Author Topic: Royal Enfield 500 Bullet Roadtest Report from 1955  (Read 9331 times)

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LotusSevenMan

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on: October 13, 2007, 09:17:20 am
Thought this might be of interest to some (all!!!) of you out there in Enfield Bullet Lover Land!
Found this in an old magazine. May have been seen before but I hadn't seen it so thought I'd share it.



And



Print is small so you'll need to print off the 'pictures' and still use a magnifying glass!!!

 ;D
If it ain't broke-------------------------- fix it 'till it is!

Royal Enfield Miltary 500cc  (2003)
Honda VTR FireStorm (SuperHawk) 996cc 'V' twin
Kawasaki KR1 250cc twin 'stroker
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dave48

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Reply #1 on: October 13, 2007, 10:33:06 am
Fascinating! Copied to My Photos and blown up, legible if a bit blurred - as must have been the tester's vision at the 85.6mph max!!
Particularly of interest to those who might wish to know correct period riding apparel (mind you from what I can remember the rider's clothes are pretty much what everyone wore at that time - apart from the helmet and goggles!). How depressing that I REMEMBER...


deejay

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Reply #2 on: October 13, 2007, 01:09:18 pm
i can't read that at all, any chance of getting a higher res scan? It looks interesting!


LotusSevenMan

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Reply #3 on: October 13, 2007, 06:45:49 pm
Paper/print quality has suffered after 52 years.

Perhaps your eyesight has too ha ha  ;D
If it ain't broke-------------------------- fix it 'till it is!

Royal Enfield Miltary 500cc  (2003)
Honda VTR FireStorm (SuperHawk) 996cc 'V' twin
Kawasaki KR1 250cc twin 'stroker
Ducati 916 'L' twin


prof_stack

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Reply #4 on: October 13, 2007, 08:37:49 pm
I've got a good scanner.  Send me the original and I'll scan it and make it available to the forum members here.  I'll even pay the return postage!   :)



LotusSevenMan

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Reply #5 on: October 14, 2007, 10:22:33 am
My scanner is good too. It just loses it in electronic translation here. I have already sent a couple over the wires to Bullet fans here on this site. Anyone want to send me their email address to Speedybear7 at blueyonder.co.uk and I'll send better copies on?

This is too frail to send anywhere after 52 years!!!!!  :o
« Last Edit: December 01, 2008, 05:13:26 pm by LotusSevenMan »
If it ain't broke-------------------------- fix it 'till it is!

Royal Enfield Miltary 500cc  (2003)
Honda VTR FireStorm (SuperHawk) 996cc 'V' twin
Kawasaki KR1 250cc twin 'stroker
Ducati 916 'L' twin


Leonard

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Reply #6 on: October 14, 2007, 01:06:06 pm
Let me try this copy of an old road test I recently came across........Leonard

[old attachment deleted by admin]
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Leonard

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Reply #7 on: October 14, 2007, 01:09:41 pm
Page one looks huge on my computer.  Guess you could save it and read in some other program.  Here is page two..........Leonard

[old attachment deleted by admin]
2009 Triumph Bonneville T100
2004 Royal Enfield Sixty-5 (RIP)
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Al

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Reply #8 on: October 14, 2007, 02:00:15 pm
 It would be appeciated by many if you could post this article in the files section of the Yahoogroups' Royalenfield. We could then download or print the file.


deejay

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Reply #9 on: October 14, 2007, 02:19:20 pm
Paper/print quality has suffered after 52 years.

Perhaps your eyesight has too ha ha  ;D


I hope not! I just turned 30, maybe I need to see an eye doctor.  ;D


RagMan

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Reply #10 on: October 14, 2007, 03:03:53 pm
Leonard thank you so much for those pictures. I read them happily, using my viewer - resizing them to fit on the screen made reading easier. So fascinating - where d'ya think we could get hold of a manual advance lever?  I would have loved to have one of those fitted 7 weeks ago. It is interesting that the review reports the performance as better than the recent reports on the modern Bullet.
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dave48

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Reply #11 on: October 14, 2007, 03:29:39 pm
"It is interesting that the review reports the performance as better than the recent reports on the modern Bullet"

Presumably in part due to current "restrictions" and in part to much cosier relationship between the manufacturers and the m'cycle press back then. A poor review was pretty much "not the done thing"  until at least the '70s - a trend to honesty started by Bike magazine as I recall.
Road tests in the main simply re-packaged the factories' press releases!


Leonard

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Reply #12 on: October 14, 2007, 06:50:25 pm
A friend found an old Floyd Clymer publication of road tests.  It covered many models, all Brit and USA, from 1955-1957.  Now that you mention it I didn't see anything but positive reports.  There might have been some "damning with faint praise" something like "gee, for a fat girl you don't sweat much", kind of stuff but nothing but good for the most part.

"It is interesting that the review reports the performance as better than the recent reports on the modern Bullet"

Presumably in part due to current "restrictions" and in part to much cosier relationship between the manufacturers and the m'cycle press back then. A poor review was pretty much "not the done thing"  until at least the '70s - a trend to honesty started by Bike magazine as I recall.
Road tests in the main simply re-packaged the factories' press releases!
2009 Triumph Bonneville T100
2004 Royal Enfield Sixty-5 (RIP)
2001 Kawasaki W650 (going, going...gone)
http://www.romeoriders.com


dave48

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Reply #13 on: October 14, 2007, 09:45:51 pm
FWIW, the prices are interesting!
For the UK, it took approx 14 weeks average earnings to buy the Bullet in mid-'50s; the comparable figure now is 5 weeks! This is of course in part a reflectiuon of shift of production to India: if still built here would probably be c. 9 weeks.


cyrusb

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Reply #14 on: November 26, 2007, 02:14:22 am
Ah! so thats where the horn is supposed to go ,thanks.
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.