Do normal people buy Royal Enfields?
Discussion
To answer the question... of course. Sports bikes and all the rubbish that goes with them bores me to death. I love bikes like enfields. I'm stuck between buying an enfield or a ural, both with side car, to use on a trip across n Africa. Have to decide in next two weeks, either way it'll be great fun.
Twit said:
To answer the question... of course. Sports bikes and all the rubbish that goes with them bores me to death. I love bikes like enfields. I'm stuck between buying an enfield or a ural, both with side car, to use on a trip across n Africa. Have to decide in next two weeks, either way it'll be great fun.
Know nufink about the Ural's....well very little....but from the people that I do know who have had owned Enfield's in recent years, stay well clear if you want to ride across Africa on one..........!!!!!!!!!!!Probably more chance of getting a Rusky bike fixed in parts of Africa than an Indian Enfield....
Or go for a BMW with a custom fitted chair. Was talking to a bloke at the side of the road in California a few weeks back who was circumnavigating the USA/Canada on a BMW GS something or other and sidecar combo, with his pet dog for company. He had started in Florida, and was heading up the west coast to Alaska and then across Canada and eventually back down the east coast to Florida.
Royal Enfield Bullet ?
If you want more THUMP from that thumper,
swiss tuning legend Fritz W. Egli is the man.
On his website www.egli-racing.ch you can find lots of info,
in german only though.
He offers all kind of classic tuning from mild (22=>23,5hp)
to wild (22=>44hp
) from a big-bored and stroked 624 cc engine.
And if you are more into econo-style,
there even is a Hatz Diesel conversion.....
Cheers,
Benni
If you want more THUMP from that thumper,
swiss tuning legend Fritz W. Egli is the man.
On his website www.egli-racing.ch you can find lots of info,
in german only though.
He offers all kind of classic tuning from mild (22=>23,5hp)
to wild (22=>44hp
) from a big-bored and stroked 624 cc engine.And if you are more into econo-style,
there even is a Hatz Diesel conversion.....
Cheers,
Benni
Twit said:
To answer the question... of course. Sports bikes and all the rubbish that goes with them bores me to death. I love bikes like enfields. I'm stuck between buying an enfield or a ural, both with side car, to use on a trip across n Africa. Have to decide in next two weeks, either way it'll be great fun.
Presumably you'd have a better chance of finding spares for the Ural in Africa?Have done here to oz a KTM which fell apart one thing I have learnt is that there is nothing that can't be fixed with a bit of effort. We are really disposable in Europe so parts tend to get replaced, outside of europe parts get repaired so anything is possible. Key part is how mechanical something is, e.g. and electrical fault on a 1200 GS could easily end a trip, a mechanical problem on any bike can be bodged to get you going if need be. Of course in theory you should be less likely to break down in a 1200 GS...
So from that perspective the Ural may be better as its an older design, the new Enfields you buy in the UK have totally different engines and gearboxes to the Indian Enfields. The Ural is also designed from scratch as a sidecar outfit which is useful. The whole point of the outfit is to give more room for kit and spares etc and to get rid of the need to ride all armoured up etc. On the last trip I started with full kit but by the end had pretty much abandoned it as the risk of dehydration was mucg greater than any coming off risk.
So probably leaning to the Ural but I do love Enfields, there is something so great about them and you can't miss them in India...
So from that perspective the Ural may be better as its an older design, the new Enfields you buy in the UK have totally different engines and gearboxes to the Indian Enfields. The Ural is also designed from scratch as a sidecar outfit which is useful. The whole point of the outfit is to give more room for kit and spares etc and to get rid of the need to ride all armoured up etc. On the last trip I started with full kit but by the end had pretty much abandoned it as the risk of dehydration was mucg greater than any coming off risk.
So probably leaning to the Ural but I do love Enfields, there is something so great about them and you can't miss them in India...
What about the engine's ability to run on low octane fuel, presumably that has some significance. I intend to do a fair amount of travelling around the world, although I often change my mind about the vehicles I intend to use to do so, so this sort of stuff is definitely of interest to me. Nice to see you've got a series 1 Land Rover. 
Matthew-TMM said:
What about the engine's ability to run on low octane fuel, presumably that has some significance. I intend to do a fair amount of travelling around the world, although I often change my mind about the vehicles I intend to use to do so, so this sort of stuff is definitely of interest to me. Nice to see you've got a series 1 Land Rover.
I doubt it would that much of an issue. I have yet to find anywhere where the petrol is so bad that the bike or Landie wouldnt run. In Iran the fuel was utter rubbish, especially in the south where fuel stations don't exist you just hand pump fuel from dumps by the side of the road... The bike ran like shite but it did run!!! Thailand wasnt much better in places either. As for the Landie, yep is very cool. Needs to be pulled apart a bit at the moment to sort some issues but it runs on its original engine and I'll never sell it. Drove to to Egypt years ago which was an experience......
Twit said:
I doubt it would that much of an issue. I have yet to find anywhere where the petrol is so bad that the bike or Landie wouldnt run. In Iran the fuel was utter rubbish, especially in the south where fuel stations don't exist you just hand pump fuel from dumps by the side of the road... The bike ran like shite but it did run!!! Thailand wasnt much better in places either.
As for the Landie, yep is very cool. Needs to be pulled apart a bit at the moment to sort some issues but it runs on its original engine and I'll never sell it. Drove to to Egypt years ago which was an experience......
Which bike is that then?As for the Landie, yep is very cool. Needs to be pulled apart a bit at the moment to sort some issues but it runs on its original engine and I'll never sell it. Drove to to Egypt years ago which was an experience......
Matthew-TMM said:
Which bike is that then?
KTM 950 Adv.Great bike but too highly strung for any real distance and a nightmare to work on when it all goes wrong. Just about did the trip but was sold on as soon as the boat docked when it came back from Oz. Looking back for such a long trip it was too big and too technical, the 100GS I have now would have been better, albeit still very heavy, the XT better still. But if I was doing a huge trip again I'd go on a 250 and be done with it. Also, as everyone does I took too much, ended up sending half of the stuff on the bike back home from Istanbul...
Current trip being planned is a run from Morocco across the north of Africa to Egypt then decide whether to head up back through Europe or turn and try and get back into Iran via Bandar-E-Abbas, maybe via Saudi. Have to see, depends on how much time I can get. Either way going to be a top trip. And part of the Ural reason was to go to Tripoli, seeing as the Ural is basically a copy of the German WWII outfit it seemed right!
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