- Tue May 28, 2019 8:17 pm
#83267
my first motorbike on the road was an arial arrow sports (golden arrow) what a load of crap that was, I spent more time pushing it to try and start it, in the wet because the coils were under the dummy tank and got wet it stopped, the kick start and gear change were on crappy multi splines which rounded off in time, the engine ran on a 20 to1 oil mix, any poor sod following me copped a total smoke out ! enfields were not the only brit bikes I owned that were crap, I have owned many motorbikes, I am a motorbike person through and through, I never did much with cars, have never been without a motorbike since the age of 14 yes 14, I was banned from driving before I had a license for riding a 600 norton combo round the local housing estate with a plank on the sidecar chassis ,fine a pound for each of the 23 offences i was charged with and banned foe 12 months 8 months before I was 16 and able to get a licence !! I am now close to 70 have a harley fat boy and recently bought my first enfield bullet and I am impressed with it, two years ago I sold my last KTM exc having had two of these, in my life I have ridden trials owning several trials bikes, I had a 250 and a 360 husky for scrambling, a 250 moto guzzi in a Reynolds spine frame for road racing, I have had 2 rickman matesses just to name a small selection of my motorbikes, triumph,bsa,norton,aerial,matchless,ajs and others, I have owned most models in there range, my point to you is I do remember how bad the british motorcycle in all makes really were but at the time I loved them all and still do even with there bad engineering and quirky faults, the reason I dont own an old classic now is because I have owned most of them at some point and I look at classic bikes like gold stars which sell for silly money, I had 2 both 500 DBD 34s one cost me £80 the other £150 and I really cant bring myself to value them at anymore than I paid for them.
I am impressed with my new enfield and the fact that its made in india is of little interest to me, it has a better pedigree than my harley and has been in constant production for over 80 years, think about it and support Royal Enfield as a motorcycle with a purpose to enjoy leisurely two wheel fun.