha sr400 if the price is right. This weeks mcn mentions the return of the xt500. Exciting times for fans of singles.

[Bullet Whisperer]

There are enough people who care about how fast their 500 single [Bullets] can go - look at all the stuff our hosts sell for this very purpose and it is just about the first stuff you see in their catalogue, year after year - high compression pistons, ported heads, long stroke cranks - I'll be here all night if I carry on at this rate, but it proves a point or Hitchcocks would not be selling the performance parts and kits in the quantities they obviously do in order for it to be worth making the various items. I don't suppose all the 612 Bullets are constantly thundering along at over 110 mph, but most of them can probably do it - so why have they been upgraded? Not powerful / fast enough in standard form for their owners, that's why.
It makes no difference to me personally, if this new café racer only does 80 mph flat out, I don't see myself buying one in any case, but it might be a lame duck if it is not able to match the looks it has with a lively performance to match. Cheers, Paul.

[Norm]

Couldn't agree more Paul, nothing looks more stupid than a cafe racer that is not able to even keep up with traffic on main roads and the fact you have 100mph capabilities means you can run all day at 60mph and not be hurting the motor because it is doing it easily

[grunda 12]

just thinking which i don,t do very often but here goes the EFI 500 WILL CRUISE AT AROUND 65/70 MPH ALL DAY LONG so this 535cc conti will undoubtedly do the same plus maybe a little more now heres the crunch enfield are to make this roadburner do i here NIGHTRIDER NIGHTRIDER (MAD MAX REF)if it doesnt go fast enough i,m sure mr h will gear up to produce larger bores performance pipes etc etc but all this is pure speculation lets see a road test hopefully on the top spec conti then all this guessing will be answered atb paul

[Gwilly]

Just wondering what you get for the money and comparing it to the competition...

Lets say you divide the OTR price by cubic capacity or BHP then you know how much each unit costs you per manufacturer..

Triumph Thruxton £7200 -: 865cc /68bhp = £8.32/cc or £105.88 per bhp.

Moto Guzzi V7 Racer £7000 -: 744cc / 50bhp = £9.40/cc or £140.00 per bhp.

Honda CB500F £4650 -: 471cc / 47 bhp =£9.87/cc or £98.93 per bhp.

Royal Enfield CON GT £5200 -: 535cc / 34bhp = £9.71/cc or whopping £152.94 per bhp..

Porsche 911 turbo £118,000 -: 3800cc / 520bhp = £31.05/cc or £226.92/bhp

Enfield is overpriced by £300.00 i reckon...

Ok so its piddlin down outside and i,m bored...

[rustygman]

Nice maths there Gwilly however buying a motorcycle is not a rational decision otherwise we would all be riding Honda 500's. A number of people have stated on this forum they bought modern bonnevilles, found them boring and went back to enfield. Not logical but understandable. I still maintain people will buy the new cafe racer regardless of a lack of 100mph ability. After all people bought 500 iron barrel clubmans and quick they were not. Bullet Whisperer I take your point about the quest for speed for our bullets from our hosts but people buy Hayabusa's and Vmax's and try and make them faster - people will try and make any vehicle faster than how it left the factory - human nature. Our hosts will do well on bits for the cafe racer even if it left the factory a snarling beast of a bike. I won't buy one but I look forward to seeing them out on the road.