[Dave240]

I found this old Royal Enfield that a farmer saved from going to scrap. He doesn't know anything about it or what it is missing. I'm a car guy, but I've never worked on a bike before and I'm totally clueless about this bike. I finished restoring my '67 Volvo this year and want something to work on over the winter.

So does anyone have any idea what year/model this bike is? Obviously it's missing quite a bit... Are replacement engines/parts available and if so, from where? I'm in Canada.

[malky]

Looks like you've got a Royal Enfield Prince. 150cc twostroke. As far as parts go the internet is your friend. The bike was Enfield's "BSA Bantam" but never really caught on. From your photo it looks like most of the tinware is there, which is good. Here's a photo of a complete one.

[Arizoni]

Dave240:
Malky is correct. 
It is a Royal Enfield Prince.

These were made from 1959 thru 1962 and were an upgrade from the 150 Ensign, Royal Enfield had been making since 1953.

The Ensign had used a strange double set of springs without dampening to provide the rear suspension.  The Prince replaced these with a redesigned frame and hydraulic spring shocks at the rear like most motorcycles used.
In addition, the fenders (mud guards) were revised and a tool box was added and the rear drive chain was fully enclosed in sheet metal covers.

Based on the photos in Royal Enfield- By Miles The Best . your find appears to be the 1959 model.

The 1959 model used the Royal Enfield tank badges with the wings extending to the rear.  All of the later production Prince's used a badge without the wings.

These motorcycles used a 6 volt battery system.

Although Hitchcock shows the Royal Enfield 150 Ensign parts, the engine is very similar (if not identical) with the engine in the Prince.

Here's a link to the Hitchcock site pages showing the parts and listing part numbers.

http://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/partsbooks/335/1958_Ensign

Hitchcock is a class company and can be trusted to provide information and high quality hardware.

The only problem with ordering stuff from Hitchcock is they are in England and the postage can be pretty expensive.  They have an excellent reputation for providing fast delivery though.

[Dave240]

Awesome. Thanks for your help! I'm hopefully going to go pick it up tomorrow and I'll update this with some more photos. Excited to get my hands on it and start learning about bikes.

[malky]

Another source worth trying for parts is Burton bike bits also in the UK ( you'll get them on Google) best to email them as there web site isn't " easy".

[royaloilfield]

Great find!   

[Dave240]

Picked it up last night!

[Dave240]

Now that I have the bike and the chassis/engine codes, where can I find more information on what those numbers actually mean?

[Farmer_John]

Don't know the codes, just want to see more pics of the Amazon...

[Ice]

Now that I have the bike and the chassis/engine codes, where can I find more information on what those numbers actually mean?

 REOC
http://www.royalenfield.org.uk/index.php?PageName=machine_dating

[royaloilfield]

http://www.royalenfields.com/2015/09/heres-how-to-date-tell-age-of-your.html

[Dave240]

Thanks guys, I'll try that.

I also talked to Hitchcock's and they can only get some engine parts and likely not everything I need. If I can't source what I need, what are my other options?

There is a 350cc Bullet engine for sale near me. I've restored a number of cars (including that Volvo in the background) but I'm totally new to bikes, so I don't know if that would fit or if it would be too much power/weight for the Prince. Someone suggested finding a similar sized Japanese two stroke. Thoughts?

As for the Volvo, I built it for a rally revival that I organized this past spring. You can read more about it here: http://canada5000.ca/ 

[malky]

Hi Dave, the Bullet engine is a no. I can vouch for the expertise of the ROEC in aging your bike, joining the club could also be of benefit for sourcing parts. From memory I think there were only around 600 or so of the Prince models sold, which makes them interesting rather than valuable, I've seen 1 or 2 cropping up on UK Ebay from time to time. After the second world war various companies made their version of the German DKW RT 125; Harley Davidson made the Hummer, BSA made the Bantam and Enfield made the Ensign which became the Prince. I suppose you could fit the Harley engine and call your bike a Hogfield.

[mattsz]

I suppose you could fit the Harley engine and call your bike a Hogfield.

[Arizoni]

I suppose a Royal Enfield Ensign engine/transmission (1953-1958) might be just about a direct drop in for the Prince engine/transmission (1959-1962), as far as the frame is concerned.

The internal parts would probably be different though.

"Royal Enfield The Complete Story" by Mick Walker ©2003 says on page 65, 66,
"New for 1959, the Prince, although still a 158cc two-stroke, differed in several ways from the Ensign.

In the engine, circular flywheels were employed in place of the former bob-weights, and as a result, crankcase compression was raised, providing an increase in power - 7.5bhp at 4,750 rpm (against 6bhp at the same engine revolutions).  To cope with the extra power, the gearbox (still a three-speeder) features a beefed-up mainshaft and improved pinion tooth form; while a neoprene synthetic rubber shock absorber was incorporated in the sprocket on the gearbox mainshaft..."

By the way, the Ensign was also sold  as the " Lance", (1957-1959) during the years that many Royal Enfields were sold in the USA carrying the "Indian" motorcycle badge.

Unfortunately, many of the people who own these Indian badged motorcycles think they are worth a fortune just because of the Indian name.