Author Topic: How many oil lamps ?  (Read 8252 times)

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cyrusb

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on: July 11, 2018, 01:31:54 am
I asked this question about ten years ago and received no answer. C.M.W was still selling them and would not say how many were in the country. It must have been a national security issue. But now many years after the last pre-unit bullet has been sold there must be an answer. So, come on Kevin, how many Oil Lamps? In leu of a real answer, lets take best guesses. I'll start with 1000. 
2005E Fixed and or Replaced: ignition, fenders,chainguard,wires,carb,headlight,seat,tailight,sprockets,chain,shock springs,fork springs, exhaust system, horn,shifter,clutch arm, trafficators,crankcase vent.


mrunderhill1975a

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Reply #1 on: July 11, 2018, 07:31:16 pm
I may have tried to answer this previously, but I will try again.  Many years ago, maybe 2001, I found a Department of commerce website that listed the number of oil lamps imported from India, it was a table that listed the size of the oil lamp imported. It did not list the manufacturer, however, which company in India manufactures the big oil lamps? There is only one I believe. The big (500 size)  oil lamp imports to USA from India in 2001 was something like 450 lamps.  So, if we assume 450 lamps per year from 1999 through 2015, I get approximately 7,200 big oil lamps.
I have not been able to find that website from the department of commerce since 2001, but if we can find that website, we may be able to get a better estimate of the number of lamps.


cyrusb

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Reply #2 on: July 12, 2018, 01:20:29 am
Holy cow, thats a lot more than I imagined. But wouldn't the years be 2001 to 2008. Isn't that when they discontinued the Oil Lamp Bullet in the USA ?
2005E Fixed and or Replaced: ignition, fenders,chainguard,wires,carb,headlight,seat,tailight,sprockets,chain,shock springs,fork springs, exhaust system, horn,shifter,clutch arm, trafficators,crankcase vent.


Bmadd34

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Reply #3 on: July 12, 2018, 04:40:37 am
Sorry, I wander in here from time to time from the UCE area :Prepares for hissing and booing:. What are "oil lamp" bullets?
When Life hands you lemons, Squeeze them in his eyes and take his wallet.


Adrian II

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Reply #4 on: July 12, 2018, 01:13:16 pm
Quote
:Prepares for hissing and booing:

Er... why would that be?  ;D

My Royal Enfields are a mix of Redditch and Indian C.I. and in some cases AVL parts. Where do **I** post?  ;)

A.
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cyrusb

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Reply #5 on: July 12, 2018, 01:19:09 pm
Oil Lamps = Pre unit bullets. 
2005E Fixed and or Replaced: ignition, fenders,chainguard,wires,carb,headlight,seat,tailight,sprockets,chain,shock springs,fork springs, exhaust system, horn,shifter,clutch arm, trafficators,crankcase vent.


Adrian II

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Reply #6 on: July 12, 2018, 01:25:39 pm
Holy cow, thats a lot more than I imagined. But wouldn't the years be 2001 to 2008. Isn't that when they discontinued the Oil Lamp Bullet in the USA ?

I seem to recall something posted by Kevin about the very last C.I. 500s being built in India for the US market in 2009. (The last imports into the UK were in 2007.)

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cyrusb

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Reply #7 on: July 12, 2018, 03:08:51 pm
Still no guesses? I am revising my original 1000 to 500. That would average out to about 10 in each state. The dealer network just wasn't big enough to support big numbers.
2005E Fixed and or Replaced: ignition, fenders,chainguard,wires,carb,headlight,seat,tailight,sprockets,chain,shock springs,fork springs, exhaust system, horn,shifter,clutch arm, trafficators,crankcase vent.


mrunderhill1975a

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Reply #8 on: July 12, 2018, 05:54:26 pm
Ok, if we are looking at 1999 to 2007 oil lamps, I am guessing a total of 3600 oil lamps imported into the USA,


Bilgemaster

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Reply #9 on: July 12, 2018, 06:30:26 pm
Sorry, I wander in here from time to time from the UCE area :Prepares for hissing and booing:. What are "oil lamp" bullets?

Welcome! And no apology is ever necessary for your sophisticated modern well-bathed sort to wander in our primitive midst. You're certainly not gonna hear any jeering from me.

This is the first I'd heard the term too. i sort of figured from the context that "oil lamp" might be slang for pre-unit rides--maybe just the iron cylinder ones, maybe including the AVL ones too. A search of the Forum Archives seems to confirm this. Whence the term first arose, I know not, though "simple as an oil lamp" seems a likely harbinger.

Of course, staring as I am right now at my own "iron belly's" timing case, it does bear a vague, if rounded, resemblance to Aladdin's Lamp, if you squint at it just right, with all its associated Magic Carpet travel baggage...That or some big green Vulcan dildo. Who can say? Still, I don't expect "Spock Cock" is gonna catch on--too "modernist".
« Last Edit: July 13, 2018, 03:33:32 am by Bilgemaster »
So badass my Enfield's actually illegal  in India. Yet it squeaks by here in Virginia.

 


cyrusb

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Reply #10 on: July 13, 2018, 02:15:50 am
Mrunderhill, 3600 is a generous guess. thats approx 450 a year. I live on an island of 3 million people, in ten years I have seen 1. Where are all theses things? But Who knows, keep the guesses coming.                                           Bilgemaster, Romulan Codpiece is a Really good analogy, but Oil Lamp spoke to the power output and simplicity of a stock pre unit Indian Bullet. UCE engines when revealed in '05 were nicknamed "Stomach Pumps".
2005E Fixed and or Replaced: ignition, fenders,chainguard,wires,carb,headlight,seat,tailight,sprockets,chain,shock springs,fork springs, exhaust system, horn,shifter,clutch arm, trafficators,crankcase vent.


mrunderhill1975a

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Reply #11 on: July 13, 2018, 06:37:04 pm
Cyrusb,
Perhaps 3600 is generous, however, I live in the middle of nowhere, 350 miles to a oil lamp dealer, and I have seen 7 oil lamps in a town of 20,000 people. That pencils out to 1 lamp per 2,857 people.

Assuming there are approximately 400,000,000 people in USA, that would mean there are 140,007 oil lamps imported into USA (hmm.........that seems excessive) I will stick to 3600 lamp estimate.
I am still looking for the Dept or Commerce data to get more accurate figures.  If I find that data, I will post it.


hpwaco

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Reply #12 on: July 13, 2018, 07:27:36 pm
So my 02 Bullet ES was one of those "oil lamps?"


Bilgemaster

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Reply #13 on: July 14, 2018, 08:08:07 am
So my 02 Bullet ES was one of those "oil lamps?"

That's right! Rub it, and a Genie will appear to grant you three wishes!
So badass my Enfield's actually illegal  in India. Yet it squeaks by here in Virginia.

 


hpwaco

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Reply #14 on: July 14, 2018, 04:04:02 pm
Three years worth of wishs came true when I sold it after 8+ k miles of awesome vibration.