A new toy for the spring

bikerdude666 · 19th March 2019, 23:40

Having spent the last year trying to get rid of clutter from the garage, including selling the last parts off my old Dragstar, and selling the never ending project VW trike, I've ended up with an impulse buy. I'd been idly browsing eBay 1 night, saw something I liked and went to look the next day. Arranged a test ride for the following Tuesday and went home. When I got home my wife asked if I'd bought it, I said no, just arranged a test ride, but thought it'd sell before then as there were a few other people interested. She told me to phone up and put a deposit on it! I didn't take much persuading, I rang the dealer straight away, but unfortunately someone was sat in the sales office discussing it. I said if he didn't buy it, call me and I'd give a deposit over the phone. 30 mins later they call back, saying the other bloke wanted some time to think about it, so I put a deposit on it, and collected 2 weeks later!

Some details, it's a 2017 Royal Enfield Continental GT535, single cylinder, fuel injection, with electric and kick start, and ABS, with a nearly unmanageable 28BHP!

Slight come down after my 100BHP V-Twin Buell, but still loads of fun. It'd only done 69 miles from new, so it's not even run in yet!

1st 3 photos were taken on my way home from picking it up. The last photo was about 3 hours after getting it home, once I'd swapped the exhaust for a nice aftermarket system:

People at work were asking what my wife had done wrong for her to encourage me to buy a new bike, 2 weeks later all becomes clear, she wants to move house, cue having no time to ride the lovely new bike, as all my time is being spent painting and sorting out our house to put it on the market!

planenut · 20th March 2019, 05:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikerdude666

...........People at work were asking what my wife had done wrong for her to encourage me to buy a new bike, 2 weeks later all becomes clear, she wants to move house, cue having no time to ride the lovely new bike, as all my time is being spent painting and sorting out our house to put it on the market!

Smart lady! The bikes not bad.

trikey · 20th March 2019, 07:20

Lovely looking machine 👍👍😎😎

Number 6 · 20th March 2019, 18:48

That exhaust look's very similar to the BSA Gold Star set up ..

Teflon · 20th March 2019, 18:51

Lovely looking bike. Puts me in mind of the "café racers" of my youth

.

Cliff

gnu · 20th March 2019, 18:54

Nice. 28 bhp? Be careful in the wet!

Are they imports from India these days?

RPWC · 20th March 2019, 19:59

That looks really nice, retro look with modern handling and performance.

SideValve · 20th March 2019, 20:22

Very nice!

That original exhaust looked heavy, must have wanted to turn right all the time...

stevestrat · 20th March 2019, 22:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnu

Are they imports from India these days?

Have been importing them from India for a number of years, I remember getting one on loan from my local dealer in the '80s. Royal Enfield set up a factory in India, originally to produce bikes for the Indian police and army in the '60s. Royal Enfield in the UK ceased to exist in the late '70s but production continued in India.

bikerdude666 · 20th March 2019, 23:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by planenut

Smart lady! The bikes not bad.

I think sneaky is the word I'd use... She's wasted no time, already been on to the mortgage advisors and got the decision in principle so we can go and reserve the next house!

Quote:

Originally Posted by trikey

Lovely looking machine 👍👍😎😎

Yea, I'm not usually a fan of 'classic' bikes, but with this they got the mix of classic looks with a hint of modern suspension etc just right. The faring is a £600 add on from Hitchcocks. It certainly gets people looking!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Number 6

That exhaust look's very similar to the BSA Gold Star set up ..

Indeed, it was listed as a Goldstar style. TBH I don't especially like it, but it suits the bike, and the only other option was a megaphone or reverse megaphone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teflon

Lovely looking bike. Puts me in mind of the "café racers" of my youth

.

Cliff

They're a bit before my youth, but I do like the style, sporty without all the plastic and silly colour schemes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnu

Nice. 28 bhp? Be careful in the wet!

Are they imports from India these days?

Yea I know, I'll have to go easy on the throttle! TBH the dodgiest moment I've had in the wet was on a 38BHP bike!

Yes they are built in India these days, though RE have recently opened a design and testing centre, somewhere in Leicestershire I think. And the frame from this model (I'm pretty sure) was designed by Harris Performance, which is now owned by the same company that owns RE, Eicher Motors.

I'm pretty sure I've read in recent years that they are one of, if not the, biggest selling motorcycle brand in the world, out selling all the 'popular' companies like Harley Davidson etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPWC

That looks really nice, retro look with modern handling and performance.

Yes I love the classic styling, but with the reliability of EFI, and modern disc brakes and suspension.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SideValve

Very nice!

