[RogerC]

Just for your information, on the 1st March new Royal Enfield bikes have gone up here by about 14%

I hope this does not put any possible new owners off, it would be a shame.

Best regards

Roger

[fredgold52]

That's quite a jump!  Any news on the cause of this leap?  Is this for the new models only, existing models, everything???

RE needs to be careful about the Japanese competition in the 500cc range.  As yet, "Made in India" does not excite the same warm feelings about quality that, "Made in Japan" does.  At least I believe that's true here in the US.

[LJRead]

And I suppose the British currency has held up reasonably well compared to the Indian one.  The U.S. dollar continues to decline in value and is down 25% compared to our local currency, the pa'anga.  Unless there was a lot of padding in the U.S. prices to begin with, I would expect to see a big jump in the U.S. prices of Indian made R E stuff coming up soon.

[RogerC]

The whole new bike range seems to have gone up.

Classic 350 was £2195 now £2495
and so on.

Its getting very close to some of the Jap entry models Ie. Kawasaki ER5 £2995 and
Honda's CB500.........all made very well and can take British winters without rusting away. My brother had an ER5 with 63,000 miles on it with no signs of it giving up.

But I love my enfield,

Roger.

[LJRead]

I don't know much about marketing, but R E is a niche player and maybe should be thinking of putting out the very finest product for export possible and hang the expense.  If people want something special, like a true 1950-60 bike, they will pay the extra, if they know they are also getting a very fine product (at least I'm that way).  Trying to compete with low cost Asian bikes seems to be entirely futile. 

I've stripped my bike down quite a bit, so that the only sheet metal to rust are the tank and fenders, along with the exhaust system, and rims.  Everything else seems made either rust free  (aluminum) or of heavy steel.  It seems to me that if everything is kept up with a good grade of wax etc. there shouldn't be much problem with rust. 

The question I keep wondering is whether the metallurgy, workmanship, various materials are that much worse than those of Asian bikes.  What could be improved?
What would justify higher prices?

[fredgold52]

That's a complicated question.  I do know there is a level of quality a customer won't pay for.  Unless there is some other consideration driving the purchase decision.

Personally, I think the quality of RE materials and workmanship is very good and well worth what we pay for the Bullet.  Could they be better?  Could the chrome be deeper, could the paint be thicker, could every bit of casting flash be meticulously removed, and could the fit of all the parts including chassis parts be exactly correct every time?  Or is this as good as it needs to be for the customers it is aimed at?

I think each one of us answered similar questions when we evaluated whether or not to purchase out Bullet. 

Here's a tougher question.  If Honda produced a 500cc single copied after an old Norton or Matchless and it had all the things we've come to expect from Honda quality wise, and the bike was selling for $5400 out the door in the US - how many of us would have still bought our Bullets?

I suggest that many of us would still be Bullet riders.  Many of us wouldn't have that Honda for a present.  If you also think that's how it would go, why do you think so?

[LJRead]

Since I have almost no experience with various bikes, I haven't a clue as to how well R E is put together versus these Asian bikes.  I know it is good enough for me and the simplicity is wonderful.  For example, I looked at photos of the two bikes mentioned above, the Honda and Kawasaki, and they both get rave reviews for everything, but I'm not sure I could handle repair on them. They don't have the openness that I've come to like on the R E.

The only thing is that I keep reading disparaging remarks about R E  fit and finish.  It is implied in the statement above about bikes being able to withstand winter conditions without rusting apart.  I have some chips here and there that I'm waiting for the paint and stuff to fix and the paint, at least, looks plenty thick to me. The sheet metal is heavy gauge.  When I posted one comment about this, the answer was given that the current R Es are at least as good as they were when make in England.

Enfield's major market is still India and I don't know whether that market would pay the high price of near perfection.  And like you say, maybe it is a waste of energy (law of diminishing returns like).  Kawasaki did a good job of emulating Triumph twins some years back and I think it sold well. 

We do get very good value for the money, don't we?  Bidding just closed on a new Electra X at about $3,200 (below reserve however) on Ebay.   I think it was a new 2006 model.  There were 26 bids total, so I guess it was a competitive market for it.