It's not a perfect job, but a very fitting method for a military type motorcycle.
1) Remove old lettering (and unfortunatly, some paint)
2) Paint Humbrol 116 matt green on tank with brush.
3) Start feeling worried about end result, but paint over with Humbrol satin varnish.
4) Look at woe with the lumpy, ridged finish and think back to typical army solution.
5) When varnish thick but still tacky, take folded cloth, soaked in water, and try and bull (polish) as for army boots.
6) Smile smugly as this process actually works to the point of a not perfect, but acceptable (to me) finish!
7) Remember
not to post picture of the other side that was done a few days before.
Camping.
The story behind Tornado's role
I wanted an army type bike that would function as such. I would love to own a WD-CO or similar, but I would then polish it, and have it in concours or concourse? or 'con of course' (depending on price of spares) condition, ready to be coaxed lovingly to the nearest military show.
Nice but impractical for me. I wanted something that would look close(ish) to a 40's or 50's British Army type bike, but also be ready for daily use for the periods that I am in the UK. It had to be something that would be easy and not too expensive for spares, and something that I could actually learn about and work on (I
have started to do that now, after some very important nuts fell off!)
My bike get love, attention and spares, but it also works for a living. woodland, green lanes, we go there!
I am not tying to con anybody about Tornado being a real despatch bike etc, more to the point, I don't really care, as he is now just about as I want him, and that is pretty much that.
Of course, I wanted to change the name, no insult intended to RE, who I am indebted to for their continued production of Bullets to this day, But "Enfield" sounded (in England certainly), a bit like somebody had dropped the 'H' off 'Henfield' which in my mind, always conjured up the wrong image image.
A Henfield motorcycle
So, at the possible annoyance of the Redditch purists, a 'Royal Enfield' he became. But let's not forget, the design was Redditch, the tools were Redditch, the Indian apprentices learnt their trade in Redditch, and RE Redditch had a 49% stake in the company. Also, with the amount of original and remade English parts I have swapped over, I am quite sure that Tornado would recognise the smell of roast beef and Yorskshire pudding, just as easily as a chicken tikka!
Despite being an initial sceptic, I did end up forming some sort of relationship or bond with both my bullets, Thunderbolt; my woodsman; being the other.
In the end, it comes down to personal preference. Tornado now looks as nice as I had envisaged. If other people find him interesting or nice to look at, then that is good for them, good for me (glow!) and good for Tornado as well.
Looking at the older picture below, which I entitled "Who's the cutest then?", my point is, "Which bike takes your eye?".
Point made?
