- Fri Oct 30, 2015 1:03 am
#5650
[center]


Picked Tornado up today. His head bearing will need changing soon, but he flew through the MOT.



The cylinder head that our hosts supplied (Thanks guys!) looks very tidy, one of the few shiny pieces of metal on the bike!
I had always 'kinda' hoped that Tornado had been a real military bike, but 'sorta' knew he probably wasn't. Seems I may have been wrong!
Tornado has 4 missing years. He also has "50011 EX-ARMY" chalked on the frame under the tank.
and unlike most other military bullets, the wheel rims, spokes and everything else came already painted olive green. This was not repeated on later 'made for export' military bullets
He was one of the 'Bavanar' import bikes, the military version being available as a special order only.
Bavanar had the factory paint the gold pinstripes on, to make the bikes look more attractive.
I now believe that Tornado spent three years with the Indian Army, and was then returned to the factory to be refurbished and have gold pin-striping, before being sent to Bavanar in the UK. This might seem a bit fanciful, but also seems the only explanation that fits all of the known facts. Civilians in India are not allowed to have olive green (army coloured) vehicles, so for Tornado to spend four years there, it seems more likely he did three years in the army, as he could not be sold to, or used by civilians and it seems unlikely that he spent four years in the factory.
This would also explain the 'special order' to obtain one from Bavanar. They could only import them as and when they came back in from the army to be fixed up! Enfield India were in financial difficulty, and Bavanar must have been very useful to them, as anybody buying an ex military vehicle in India had to repaint it a non olive green colour. This makes it harder to sell the old bullets, so what better for the factory than to buy them back cheap, do a refurb, and then export them, saving on the cost of a total repaint? This might also explain why Tornado had three slightly different shade of green on him, the gold pinstriped parts are slightly glossy and a different colour to the engine. the frame and other parts are a third shade! This indicates that various sections of the bike were painted at three different stages.
Having said all that, I may never know for sure, but one thing is certain. I love my military bullet and whatever his history, nothing is going to change that!
Anyway, there is a pdf of the Bavanar 1990's bullet brochure on my site along with other neat RE, Lucas, Smith's and Amal documentation on the following link.
Scaly's RE stuff


Your out of date, possibly Microsoft browser does not support the audio element.




Tabellarius de verbis ostensor gaudium


Picked Tornado up today. His head bearing will need changing soon, but he flew through the MOT.



The cylinder head that our hosts supplied (Thanks guys!) looks very tidy, one of the few shiny pieces of metal on the bike!
I had always 'kinda' hoped that Tornado had been a real military bike, but 'sorta' knew he probably wasn't. Seems I may have been wrong!
Tornado has 4 missing years. He also has "50011 EX-ARMY" chalked on the frame under the tank.
and unlike most other military bullets, the wheel rims, spokes and everything else came already painted olive green. This was not repeated on later 'made for export' military bullets
He was one of the 'Bavanar' import bikes, the military version being available as a special order only.
Bavanar had the factory paint the gold pinstripes on, to make the bikes look more attractive.
I now believe that Tornado spent three years with the Indian Army, and was then returned to the factory to be refurbished and have gold pin-striping, before being sent to Bavanar in the UK. This might seem a bit fanciful, but also seems the only explanation that fits all of the known facts. Civilians in India are not allowed to have olive green (army coloured) vehicles, so for Tornado to spend four years there, it seems more likely he did three years in the army, as he could not be sold to, or used by civilians and it seems unlikely that he spent four years in the factory.
This would also explain the 'special order' to obtain one from Bavanar. They could only import them as and when they came back in from the army to be fixed up! Enfield India were in financial difficulty, and Bavanar must have been very useful to them, as anybody buying an ex military vehicle in India had to repaint it a non olive green colour. This makes it harder to sell the old bullets, so what better for the factory than to buy them back cheap, do a refurb, and then export them, saving on the cost of a total repaint? This might also explain why Tornado had three slightly different shade of green on him, the gold pinstriped parts are slightly glossy and a different colour to the engine. the frame and other parts are a third shade! This indicates that various sections of the bike were painted at three different stages.
Having said all that, I may never know for sure, but one thing is certain. I love my military bullet and whatever his history, nothing is going to change that!
Anyway, there is a pdf of the Bavanar 1990's bullet brochure on my site along with other neat RE, Lucas, Smith's and Amal documentation on the following link.
Scaly's RE stuff


Your out of date, possibly Microsoft browser does not support the audio element.




Tabellarius de verbis ostensor gaudium
REOC 15084
Tabellarius de verbis. Ostensor gaudium
Tabellarius de verbis. Ostensor gaudium
