Royal Enfield, what to do now

[heinb]

I am new to the forum, so card is behind the bar.

I really had to have a 60's cafe racer in my life and by chance sourced a bike. I don't want a show piece but something to bible around on to Boxhill and the ACE.
I am now in two minds after picking the bike up.
I really don't know a lot about classic bikes and this bike in particular. What I think I know:
Its a 63 Enfield 250 Continental and I think all the bits are there. The big question is do I restore to factory original or restore to a usable bike and risk the chance of being skinned alive by purists.
I race supermoto's so not a complete numbly but will send the motor to an expert.
Any opinions or advise will be appreciated.

[JFerg]

Heinb,

It looks quite straight to a casual observer, so it would be a shame to bugger it completely by fitting a Triumph Daytona engine into it, for example.  However, it's your bike, do what you bloody well like and tell the purists to go and count rivets somewhere else.  The object of the game is to have as much fun as you can get, and if some of that is at the expense of someone with leather patches on their elbows, then so be it.

Go for it.  Whatever you do, be sure to let the sound out.

JFerg

[Bomber]

Well said

[Rex]

I wouldn't worry too much. No-one is going to "skin you alive" wherever you go.
I mean, they let chopper riders live and breath, don't they?

My personal Golden Rule is not to irreversibly modify anything model-specific or rare, as it's both crass and financially damaging in the long term.

You've got a model to work to in the GT anyway..

[bikerbob]

Hi there. As Rex and others say do what you want not what others would like you to do it's your bike your money to spend as you see fit, but I would echo what Rex say's about altering things that cannot be easily be reversed you never know some where down the line you may want to sell it and if you have altered things that cannot be reversed it is almost certain to affect the asking price. When you get it to how you want it post some pics to let us see how you have done. Good Luck.

[johnnyboy-wonder57]

Hi,
My rule is junk the bits you can improve on, by junking I mean put in storage so when you sell it, if you do @ some future point, you can give then potential buyer the bits, then its up to them!

Cafe Racers are in @ the moment & starting to fetch bigger money, having said that, this is not a good thing for me, as bigger money means silly prices more closeting & elitism, so motorcycling moves even further away from its grass-root beginnings of mainly cheap & cheerful transport & an enthusiasts motor-sport arena on the road or off it, so to speak, Race-track & Scrambles included!

Most  British bikes can be improved in a tasteful way without detracting from the original too much, goes for it but look @ some of the creations that have been made first for inspiration, good luck & good riding!



Cheers

JBW

[Rex]

I remember when greengrocers were the only people to ever use "@"....Gd I hte the evr xpnding TXT spk....

[johnnyboy-wonder57]

Rex,
This symbol/notation, has always been used in bike literature Rex, long before text-speak, the "Hondakawasuzuyam 4 cylinder 250cc Super-sports makes..... 33bhp @ 9,500rpm!
Text hadn't even been invented then! Its has been used in Physics & engineering, both electrical & mechanical!

Its a small concession surely... the first mobile phones here in the UK were around 1988, I would think?  I would be more worried about the price of fuel if I was you!
If you are Rex & other readers,  you can all join the Fair fuel campaign by Quentin Wilson & others, dare I say information on Book-Face, or a web search, £7 a gallon or more by Easter....someone's got to do something soon! The Political idiots are going to sink us, the populace for good this time.
How do you boost the economy?
Put up VAT and increase tax and duty on fuel ho-hum, obviously I went to the wrong School &  in my youth, didn't listen very well to the Teachers; otherwise I would be able to swallow the cods-wallop of rhetoric we are told to believe, as a subsequent solution to Economic mayhem!

I can't put anything else but petrol, in my bikes or car & I find it a bitter pill to swallow!  Fuel is not a luxury, but a need.

Cheers


JBW

[Rex]

Tongue-in-cheek JBW, though with a lifetime spent in electrical engineering  I have never ever come across the @ symbol yet .
Not that it's of the slightest importance anyway.

There's a deeper significance to the fuel duty; so many people don't have to/won't pay into the various tax-gathering schemes the government uses that the catch-all schemes like booze, fags and fuel are the ever-reliable stand-by's.  Fuel is a necessity, no doubt about that, but ever increasing government spending means the duty won't be cut no matter what Mr Wilson etc may like to campaign for. Someone has to pay for the foreign wars/health needs/housing for....nah, I'm not even going to say anymore.....

[RichP]

   The object of the game is to have as much fun as you can get, and if some of that is at the expense of someone with leather patches on their elbows, then so be it....JFerg

Leather patches on the elbows ? Are they still around ? I had rather thought that all my old school teachers had passed away by now. It's a bit scary to think that some of them might still be out there....

[johnnyboy-wonder57]

Rex,
I concede the Electrical, but  I suppose I was thinking about marketing literature, now the way to rate power output in much of the relatively modern literature, is converting piston engine output traditionally bhp to kW, (EU Directive 1992), remember when Honda used PS to increase the power  values of their machines by a marginal amount, 1.5% increase in measurement per bhp produced! 100bhp = 101.5 PS, apparently that is how much data figures influence the buying public!

I supposed the idea is when we are forced into egg-boxes with electrical engines we will be familiar with the power-outputs!

Just to keep this on Royal Enfield see this link http://www.oxfordshireroyalenfield.co.uk/

also did you know  http://www.cotswolds.info/places/blockley.shtml, RE's in films!

Cheers

JBW