Royal Enfield Twin

Maybe they'll do something like this?

image


:D
 
Maybe it`s just me but the GT535 doesn`t seem to have much throttle response?? Kind of a slug. (or not).:shrug:
 
TwoManyXS1Bs said:
Some sort of vintage bike thing going on in Fredericksburg.
Saw a pair of Norton Commando 961...
View attachment 138548
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A guy in my club has a 961 and it has been incredibly troublesome. In fact Norton actually shipped him a brand new engine for it last summer. That, plus the electrical issues have made that beautiful bike a total nightmare to own.
 
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halfmile said:
Maybe it`s just me but the GT535 doesn`t seem to have much throttle response?? Kind of a slug. (or not).:shrug:
Click to expand...
I've got one. After replacing the muffler, modifying the air intake and adding a Power Commander it runs OK. I enjoy it, but you have to keep in mind it's a thumper. I also have new cams, valves and valve springs for it. Now that I'm getting my XS2 wrapped up I may start playing with the Enfield.
 
There is a thought the 535 will become a classic especially now it has been discontinued..........
 
The GT 535 is a fun bike but it does lack power for a newer engine. The Harris frame is great also a very good looking bike if you like cafe's. Dealer network sucks. I just order parts from Hitchcocks in England. My closest dealer is 100 miles away. Only parts I have bought are filters and performance parts. I really think RE shot themselves in the foot wiping out their dealer network and going with the boutique type dealers. Everything I've heard about the new twin is positive. Their price is great, I'm afraid they are only going to sell well in towns that have dealers. RE has less than 1 dealer per state here in the US.
 
Not my thinking although i do agree..........i have read in a couple of bike mags they think the 535 could be a future collectors item.

Considering the Indian market sells more in a day than Australia sells in a year, RE don't have to rely on overseas markets to make a profit
 
MaxPete said:
A guy in my club has a 961 and it has been incredibly troublesome. In fact Norton actually shipped him a brand new engine for it last summer. That, plus the electrical issues have made that beautiful bike a total nightmare to own.
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-But of course.......... They have a heritage to uphold.
In all seriousness, my old Norton's were pretty darned reliable. Especially considering mine were used bikes with PO's who bought British. Trust me British motorcycle buyers in the "Honda era" were mostly a special class of dum-bass. To be polite maybe it's more fair to call them hopeless romantics. In either case maintenance tended to be of the wish and chewing gum variety.
 
Sad....but true. The utter inability of British industry (car or motorcycle) to adapt and innovate was truly a startling come-down for a national industrial community that had the world by the tail only 20-50 years earlier. Just think of:
  • HMS Turbinia (the world's first steam turbine driven ship);
  • HMS Dreadnought (the first all-big-gun battleship (which also had steam turbine engines for much greater speed and fuel economy);
  • the Sopwith Camel and SE5a (two of the best fighters of WW-I);
  • The Rolls-Royce Phantom - one of the finest cars ever made;
  • the Rolls-Royce Merlin (the best inline a/c engine of WW-II);
  • the Whittle jet engine (the first practical gas turbine to power an aircraft);
...and yet, somehow they were totally stuck in the past by the late 1960's and got blown right off the road by the very nations they had defeated with those products.
 
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Mid Life Cycles have bought this bike to life................Just beat the class land speed record on the salt flats, Lake Gairdner, South Australia.

https://royalenfield.com.au/news-announcements/royal-enfield-smashes-land-speed-record/

The old record of 119.961 MPH was set at Lake Gairdner in 2016. Charlie Hallam broke the record on Day One of Speed Week (Monday 8 March 2021), with his first run at 121.782 MPH. He backed that up with a 123.601 MPH pass, for a provisional record of 122.691 MPH.

On the morning of Day Two, Charlie and the Interceptor 650 ran 128.935 MPH and 130.204 MPH for a new provisional record of 129.570 MPH. The Geelong-based HRA team, headed by experienced salt racers Andrew and Kate Hallam, thought this was an extraordinary result for a 650cc single-cam, air-cooled Twin, but Charlie believed there was a little more to come.

That afternoon, the Interceptor ran 130.370 MPH and was then impounded overnight until it could do a back-up run the next morning. This run, under increasingly stormy skies, saw a stunning 133.779 MPH top speed, for a new record of 132.050 MPH.

850 kits for these bikes as well now.
 
650Skull said:
Mid Life Cycles have bought this bike to life................Just beat the class land speed record on the salt flats, Lake Gairdner, South Australia.

https://royalenfield.com.au/news-announcements/royal-enfield-smashes-land-speed-record/

The old record of 119.961 MPH was set at Lake Gairdner in 2016. Charlie Hallam broke the record on Day One of Speed Week (Monday 8 March 2021), with his first run at 121.782 MPH. He backed that up with a 123.601 MPH pass, for a provisional record of 122.691 MPH.

On the morning of Day Two, Charlie and the Interceptor 650 ran 128.935 MPH and 130.204 MPH for a new provisional record of 129.570 MPH. The Geelong-based HRA team, headed by experienced salt racers Andrew and Kate Hallam, thought this was an extraordinary result for a 650cc single-cam, air-cooled Twin, but Charlie believed there was a little more to come.

That afternoon, the Interceptor ran 130.370 MPH and was then impounded overnight until it could do a back-up run the next morning. This run, under increasingly stormy skies, saw a stunning 133.779 MPH top speed, for a new record of 132.050 MPH.

850 kits for these bikes as well now.
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That’s outstanding! For a little air cooled 650.
They may have to adopt Triumphs old slogan
“Worlds fastest motorcycle” :thumbsup:
C99697D7-B92D-4338-AC43-5531B9322834.jpeg
 
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MaxPete said:
Sad....but true. The utter inability of British industry (car or motorcycle) to adapt and innovate was truly a startling come-down for a national industrial community that had the world by the tail only 20-50 years earlier. Just think of:
  • HMS Turbinia (the world's first steam turbine driven ship);
  • HMS Dreadnought (the first all-big-gun battleship (which also had steam turbine engines for much greater speed and fuel economy);
  • the Sopwith Camel and SE5a (two of the best fighters of WW-I);
  • The Rolls-Royce Phantom - one of the finest cars ever made;
  • the Rolls-Royce Merlin (the best inline a/c engine of WW-II);
  • the Whittle jet engine (the first practical gas turbine to power an aircraft);
...and yet, somehow they were totally stuck in the past by the late 1960's and got blown right off the road by the very nations they had defeated with those products.
Click to expand...

That startling come-down is something we're used to in Britain. Must be because Britain was on the winning side in two world wars. The staggering cost of those wars took Britain from World leader to minor industrialised nation. Contrast with the fortunes of two countries which managed to be on the losing side, In Germany's case twice and Japan once, after they benefitted from help to rebuild. Just saying.
 
We actually have an RE dealer in Kansas City (Engle Motors, Independence), a coworker went to buy an Interceptor the other day and they told him they were out. They had 4 on order and all 4 were sold already, they told him him they cannot keep them in stock or order them fast enough.
 
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