- Fri May 07, 2021 7:25 am
#96646
What's my point ? Pining for the past. I started running Enfield Bullets when Wilf Green was the importer. Possibly because it was my business, I found them very easy to understand, work on, and make reliable. I'm afraid I can't boast of having 7 but over 4 decades I've had 4. Once set up properly they got nothing but regular albeit intensive, maintenance. 2 out of the 4 saw over 100K miles. When I first got one, apparently they were the "worst motorcycle in the world", derided and laughed at, and sworn at by people who bought them who shouldn't have. That's how I got my first one, from someone who could live with a bike that he couldn't start, and kept on stopping when it shouldn't. Then there were the "magnetic mudflap" jokes and don't you ride with a friend behind you to pick up the bits ? At one point in my life I was covering over 2000 miles a month on a Bullet, trouble free. The last Bullet I bought, and by far the best was in 2010. A 2008 registered 350, bought from a man who hated it since he bought it, because it "wouldn't start". It was the best out of the lot, and I made a huge mistake selling it. The jokes stopped, and the admiration started, then instead of being criticised, the question would be "how much is that worth then ?" Throughout the 4 decades or so, the basic workmanlike motorcycle hasn't really changed . People's perception of it has. An earlier post made comment about a Velocette. Enfield Bullets rightfully have their place in history, but they never were, and were never intended to be a "Velocette". So if the humble Bullet has now become the "affordable" choice of the hobby biker/bean counter, then fair enough, the times have changed, perhaps not for the better.
