Forum

[barry.amon]

Hi I want to have my say on Enfields made in India, it seems people may be under the miss conception that Enfields made in India are not the same quality spec as those made in Redditch? I am nearly 70 years old and remember the 50s and 60s enfields in fact I had a crusader, a. GT continental, 700 meteor and a constellation, I must tell you all these bikes had there problems regarding quality issues, I also had loads of other bikes british and jap in fact in 1969 myself Alan Hemings and Henry Graham started a little motorcycle business, I named it Motorcycle City following a disagreement with Alan that wanted to call it City Motorcycles, I won !!! I have never been without a motorcycle all my life I now have a Harley and I recently bought my first 500 bullet EFI as a stable mate and I am impressed with the build quality far superior than anything that ever came out of Redditch, you have to remember redditch. was an armaments factory they made the american lee enfiled rifle used in each war and they never made a very good job of that either, rifles made in the Canadian factory were better quality, the tooling at Redditch was out dated and 1st world war and earlier, the motorbikes made in the 1930s and up to 1955 were generally quite poor in quality and durability this is the reason the British army used BSAs through the 50s,60,and 70s using rge 441 victor, this was not the case for Royal Enfield India they were making motorbikes infact 350 and 500 bullets for the Indian army, these bikes were designed for heavy duty mountainous work in difficult terrain the fact that they are still producing bikes and indeed the 500 bullet is testimony to the Indian bike quality and durability, my new bike exceeded my expectations on all counts thought you might like to know.
My thanks go out to dealers such as Hitchcocks who follow the Enfield brand with pride and conviction and make it possible for people like me to follow our dreams and nostalgia.
barry amon

[Philluap]

try an Indian iron barrel from say 2000

[barry.amon]

Why ? specifi

[Beezabryan]

Enfield India quality control was abysmal, happily it seems to be somewhat improved these past few years.
What was perceived as substandard in the 60s and back is immaterial to today's products.
Just my 2d

[stinkwheel]

Although having just fitted a rebuilt crank to my 2007 350 bullet (the drive shaft having come loose to the point it was finger-tight in the original, which says a lot in itself). I had to do the job twice bacause having nipped the cases up, the flywheel on the new crank was rubbing against unfiled casting sprues on the inside of the crankcase.

Some of the threads are so badly cut as to be unmeasurable.

[Philluap]

and wait there s more

[barry.amon]

Enfield India quality control was abysmal, happily it seems to be somewhat improved these past few years.
What was perceived as substandard in the 60s and back is immaterial to today's products.
Just my 2d

Yes I agree with this however I believe Enfield India holds its own on a quality product now. but quality control of most bikes made in the UK in 60s the was crap and I agree it is immaterial to to-days products as we now rely mainly on japan for parts for so called UK manufactured bikes things have improved in the industry.

[vince]

Hi, My first bike was a Honda C95 Benly 150cc twin. it was only 4years old, very unreliable, spares were non existent and what was available were difficult to get and I was off the road all summer trying to get a condensor. My long suffering father drove me to all the main Honda dealers with no luck. Finally my friend go one from Pride and Clarkes where the stores guy said it was the same as a C90! My next bike was a 30yr old BSA M20 I could get any spare off the shelf at the local shop and it was dead reliable. Personally I have never had any problem with enfields, but I think a lot depends on how you treat them! Vince

[Super45]

Mines a 2000 350 and has had a hard life with several lay ups over the years and can basically be described as the classic abused bike with 1 careful owner (Me!) and 6 not so careful! and after nearly 2 years of TLC including 2 head gaskets full new clutch kit, new carb, and repair of previous owners bodges, replacement of various electrical items and replacement of both mudguards and the full exhaust due to ingrained rust so were now back up and running with 12 months ticket! but although its cost me a small fortune and nearly what the bike cost me to buy in the first place she's NEVER broken down on me and has just been treated to some larger jets & slide to give her a bit more oomph

[Jamesy]

Having owned a 2003 Enfield 350 I can definitely say it was nowhere near the quality,reliability of the jap bikes I have owned of that era.That being a Honda CBR 600, Kawasaki zzr 600 and others.Having said that I remember Enfield selling the 350 at that time for £1995.The Jap equivalents were at least double that.