[nigelogston@gmail.com]

ok , I have no idea where the appropriate place to put this is , so I will put it here because it is where I usually post when I do .   While we have all been holding our breath for the announcement of the Royal Enfield Twin, it looks like the boys in Chennai may have other plans:  Fun Plans .  Not sure if this is for true, but read and judge for yourself.  I found it because every now and then I do an internet search on the current or last month linked to "Royal Enfield" just to see if there is any news or ne review or the like.  Got more than I bargained for this time ;  Read  it and weep; for joy I hope.

http://thevintagent.blogspot.ca/2014/04/royal-enfield-buys-vincent.html

Cheers, Nigel

[DanB]

Sorry.... It's an April Fools prank.

[nigelogston@gmail.com]

OK   Jokes on me   Apologies all

[Ducati Scotty]

Bummer.  Vincent is certainly a better known nam than RE, could have sold really well.  Maybe if we just ask the factory they'll say no, but then think about it

[suitcasejefferson]

That may be a joke, but I just watched a Youtube video where a guy built an Enfield v-twin using a lot of Enfield parts. I would not be opposed to an Enfield twin, if it were designed and built right, but it would have to be a 360 degree vertical twin. British design all the way. Like Triumph and BSA. The last thing the world needs is yet ANOTHER Harley copy v-twin. Enfield already sells a cruiser in India called the Thunderbird, which looks a lot like the Thunderbird Triumph sells in the U.S. But the Triumph has a vertical twin. I don't have a problem with cruisers, I have owned several. But I think Enfield should stick to their vintage British heritage. It's their thing, just as v-twin powered cruisers is Harley's.

[AVL Power!]

BTW - Vtwins are now being made here in South India by Norcroft

[AVL Power!]

Here's their FB link - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Norcroft/537892286302547?fref=ts

[AVL Power!]

2nd pic and 3rd and 4th

[ace.cafe]

Royal Enfield has made V-Twins all the way back since 1913,


and all the way up to the end of the 1930s.



Here's another custom V-Twin designed to use Enfield  Bullet cylinders and other parts, and fit into a modified Bullet frame.
It's called the Musket, and it is 1000cc, or 1070cc.

[hortoncode3]

Indian made a V-Twin 3 years before HD..... AND it was 4 valves per cylinder. Harley didn't get to that for another 70 years or so.

[suitcasejefferson]

I don't doubt any of the above. There have been many British v-twins, including Brough Superior and Vincent. But these days if you try to sell a v-twin in the U.S. and it is not a sport bike, people immediately start screaming "Harley copy" All of the Japanese v-twin cruisers, Victory, and now Indian are all being called Harley copies. Even my 1985 design '02 Vulcan 750, which looks nothing like a Harley, and has a liquid cooled v-twin with no fins, gets called a Harley copy. Out of some 40 bikes, the Vulcan is the only v-twin I have ever owned.

Harley may not have made the first v-twin, and certainly not the only one, but they have such a stranglehold on that design now that almost everybody considers a v-twin to be a Harley copy.

My one and only British bike was a mid '60s Bonneville. One of the things I love most about many British bikes is their vertical engines, single or twin. I always wondered why Norton used forward inclined cylinders. To me that gave it a Japanese bike look. The Suzuki S40 is the only Japanese bike that uses a vertical cylinder, but it still does not look like a British engine.

I have this thing about tradition, and don't really care for change. I bought a RE B5 because it looks almost like a traditional British single, and has a long stroke and heavy flywheel like a traditional British single. Nobody else makes anything like it. It's been around for a long time. I would sure hate to see it "modernized" into something completely different.

[hortoncode3]

I'm not terribly concerned with any ones opinion on who built what first...time tested designs tend to linger while crappy ones don't. Subsequently, we are blessed with many designs that have soldiered on in some incarnation or another. Loyalty to only one shows a lack of understanding of what it's like to be a motorcyclist!

[olhogrider]

I'm not terribly concerned with any ones opinion on who built what first...time tested designs tend to linger while crappy ones don't. Subsequently, we are blessed with many designs that have soldiered on in some incarnation or another. Loyalty to only one shows a lack of understanding of what it's like to be a motorcyclist!

+1

[hillntx]

Check out the Kawasaki W650/850, KZ440, KZ454, KZ750B, Ninja 650, Versys; Suzuki GS400/425/500, 650 Tempter; Honda CB350, 400, 500; lots of Japanese parallel twins.

Most people know nothing about bikes, if it has two wheels and a little chrome they'll say it looks like a Harley since Harley is the only brand they know and they want to seem informed.

[Craig McClure]

I don't doubt any of the above. There have been many British v-twins, including Brough Superior and Vincent. 

I always wondered why Norton used forward inclined cylinders. To me that gave it a Japanese bike look.

Hi There Suitcase, The forward tilted engine in the Norton Commandos was basically the same engine found upright in the Norton Dominators & Matchless models. I was told they tilted the engine for the new twin loop isolastic frames. Nortons have quite a following, but the twins that came through my hands were not keepers. I did like Norton singles a lot.
  Among the British V twin makers were JAP, BSA, Matchless. They were especially good sidecar tugs, & the JAP & Matchless V twins were used to good advantage on Morgan 3 wheel sports cars.
  I always wanted a Panther 650 single with a Steib S500 sidecar, but they were fairly rare here & too expensive. I have enjoyed owning Dnepr & Ural sidecar outfits, & hope to have another.

[decker]

I'm not terribly concerned with any ones opinion on who built what first...time tested designs tend to linger while crappy ones don't. Subsequently, we are blessed with many designs that have soldiered on in some incarnation or another. Loyalty to only one shows a lack of understanding of what it's like to be a motorcyclist!

+2