[banjelele]

I'm kinda surprised looking at kijiji here in Canada that people are asking almost as much for our old iron heads as they are asking for the brand new ones. And that there are  new 2016s still in stock. Could be old Tonto is worth more than I paid for him all those years ago.

[Bilgemaster]

I'm kinda surprised looking at kijiji here in Canada that people are asking almost as much for our old iron heads as they are asking for the brand new ones. And that there are  new 2016s still in stock. Could be old Tonto is worth more than I paid for him all those years ago.

Asking ain't getting, but a well-sorted "iron belly" certainly isn't likely to lose real value, and will very likely gain some within reason. After all, they're not making any more of "the REAL thumpers." In India they're apparently now selling at a huge premium. But let's be honest: most folks I meet here in the Land of the Plastic Spork have never even heard  of Royal Enfield. So as an "investment vehicle" (pun intended) a Bullet is probably not your very best bet hereabouts. It presently lacks any real brand name recognition. An unmolested '70s or earlier Triumph, Norton or BSA would be far likelier to increase more in value more down the road, that is, unless Royal Enfield makes any real inroads into our dwindling North American market, such that folks might actually begin googling "Royal Enfield for sale" the way they might "Triumph Bonneville for sale."  All that said, if you could pick up that ailing 500 you mention for, say, a couple-few hundred bucks as a "project bike", and have the wherewithal to square her away, it probably wouldn't be the dumbest thing anyone's ever done with their "Bordens", Eh?

[banjelele]

Well, speaking of metallurgy I always respected the head on my Bullet wasn't quite right. That little engine just never had the performance I had read about from others. The valves needed quite frequent adjustment and after 15 or more years of riding and having the valves and seats lapped once or twice, the valves were so deep in the head that I had to take the exhaust pushed apart and grind a wee bit of length off of it to increase the range of adjustment. I finally gave up and just bought a whole new head with valves installed. Actually I think it came from classic motorworks. I believe it was 300$. I didn't care. Just wanted old Tonto to run again. Now he runs better than I remember him ever running. Top gear tells the tale. Bucks headwinds and climbs hill's better than it used to. Sounds good too.

[banjelele]

Speaking of metallurgy for years I suspected that the head on my Bullet had problems. It just never made the power I had read that other guys were getting. Through the years as part of the decoking process I did have the valves lapped. Finally even had to shorten the exhaust pushed to get enough adjustment range.
Finally I went looking for a new head and found one with the  valves already installed. About 300$ as I remember. That cured it. Better compression. Better torque. Climbs hill's better. Bucks prairie headwinds better. A much happier machine all the way around.