That original exhaust looked heavy, must have wanted to turn right all the time...

It surprised me how heavy it was, I dropped it when I swapped them over.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevestrat

I remember getting one on loan from my local dealer in the '80s.

They still had the gears and brakes the old British way round back then didn't they? My Father in law had an early 00's Bullet, that still had an amal carb, drum brakes front and back, and I'm sure he said that had the gears on the right and brake on the left.

19th March 2019, 23:40	#1
bikerdude666 Posted a thing or two Jaguar Xe diseasal Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Little Stanion, Corby Posts: 1,922 Thanks: 363 Thanked 390 Times in 241 Posts	A new toy for the spring Having spent the last year trying to get rid of clutter from the garage, including selling the last parts off my old Dragstar, and selling the never ending project VW trike, I've ended up with an impulse buy. I'd been idly browsing eBay 1 night, saw something I liked and went to look the next day. Arranged a test ride for the following Tuesday and went home. When I got home my wife asked if I'd bought it, I said no, just arranged a test ride, but thought it'd sell before then as there were a few other people interested. She told me to phone up and put a deposit on it! I didn't take much persuading, I rang the dealer straight away, but unfortunately someone was sat in the sales office discussing it. I said if he didn't buy it, call me and I'd give a deposit over the phone. 30 mins later they call back, saying the other bloke wanted some time to think about it, so I put a deposit on it, and collected 2 weeks later! Some details, it's a 2017 Royal Enfield Continental GT535, single cylinder, fuel injection, with electric and kick start, and ABS, with a nearly unmanageable 28BHP! Slight come down after my 100BHP V-Twin Buell, but still loads of fun. It'd only done 69 miles from new, so it's not even run in yet! 1st 3 photos were taken on my way home from picking it up. The last photo was about 3 hours after getting it home, once I'd swapped the exhaust for a nice aftermarket system: People at work were asking what my wife had done wrong for her to encourage me to buy a new bike, 2 weeks later all becomes clear, she wants to move house, cue having no time to ride the lovely new bike, as all my time is being spent painting and sorting out our house to put it on the market! Last edited by bikerdude666; 19th March 2019 at 23:48.. Reason: Edited many times to get the photos a reasonable size

20th March 2019, 07:20	#3
trikey Premium Trader Rover 75 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Devon Posts: 33,765 Thanks: 8,837 Thanked 14,831 Times in 8,030 Posts	Lovely looking machine 👍👍😎😎 __________________ Lest we forget..

20th March 2019, 18:48	#4
Number 6 This is my second home Rover 75 tourer Club CD/Limo Tints Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Meneac Posts: 6,759 Thanks: 5,007 Thanked 1,609 Times in 869 Posts	That exhaust look's very similar to the BSA Gold Star set up .. __________________ ] "I started out with nothing, and Ive still got most of it left!"

20th March 2019, 18:51	#5
Teflon This is my second home Lagoon 2.0 V6 75 Conn SE Saloon Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Chertsey Posts: 5,201 Thanks: 2,825 Thanked 2,920 Times in 1,570 Posts	Lovely looking bike. Puts me in mind of the "café racers" of my youth . Cliff __________________ No. 4 of 6

20th March 2019, 18:54	#6
gnu Gets stuck in MG ZT Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Bristol Posts: 695 Thanks: 332 Thanked 164 Times in 133 Posts	Nice. 28 bhp? Be careful in the wet! Are they imports from India these days? __________________ gnu

20th March 2019, 19:59	#7
RPWC This is my second home 75 model car Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne Posts: 20,177 Thanks: 4,008 Thanked 5,083 Times in 3,114 Posts	That looks really nice, retro look with modern handling and performance. __________________ Cheers. Rich…

20th March 2019, 20:22	#8
SideValve Gets stuck in Rover 75 Saloon Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Oxford Posts: 767 Thanks: 141 Thanked 204 Times in 141 Posts	Very nice! That original exhaust looked heavy, must have wanted to turn right all the time... __________________ The Story So Far: Austin A35, Morris Oxford, Triumph Herald, Mini 850, Mini 1000, Austin Allegro, MG Midget, MGB GT, Rover SD1 2600, Austin Maxi, Rover 200, Rover 825, Rover 800, Bedford TK, Range Rover 3.9 efi, Rover 400, Rover 100, MGF, Rover 25, Rover 75 1.8, Rover 75 Connoisseur SE 2.0 V6, MGF 1.8i, Rover 75 Connoisseur 2.0 V6 Auto, Morris Eight Series E, Morris Minor 1275.