Introduction

This is blog about a “dang fool” and a Motorcycle.
About driving on the wrong side of the road on a 50 year old motorcycle design with the clutch on the wrong side.
About people, history and weird stuff and why things work, or on some cases don't.

Public transportation In England is wonderful.....when it works.
Even when it's not working it's still better than the public transportation in Los Angeles, which really doesn't even have public transport.
After 6 months of living in London as an American ex-pat I've discovered a few things.

The public transport is great if:
A) your not in a hurry
B) your very flexible in your time and route
C) you don't mind walking home after midnight.
Yes there are night buses and if you figure out the schedule you can probably do Quantum physics in your sleep.
There have been numerous times I have arrived at the tube station only to find that the connection I needed to take was "undergoing planned engineering works"
Or over heard messages like
"The Jubilee, Bakerloo, Northern, Metropolitan, Piccadilly, Circle and District, Victoria, Central, Hammersmith, Waterloo and City lines will be closed this weekend" and my favourite
"There will be a slight delay because there someone under the train ahead of us"
Gee don't spare me the gory details because I just had sushi.
Or better yet the drivers are all on Strike.......again.

I also found out the trains in England are great, you can get anywhere in the country by train. How you get around past the train station is bit of a problem.
It's wonderful if you have the time to walk though.

All of which lead me to the crazy idea of buying a motorcycle. Why a motorcycle? Well I can get one for less money than a car, insurance is cheaper and I don't have to go through the weirdness of learning how to drive on the right hand side.
A motorcycle is simpler to operate.

Stay on the left hand side, don't hit anything.

Plus I've driven motorcycles since I was 16. My last bike was a 1998 Virago 1100 Special. Great bike but it had the problem of having too small of a tank and gas mileage of a whopping 45 mpg. When the tank only holds 3.5 gallons you don't go very far. It also had an electrical problem that caused it to back fire that I was never able to solve permanently.

So the type of bike I wanted was something that was cheap, good gas mileage, easy to maintain, durable.
Doing some research I came across the Royal Enfield motorcycles. Royal Enfield was a English bike company from 1890 to 1971. They made bicycles, lawnmowers, engines and rifle parts. During WWII they made motorcycles for the British army. In the 1950's they received a large order of 800 bikes to supply to the government of India. It was decided that it was more economical to built the bikes in India so a shop was set up in Chennai, India.

The Royal Enfield is about as dirt simple as a motorcycle can get. Two tires, seat, Single 350cc cylinder, kick start, Headlight, tail lights, drum brakes. No electric starter, Air cooled. Gets about 65 to 70 mpg.
The bike design hasn't really changed much since 1955. And it still looks like a 1950's bike. I figure I can work on it myself for most things. I guess I'm one of those overly independent types. Also if it breaks down in the middle of no where I figure I can fix it enough to get it somewhere. Mind you in England your never very far from a pub anyway.

The Royal Enfield has a certain amount of charm and a unique character to it. It's just a royal Enfield 350 or a Royal Enfield 500.
Not a THX1138JZ Hayabunga Uber dobber sports bike. Why can't motorcycles have simple names and not be named from a parts catalogue for Jet Engines?

In doing some more research I came across stories of people riding their Royal Enfields from Hong Kong to Scotland, and Germany to India. One rider, Gaurav Jani, made a great documentary about his solo ride from Mumbai to the Chnagthang Plateau in Ladakah, near the Chinese border.



Other people have done similar journeys but usually with much nicer BMW's which I can't afford.
Plus I just wanted a bike for riding the back roads of England. Trust me your not going to go very fast on the back roads so a speedy bike isn't a factor.

Looking on-line I found a few used Royal Enfields 350's for sale around £850 pounds. Problem was most were located far away, say near the Scottish border, and didn't have the MOT inspection done. MOT is roughly a “Do all the parts work” inspection that has to be renewed every year and has to be current before a bike can be driven on the road in England. It's also a good rough guide to if the bike is even in good condition.
If it's passed the MOT it at least runs and all the lights and brakes work....for the most part.....sometimes........at least until it's sold.

I got a hold of one Gentleman near London that had a Royal Enfield 350 for sale. Called him up and while he didn't have a current MOT he said he would get one over the weekend and I could come by Tuesday to pick it up. Great went out, bought a Helmet, Jacket and gloves.
As I was buying the helmet the clerk asked me what type of bike I was getting.
“I'm getting Royal Enfield”
His Eyes brows raised a few inches and his head nodded up and down a bit.
That was body language either saying
“Yes Sir, you have big brass ones, I salute you”
or “ahh silly American fool”
I'm still not sure which it was. I hope it was the former.

Monday morning got a call from the seller “Uhh.....yes......sorry old chap but I've decided to sell it to my neighbour, sorry about that...Bye.....bye”
As the locals are fond of saying …..Bugger.

Back to searching. Found another one close by and agreed to come by on Saturday to look it over and pick it up. Friday afternoon I get a call
“Sorry I've decided I'm going to be using it. But I have a friend who is 75 and he may be selling his”
I call up the 75 year old gentleman.
“Yes I may be selling my bike, at 75 I guess I'm getting a bit too old for kick start motorcycles”
You guess?? Going out a limb here but I bet he never had a Viagra prescription.

I'm starting a notice a strange reluctance of people to part with this particular type of motorcycle.
At the same time I discover that I had won an ebay bid on a 500cc Royal Enfield.
It was a bit more than I wanted to spend but still within my price range.
Plus a 500 can handle highway speeds a little better than a 350.
Well at least with a tail wind.
Now to go and look it over, buy it and ride it back.