Curb Appeal

[60sRetro]

It seems when you ride a Royal Enfield, at least where I live, you turn some heads.

Last fall I was in a convenience store and this old guy walks up to me, like a real old guy, and says, "is that your Royal Enfield outside". I said yeah. He said "I used to ride a Royal Enfield in WWII, and this is the first one I've seen since then." It seemed like he wanted to give me a hug.

The other day I was in the liquor store and a guy walks up to me, same thing..."Is that your bike outside?" Yeah. "Wow I want to buy one of those, where'd you buy it, do you like it?"

I've lost count of the number of people who've made a point of coming up to me to say "nice bike".

 

[Morgan60]

Yes every time I ride my RE people say nice bike or ask did you restore it. I rode my 2017 535 GT on a 300 mile ride with a buddy that rode his beautiful Harley Street Glide. I had five people say nice or beautiful bike and no one even looked at my buddy bike.

 

[Eatmore Mudd]

You gentleman have experienced EDF or Enfield Delay Factor.

 

[60sRetro]

More like Enfield Envy...kinda like penis envy.

 

[caferider48]

It seems when you ride a Royal Enfield, at least where I live, you turn some heads.

Last fall I was in a convenience store and this old guy walks up to me, like a real old guy, and says, "is that your Royal Enfield outside". I said yeah. He said "I used to ride a Royal Enfield in WWII, and this is the first one I've seen since then." It seemed like he wanted to give me a hug.

The other day I was in the liquor store and a guy walks up to me, same thing..."Is that your bike outside?" Yeah. "Wow I want to buy one of those, where'd you buy it, do you like it?"

I've lost count of the number of people who've made a point of coming up to me to say "nice bike".

Before long if someone walks up to you and says they used to ride an Enfield in WWII, you might wonder if you are hallucinating. They would have to be in their mid 90s now. Not impossible however. The other day a guy walked up to me and told me when he was in the Rough Riders with Teddy Roosevelt .....

 

[Roy Gavin]

I have some eye candy, a BSA B44 Victor Special and a BMW R80 G/S PD, but neither attracts comments like the Hima.
Mainly from guys who look at least ten years older than me, and I am 75.
They probably had ex army bikes in the early fifties, as after the war Britain was desperately short of foreign currency, and the ex army bikes were sold in bulk on the condition that they were sold overseas to bring in some .

 

[caferider48]

I have some eye candy, a BSA B44 Victor Special and a BMW R80 G/S PD, but neither attracts comments like the Hima.
Mainly from guys who look at least ten years older than me, and I am 75.
They probably had ex army bikes in the early fifties, as after the war Britain was desperately short of foreign currency, and the ex army bikes were sold in bulk on the condition that they were sold overseas to bring in some .

At 72 I'm close. That'll be us in a few years, but I'll keep riding until I seize a piston.

 

[petespace1]

I recently had a young bloke walk up to me at a riders cafe and said “maate that’s ‘a bike’ no pretence ‘pure bike’ then a female rider friend of his walked up and told me that her pop (grandad) used to ride a Royal Enfield and she used to sit on it as a child and was riding now because of her poppy. I guess even some young ones seem to like minimalist bikes like the Himalayan.

 

[caferider48]

I can only imagine these times

 

[caferider48]

here's a Himalayan upgrade

Six Days a Week: Schlachtwerk’s Royal Enfield Himalayan Enduro

Love the classic Enduro look but need to ride your bike to work every day? That’s the challenge that faced Tommy from Sydney’s Schlachtwerk Customs. Here’s his solution.

www.returnofthecaferacers.com

 

[Jon_98]

I was having lunch on the main drag of my town last month after a ride with my neighbor who has a BMW K1600 B bagger. A young woman walked by and complimented his bike. He was stunned and said to me "Wow, your bike (INT 650) is the one always getting compliments when we're out riding". He needs to get his '72 Norton Commando 750 out of the garage.

 

[puttbutt]

More like Enfield Envy...kinda like penis envy.

If that's the case, maybe I should get a larger cc bike. then, I can be the John Holmes of motorcycling! I've also had the experience of people coming up to me inquiring about the Himalayan. I think it's because, it's still kind'a rare to see one in the states. Even the Kawasaki dealership, where I get my inspection done, commented on what a neat bike it was, and where did I purchase it. I've only seen one other Himalayan rider, since I purchased my bike almost a couple years ago.

 

[60sRetro]

...I can be the John Holmes of motorcycling!

A few weeks ago I had my 650 into the RE dealer where I bought it, for the brake calliper recall. The dealership is 180 km away. The next closest RE dealer is 250 km away.

The dealership where I bought the interceptor is a multi-brand, full-on motorsports shop, bikes, quads, boat engines, snow mobiles...they don't even have an exterior RE sign. They had four Himalayans in the showroom (more than any other make or model/display), they had a dozen Himalayans in crates in their back lot. The senior sales rep said the Himalayan is their best selling motorcycle of any make/model.

He also said he's expecting his first shipment of Meteors, and he's already pre-sold one.

I think the cat's out of the bag.

 

[Jon_98]

A few weeks ago I had my 650 into the RE dealer where I bought it, for the brake calliper recall. The dealership is 180 km away. The next closest RE dealer is 250 km away.

The dealership where I bought the interceptor is a multi-brand, full-on motorsports shop, bikes, quads, boat engines, snow mobiles...they don't even have an exterior RE sign. They had four Himalayans in the showroom (more than any other make or model/display), they had a dozen Himalayans in crates in their back lot. The senior sales rep said the Himalayan is their best selling motorcycle of any make/model.

He also said he's expecting his first shipment of Meteors, and he's already pre-sold one.

I think the cat's out of the bag.

Same experience, my dealer sells BMW, Agusta, Ducati, Triumph. No mention of RE on their website or sign. My salesman told me when I had my calipers replaced they sell at least one a day

 

[Irishguy]

Back when my wife and I both had our Bonnevilles, you could always count on a gas stop taking much longer than needed because there was always someone walking up and wanting to talk about the bikes.

 

[Bentouttashape]

I get way more compliments on my Interceptor than I did with either of the new Bonnies I had: T100 and T120. And now that my Bollywood heritage scooter is reduced to its bare essentials, I get even more. Sort of like my BMW R75/6 or 1970 Triumph 500 Steve McQueen replica.

 

[caferider48]

Small and slow is sometimes better. The only thing I would change on this bike is to a smaller tire profile. As it sits there is more un-sprung weight and you end up actually scuffing off speed through the corners. It may look good but its not the best for performance. You generally want a carbon fiber fender mounted up front as well.
otherwise I would love owning this bike:

White Wing - K-Speed Honda CB125S Racer - Return of the Cafe Racers

Over the course of 50 days, Tanadit and his K-Speed team transformed an uninspiring Honda CB125S into this stripped-back retro-styled racer.

www.returnofthecaferacers.com

 

[Bentouttashape]

Over the years I have owned lots of mega-power bikes, but what is most fun and keeps your licence intact, is making slow bike go semi-fast.
Changing from the stock Pirellis to Avon tires made a major difference, plus softening up the shocks.

 

[caferider48]

Over the years I have owned lots of mega-power bikes, but what is most fun and keeps your licence intact, is making slow bike go semi-fast.
Changing from the stock Pirellis to Avon tires made a major difference, plus softening up the shocks.

As you get older even slow can seem fast.....

 

[60sRetro]

Fifteen years ago a buddy helped me rebuild a 1981 Honda 900f Super Sport. I kept it for three seasons and sold it. It was more power and speed than I really wanted under my arse.