Forum

[rustygman]

Firstly - nice one Eddie - you have kicked off some lively debate and I think that may have been your intention. I can certainly feel the british heritage in my iron barrel even if it was built thousands of miles away.

Secondly - what is the connection with Triumph and Thailand? I thought they were built here in Hinkley and a true British product - have i been misled?

[grunda 12]

rusty triumph have about 3 factories in thailand its no secret and the labour costs etc will be very cheap although the product will be to mr bloors high standards

[bikerbill]

rusty triumph indeed......

[m1ks]

Interesting thread and some strong opinions.
Wherever your bike is made matters little, the main thing is that the rider enjoys it.
I personally think rose tinted spectacles are a great invention and it all comes down to the emotive abilities of something.
You can guarantee if you park a modern bullet and a modern triumph side by side most 'old boys' would stop and gaze misty eyed at the bullet reminiscing about the days they rode something that looked just like it and the modifications they made and various other humorous tales, they'd look at the triumph and say, ah that's one of those modern jap machines isn't it, no soul those things, not a proper bike like this one.
When I collected my bullet, I stopped at a supermarket on the way home and had a quick look at a Kawasaki zx6r to see if the hugger fitted would fit my zxr750 and what brand it was. An old fella getting out of his car said, yours is nicer, proper bike that!
I didn't have the heart to tell him it was probably newer than the Kawasaki I was looking at. It cheered him up and we had a chat about bikes and the stuff he had way back. So Indian or British, doesn't matter, it's about the feeling it generates, that's my contribution to this.

[MadMike]

MadMike is back from his visit to the Empire. What an interesting debate. I have as many might remember a collection of British bikes, a Japanese bike and a Hinckley Thruxton, having sold in the last 18 months 2 Harleys, a BSA C15 and a Honda 400/4. So as I see it the current Indian Enfields are an evolution of the Redditch bikes in no small part due to the history of the transfer af manufacture. Are they "British Bikes". No, but why would anybody think they are or should be? They are definitely Indian bikes in all respects. The design changes from the original English RE to the current bikes has been frankly painfully slow and has a long way to go yet. Triumph however make no suggestions that their Bonneville range is related to the Meriden bikes, and frankly that is just as well. The Hinckley Bonnevilles are modern bikes, made in a modern factory and to modern standards. They have simply carried out a styling exercise to make them appeal to ex-Triumph owners, and in that they have been a massive success. Manufactured in Thailand? So what? Have a look at your car, or any "Japanese" bike and see where it was actually made. Honda cars made in Swindon, Nissan and Toyota made in the UK, Honda and Yamaha bikes made in Italy, Spain and Mexico. Ford cars made in Belgium and Germany. The list goes on, it is called globalisation.

[John D]

I believe what Enfields like best is regular running.
I hope Nick has many more happy years running his EFI and believe he will, with regular oil changes and sympathetic riding.

I have to agree with paul Grunda that most problems are caused by DIY mechanics. On that charge I plead guilty M'Lord.

As for Eddies description of the bike not quite being British anymore, I believe there are two sides to that arguement, it certainly looks more British than most otyer modern bikes.
But then, who cares reall.

I'm still happy with my 9 year old 500 which I've had since new. Longest period Ive ever owned a Bike.

Ride Safe all.

[nick]

Thanks John, you too. Have to say the 1 tooth increase on the front sprocket has made a huge differnce to the bike a at speeds....

Have fun

[Jon64]

I'm proud that my bikes made in India, in fact the decals say made in Madras and I have joined UK/Indian flags on the front.both UK and India have a bond that goes back centuries.
As for the bikes, the factory was started as a shared concern by the Reditch factory and Madras Motors. the proprietors of which, incidentally, had been importing RE bicycles since the late 1920's.
Even the Steel infrastructure of the original factory is built with steel coming form Birmingham at the time of construction.
So the ties are many fold. But yes, the bikes are Indian and proud of it, but owe much to British initial design and help to set up in the beginning. Now they are taking on forms of their own, but in keeping with tradition in style etc.

Long live Royal Enfield in India,

[Alan R]

Hello to my "Bullet-owning Brethren" !!------------------ I've read all the postings and there appears to be one word missing that IMHO covers all of it and that is ------ SPIRIT ----( or "ESSENCE" ) ---- I believe that's what we all enjoy when owning one of these god-awful heaps of junk (and I've got 2 ). I bet that's upset one or two but I'm posting this with tongue-in-cheek. You see, despite all the quirks, money spent(OOhh, that hurts), hands-on time, breakdowns, time posting on this forum, numerous "old chaps" chatting at the garage as you try to go for that week-end ride, other makes smirking at you ---etc, etc, etc,----I LOVE 'em. There's a lot of ME in my machines-rightly or wrongly--and there's a world-wide group of like-minded people who I've never met (nor am I ever likely to) that I can turn to for help, guidance, argue with, agree with (?) and generally just ENJOY that spirit, essence, comradeship--call it what you will but I guess you all recognise what I'm banging on about ?? Time for old FARTICUSS to shut up and go for a ride (shopping, in town, using the bus-pass !!). Be seeing you------

[apparently lucky eddie]

So, to sum up.
Royal Enfield motorcycles designed and built in India from Indian materials are actually "British" because, A. They look British, B. Some of the factory workforce are decendents of people who used to work for RE 40 or 50 years ago, and, C. Some of the steel in the factory buildings came from Birmingham.