Forum

[Alan (Lancashire)]

both the Carberry and the musket are built using parts that enfield no longer make , even if they were to restart making the parts (barrels/heads etc) the engine would not meet emission laws around the world.

I suspect that enfield will buy in and then manufacture a twin cyl engine of approx. 250 to 350cc and this will fit nicely in the continental GT frame.

as per my first posting , Triumph are now setting up production for late 2014 those bike will hit enfield a lot. upto now the majority of bikes in india have been 125 clones , or the enfield bullet , that isn't much faster , forget the Harley factory , they are just for the rich and for export ,triumph will kill RE , at least young riders

[Norm]

There is nothing stopping them bolting UCE barrels and heads to the V twin bottom end, bolt pattern even remained the same so it wouldn't be an issue to get it to meet emissions, noise may be a problem in some countries because air cooled is all but finished but I can't see them bothering with this path

[spence]

If enfield do manage to come up with the goods and go motoring on,the continental will probably become an icon :-)and we will all regret not buying one never mind the price.Brings back to mind the kawasaki kh triple i had in the seventies, killed of by emission laws,didnt handle unreliable but my god in a straight line it was something else and even now the sound of a triple makes the hair stand up.
Maybe in 30 years the sound of the conti will do the same who knows?(sold the triple for peanuts when i got married,should have hung onto it, would have lasted longer than the wife!

[Bertie the Bullet]

Don't see the point, quite simply, Harley make a perfectly good V twin, so if that's what you want, buy a Harley. The Japs do Parallel twins, I have one sitting in a Honda in my garage, a fantastic engine, Enfield will never equal it, RE should stick to what they are good at, a single cylinder chugger, the type of engine that has kept the likes of us interested for the last 60 odd years, I personally think they would be better off investing the money in quality control and the reliability issues that the new bikes seem to be suffering.

[Paul]

What you have to remember is that the demographics are very different in their home market compared to here in the west.
Their volume is in their home market BUT they do enjoy the large profit margins from export sales, so are interested in this lower volume market.
The success of the Bullet in the UK was based on two things, the bargain price and the unique selling point of it being an "ant in amber", both now long gone.
FWIW, I think they should concentrate on building low cost simple motorcycles for adventure touring.

[grunda 12]

It's an interesting subject this enfield should probably make a twin,although they could expand the single up to a whopping 650 which would give a bit more go,Bertie and Paul seem to sum this subject up pretty well ,I like that people are knocking the style of the harley v twin probably the most copied and used range of engines in the world probably although cruisers are not everyone's choice of bike although for a guy like me with tired legs the forward controls and the low style suit me although I rode both my enfields yesterday and they are both still superb machines ,my opinion is this Enfield should concentrate on quality control in workmanship and engineering that would make these bikes even better also they should stick to retro styling triangular toolboxes valanced mudguards and nacelles and if they do make a twin it needs to be parallel and of at least 750 cc with a single throttle body , happy days paul

[Alan R]

----------------on the other hand perhaps now is the time to sell-out to a major player ???..Judging by their current offering they clearly still don't understand just HOW to implement QUALITY into their products...Much like Moto Guzi and the Aprillia take-over a few years ago............

[Norm]

Problem is Alan the Indians are that thick they don't believe they have quality control issues,they number of times I have complained about dodgy parts only to be told "we have never had anybodys complains about our parts befores", thick as bricks

[sofiaspin]

KTM have shown a large single works but it is a short stroke liquid cooled but there is a big market for a 500cc single that is not like the new ghastly triumph but a simple large single in the brit mould and able to do long distance touring - a 490 CCM but in the enfield tradition.

[Alan R]

Er, would that be MUD bricks then, Norm ??-------