Hitchcocks Forum

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331409846642? ... EBIDX%3AIT Not my bike - I've just seen the listing, but is this bike 'right?' Listed as a 1952 'British Royal Enfield,' it looks totally Indian to me with a few new parts, such as Hagon shocks. Also, the listing says 'Although the bike is registered as a 350 it has an oversized piston with 500 boar (sic!) and a tuned cylinder head.' All rather puzzling...........

I haven't looked at the add but there are 2 very distinctive things with an early British Enfield frame, tapered front down tube and the tube that comes down to the gearbox, on the English frame comes down to almost touch the top of the gearbox

Quote from the ad...

"Although the bike is registered as a 350 it has an oversized piston with 500 boar...."


500 boar?? That's a lot of these fellas....






I suppose he means that it has a lot of grunt...!!

Well, that's an unusual one. I think it's just possible that the engine (or cases,) and frame are Redditch but the rest (with the exception of the top yoke,) is Indian. Having said that, the 1952 350 cc Bullet had the engine breather in a different place and didn't have an alternator so the primary cases and distributor are also wrong. The work appears to have been done well so someone who didn't mind could get a decent bike for much less than the cost of the components. REgards, Mark

The main difference between Indian and English frames is the tubes from S/A pivot to seat tube bend into seat tube on english frames and are bolted to a cross tube above gearbox on Indian. That's the first thing I look for in photos to tell if it's a tarted up Indian.

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Interesting positioning of the coil!



Those seat springs look to have a lot of travel too!



One good pothole in the road, and you are going to be screaming way more than blue murder!

Well, it looks like it is a Redditch frame looking at the tubing behind gearbox, and seat spring mounts. He has put it all in black and white, so if it can be proved otherwise, he can be held accountable. I don`t know much about Redditch Enfields, so can`t really comment on parts. But, that tank looks like one of the Indian wide "custom" tanks.

Just seen on our hosts accessory catalogue, that they do sell the wide, larger capacity tank, but it is made in India. So, not strictly speaking an English part. Strike one!

Considering all, it is a very handsome machine, except for the crash bars, (wait 'till an owner slams his front brake on and the mudguard hooks behind the bottom mount!). And if there's one thing I hate to see, it's that cloth pipe wrap, I always think it's a cheap excuse not to use chrome, or even paint.

Looks like whoever built this has gone for a semi-bobber look, which explains the dreaded pipe wrap. Looks like an anglo-indian bitsa, not necessarily a bad thing in itself, but this one doesn't float my boat. A.