Forum

[MartinB]

As an Electra X owner who is generally pretty pleased with his bike after various upgrades from our hosts can anyone tell me whether changing to an EFI is worthwhile?

[apparently lucky eddie]

...Only if you want to start upgrading and improving again Martin. Having probably spent a small fortune "upgrading", ie improving your Electra is there any point? Unless you actually want a new bike. You've summed it up John H, there ain't much original Bullet left, not even the oil leaks. Seems the only connection now is the name and some rather tenuous links and relationships to the people that went to India in the 1950's!! Tubular frames, swinging arms and shock absorbers are fairly generic - they're not limited to or invented by Royal Enfield. The key word Stu used is Evolution. Bullets have evolved, they've changed. They ain't the same. This parrot is dead, it is deceased and gone to meet its maker. Like it or not the new EFI UCE machines bear little or no resemblance, inside or out, to an old Bullet unless your rose tinted spectacles are particularly heavily splattered with dead flies. They may have a deliberate loosely retro style but that is about all.The Indians have used the most fundamental of marketing ploys and retained the old name for a new machine. Just like every other bike and car company has always done. A new name means a new brand and all the (very expensive)pushing, advertising and promotion that entails. Enjoy your bike for what it is but don't kid yourself you're riding a British bike. Not least of all because you are riding it!

[nick]

apparently lucky eddie,

Well , 12 months commuting in London and hardly a day goes without someone stopping to talk and admire or remember when they owned an RE. Whether it is the sound or the look or a combination, the EFI does indeed resemble its ancestors. I think you are being a tad picky. Triumph, I read, are now made in Thailand. Does this make the 2012 Bonnie any less a Truimph?.

For me, the EFI is everything I ever wanted from a bike, classic British design, a good ole healthy 500 single thump and, and easy to maintain.

[Fido]

I couldn't care less who made it or where and how it was made. I've enjoyed every minute I've spent on my Classic EFI.

[apparently lucky eddie]

EFI equals British design? What? Did they not tell you it was Indian designed and built when you bought it? Did they not tell you it is an Austrian designed engine? Why are EFI owners so touchy about their bikes and sooo easy to wind up? My 500 Classic is, quite literally, a damn sight more indian than a chicken tikka masala (designed and built I believe in 1970's birmingham). I don't and would n't even pretend that it is anything other than a cheaply made Indian motorcycle with an Enfield badge. Fido has hit the nail on the head - just live with it, ride it and enjoy it. And just accept the only British things about it are the Hitchcocks parts you (and I) have had to buy.

[STU]

Well, apparently lucky eddie, there appears to be a groundswell of support for the EFI bikes. I may be mistaken but didn't RE indeed invent (or first use) the swing arm frame???
I do think that you are being deliberately pedantic Eddie, and wonder why and what past experiences you have had which is shaping your view?
No one is suggesting that Royal Enfield are still a 'Brit' manufacturer but they used to be and the product they make is based upon, styled to look very very similar to, perform and sound similar to, made from the same materials and has a very direct line (due to the fact that RE Redditch actually set up and provided almost everything for the actual factory where the bikes are still made - using some of the same methods as the original Redditch bikes.
There is probably no other bike company that can claim this, and no other production bike is closer to its Brit heritage - IMHO.
And that's good enough for all the happy owners replying to this thread!

[nick]

if my efi was made in Wadiya... I'd still love it Eddie...

[nick]

Oh, and chicken tikka massala, you'll find that dish is Indian, it is the Balti that is from Birmingham.

Just saying.

[John Moulton]

Sorry Eddie, but I think you have missed my point and that of other EFI riders. I don't care where my bike was made or who designed which bits, it is the feel of a traditional' British' single when riding that counts and the EFI does it for me and lots of others. I have owned most of the Jap singles and an Italian one as well, but they don't have that heavy fly-wheeled, softly tuned gait that I remember well from my days on 'proper' classics. As others have said, it doesn't matter which Enfield you ride, as long as you enjoy it! I've found that the owners of Enfields old and new share that philosophy and are happy to chat and ride together, rather than try to wind up owners of different models!

[grunda 12]

well this is my tenpenorth i have seen reditch bullets and indian bullets not that much difference an old design ,not a clockwork jappa not bought for that reason ,indian enfields i have 2, a very affordable and reliable machine ,the only brit bits on an indian enfield were purchased from hitchcocks don,t fool yourself eddy i think king allan sells 90 times more indian made parts than anything made in his machine shop or improved there most bits i have bought have come in royal enfield genuine parts bags circa india,if you read this message board regular most problems with these bikes manifest after a diy mechanic trys to fit an improvment i.e amal carb or electronic ignition i wish i had a pound for every post i,ve read starting with the imortal words i ve just fitted.....anyway tenpenorth had congratulations to all involved in this debate and well done to all who are riding enfields fullstop reditch or madras and just to pee on most traditionalists fires my 2nd bullet is a diesel conversion with a chinese engine built by myself last june 2000 miles later still going strong cheap as chips REgards paul.