I’m used to riding a Honda ST1100 most days both teaching and for pleasure riding on the odd occasion I get time off. The Honda is a fantastic bike; it can potter along at 20mph with a moped CBT, or press on at well over 100mph through Germany on the autobahn.
I’ve always wanted a “classic” bike, when I was a kid my dad had an Ariel 350cc Red Hunter with a sidecar and two separate seats on the bike. I can remember long trips out in it with me and my brother on the sidecar, dad driving and mum on the back of the bike. As a kid it felt like we were flying along, but we must have only been doing 40mph at most.
I keep looking for a bike like that but when I see one its way over the price I can afford. Then along came the chance to get my hands on a Royal Enfield 350cc Bullet with a single seat Watsonian Squire sidecar bolted on to it. It needed a bit of sorting, but nothing that was going to take a fortune to do.
The bike wasn’t a true British bike, it was a modern'ish Indian bike bought in India by a fella who worked out there and ridden around as transport. When he came back to England he brought the bike with him, it was then bought by another bloke who bolted the ‘chair to it for his wedding, and then it came to me! It looks a bit basic, no electric start, drum brake at the back, a single disk at the front and lights that have about the same light output as a candle in a jam jar. But it looks fantastic and the grin riding it is bigger than the front of the helmet I have on. A service, a good clean and some polish and it was ready for the road.
The starting is a bit of a knack – ignition off, petrol tap on, choke on, pull out the kick-start, press the decompress lever and slowly swing the kick start about 9 times to draw some fuel into the cylinder. Bring the kick lever so that resistance is about halfway down let the decompresser out, ignition switch on, then press the kick-start all the way down. Splut, splut then you hear the put, put as she lives. Leave her to warm up while getting the helmet on and you’re ready for some good old bike fun. No speed but wow its fun.The Royal Enfield Bullet holds the distinction of being the world's longest running production motorcycle. Bullets were built in 250, 350 and 500cc capacities between 1933 and 1939 and were aimed at the sporting rider. The post-war Bullets, built with telescopic front forks and swinging-arm rear suspension, were first seen in trials competition use in 1948. The 350cc model was made available to the public in early 1949.
Royal Enfield India opened their Madras factory in 1955. Production was first based on the assembly of kits imported from Britain. The bike proved so ideal for use in India that the factory thrived. By the time Royal Enfield folded in Redditch in 1967, the Indian plant was producing all but a handful of components for their Bullets.
In 2005, Royal Enfield India celebrated 50 years in production. Although some variants use modern-day technology, including an electric starter, coil ignition and improved brakes, the Bullet is essentially the same bike the company started with in 1955.
The bike we run produces around 18bhp, by today’s standards low powered, but still well able to plod along at a gentle pace - it’s not the “getting there”; it’s the grin on your face along the way that matters!
