[AzCal Retred]

Left-hand shift. Has leather rider & pillion seats, deep valence rear fender, tank says "Royal Enfield", fiberglass battery box cover, looks pretty stock. This may be a ES 350, it has a flange-mount carb & "skinny looking" exhaust pipe.

https://chico.craigslist.org/mcy/d/nelson-royal-enfield/7335899401.html

[Willbrunei]

It seems to have a Hitchcocks oil pressure relief kit on the tappet cover

[Mr_84]

I find this interesting when a Enfield for sale is linked here  , are these pre UCE bikes very rare even in a place as big as the states ?. I know where I am in NZ these bikes are far and few between but we are at the bottom of the earth after all, I wonder if anyone has export numbers outside of India of these bikes ,it would be interesting to know what's out there

[Adrian II]

Never seen a 350 4 speeder with an electric start before...

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[ddavidv]

Fairly rare in the states. You have to remember RE never imported them, only individual entities such as Classic Motorworks. I'd say they are slightly more prolific than Urals.

[Paul W]

Never seen a 350 4 speeder with an electric start before...
A

Same here! It's quite unusual - doesn't the ES have to have cast in "bosses" where the starter motor bolts on? Was this a 500 from birth which has been rebuilt as a 350?

My non ES, iron barrelled, no dizzy, 350 Electra with a right side change, 5 speed gearbox causes a fair amount of confusion to those who know a bit about these bikes, but obviously the history of mine is known; it was an unusual bike in some respects as it came out of the factory but I converted it to 5 speed to suit me.

[Adrian II]

doesn't the ES have to have cast in "bosses" where the starter motor bolts on?

Yes.

The factory did bring out a 5 speed E/S 350 a few years later, which was a later development of yours, kind of a 350 version of the Sixty-5, but with the same three-phase alternator and TCI ignition as the Electra-X/AVL Classic, no "distributor".

There was a time, so I've heard from Henry Price, where you could basically rock up at Chennai with the necessary money and order a special. No reason why a set of 500 E/S raw crankcase castings couldn't have been machined for the smaller cylinder liner and the closer cylinder stud spacing as far as I can tell, if someone at the factory was willing to do it.

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[Paul W]

But the AVL engine wasn't really the same engine, was it?

[Bilgemaster]

But the AVL engine wasn't really the same engine, was it?

No, the AVL was a sort of interim design between the more-or-less "original" 1954 pre-unit (separate gear box and primary drive) Iron Cylinder Engine and the subsequent Unit Construction Engine (UCE) with the integrated gear box, etc.

"AVL" stands for "Anstalt für Verbrennungskraftmaschinen List" (German for "List Institute for Combustion Engines", "List" being the family name of its founder), the Graz-headquartered Austrian company which developed the engine for Enfield (India). For more details on the company, see: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVL_(engineering_company). They were exported to the States roughly 2008 to 2010. Personally, I think the engine's one of the prettiest Enfield ever produced, but they're not without their peculiar issues, though these can be largely remedied.

As for that Bullet in Chico, it ain't an AVL, but isn't that the same one that keeps popping up there in that town like a bad penny? My hunch is it may be an illegal "grey import", namely an Indian home market model somehow shipped here lacking US DoT certification. Hence, it may be extremely difficult to legally register here in the Land of the Plastic Spork...certainly in Kalifornia. You never see a license plate in its ads, do you? And where's the title status info craigslist prompts a seller to provide by default?

My "spidey sense" just pegs the meter hard with this one...

[AzCal Retred]

Oh Dad....you're such a noodge! 

The posted 600+ miles does seem to indicate either a speedo replacement or a lot of stationary time.

Anyhoo, I'll initiate contact & take a closer look. Maybe all will be well. An electric start 350 might be survivable on the factory sprag gears, being cautious to always spin it up with the decompressor engaged, and then also stop it with the decompressor.

Looks like an alloy barrel too. If title-able it should be a sweet ride. Now to prep for a possible 700 mile round trip...

[Adrian II]

But the AVL engine wasn't really the same engine, was it?

No, but I refer to these, which, as I said, have same three-phase alternator and TCI ignition AS the Electra-X/AVL Classic, even though they do not have the AVL engine.





Despite the differences between the AVL and Iron Barrel design, AFAIK there were only two types of crankcase casting used by Chennai in the later pre-EFI production, electric start and kick start only, they would then be machined according to whether they would be Iron Barrel or AVL, 350 or 500. I don't think the factory ever officially produced a kick start only 500 AVL, although they could have done.

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[ddavidv]

Well, an India model imported with no paperwork can be titled if one uses the state of Vermont to get a tag. I know a guy who did that. 

[Bilgemaster]

Well, an India model imported with no paperwork can be titled if one uses the state of Vermont to get a tag. I know a guy who did that. 

Indeed. The "Vermont Registration Gambit" might  work. There's a nice little write-up on it that I've mentioned previously here found at: http://www.chinonthetank.com/2014/04/get-a-title-with-a-vermont-registration/

But I wouldn't mention any of that to the seller. No clean title or "Bill of Sale Only" should instantly relegate the value of any vehicle to "Parts", or even "Scrap" if it's a non-runner. What they're asking is over twice what I paid for my 500 "Military" Iron Belly back in late 2017 with a clear title in a metropolitan area--not the set location for "High Plains Drifter". Sure, I bought it during a freakish blizzard (great time to buy any "summery" item) with troubling issues (massive oil leakage due to breather catch can cloggery), but all the same...

I'd recommend contacting the seller and asking, 1) Is there a clear title?, and, 2) Is it running? If the answer to either question is no, offer at most $1,000 contingent on firsthand inspection BEFORE saddling up for Chico. All they can say is no or counter-offer.

Channel your "Inner Clint"

[Paul W]

Adrian, the first of those two photos is intriguing. Essentially the same as my my own bike, but with a disc brake and ES.

I initially considered converting mine to a disc brake but the TLS drum has proved more than adequate. The MOT man was surprised that it easily locked the front wheel on the roller brake test. I actually prefer the looks of the drum anyway.

The ES would occasionally be useful in traffic but having learned of the woes of other owners, possibly too much of a liability.

I was initially a bit suspicious of the non-checkable, non-adjustable TCI ignition system, but it works very well and from experience it is capable of providing a very strong spark (Ouch). You may remember that we discussed the different, but OE, 9-32 TCI controller I found and bought online and fitted. It seems to have given the bike a bit more get up and go.

[Adrian II]

Well, the 350 in AzCal's original post is still on points ignition by the look of it.

By all accounts the left-foot shift 4 speed box is much better either converted to right-foot or dumped in favo(u)r of a 5 speeder. As for the E/S, if it still works, a 350 might just give it an easier time than a 500.

It will be interesting to see if this one can be negotiated down to a price and turns out to worthwhile, or if it is best left alone.  My Redditch 350 is turning out to be in need of some proper TLC before it's rideable, but that is in hand.

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