[Adrian II]

Finally!

Hitchcocks' listing is for the 500 EFI version but presumably the CGT 535 version to fit the wider crankcase mouth will be up for the same money. I have asked for clarification.

The engine kit comes in at 2750 GBP not including any import duties or domestic VAT, that's all the engine stuff, though it is a twin port exhaust, so a set of pipes and mufflers will be needed too. A pair of pipes come in at 219 GBP and the mufflers at 292 GBP the pair, again that's net of any import duties or domestic VAT. 3261 GBP the lot or $3941 plus shipping and taxes.

https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/35385


A.

[StreetKleaver]

Keen to see the dyno results.

A little on the expensive side. But definitely unique.

[Adrian II]

Yes, apparently those few privileged souls who have ridden a bike thus fitted have been quite impressed, but as with all of Hitchcocks' more expensive kit, I fear it may be for something of a limited market. The thought of buying one to play with will probably be dismissed fairly quickly. But just to give you an idea, this was spotted by a French friend at the Founders' day Rally in the UK in 2019 which celebrated the (post-war) Bullet's 70th anniversary. It might have had the 612 crank fitted too.

A.



Photo: Marco

http://www.royalenfieldlesite.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=24097

[Taurim]

Maybe it is a bit too late as buying a BSA 650 and installing clipons would be a lot more simple and less expensive to build a classic single cylinder cafe racer with some performance...

Nice kit though !

[StreetKleaver]

A nice kit. I wonder how much just the head + valves etc alone would be. As some of us have done the upgrades with bore, piston and cams. Different push rods maybe?

What I'd LOVE to see is the head adapted on to a IRON barrel engine.

Would possibly be a dream build for me. Alloy 535 Barrel, Big head, twin pipes. Drool.

Adrian I'm pretty sure you've shown me it's been done by Mr Price.

[AzCal Retred]

There are/were twin port I.B. heads out there already. They show up on ebay from time to time. You are pretty talented, I'm guessing you could fab one from an existing single port head with some grinder/mill time and a tig welder. The ebay ones I've seen look pretty home made. You could probably improve the exhaust sealing arrangement whilst you are about it.
H's could likely steer you to someone with an original twin port head, send them an e-mail.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313&_nkw=royal+enfield+twin+port&_sacat=0

[Adrian II]

You're missing the point though, this is NOT about 2-valve twin exhaust port heads. They were quite common pre-war. Royal Enfield did have some proper 4-valve head models before WW2, so there's perhaps a bit of a nod to the heritage as well as a new toy for performance-obsessed EFI500 and CGT535 owners.

Just so we know what we're talking about...





Photos: HMC

Henry Price's 535 UCE top-end/iron barrel crankcases hybrid uses a stock 2-valve, single exhaust port head with a slightly modified Electra-X crankshaft and a CGT535 barrel and piston.

A.

[Arschloch]

It probably will sell well, because I would bet it doesn't. 

[viczena]

You buy this kit, pay another 1-2k until it runs, and then nobody cares. Great investment.

[Arschloch]

You buy this kit, pay another 1-2k until it runs, and then nobody cares. Great investment.

The enthusiasm for Koenigseggs is definitely greater. 

[Adrian II]

You buy this kit, pay another 1-2k until it runs, and then nobody cares. Great investment.

Something else for you to troll? Those who HAVE tried rate it pretty highly, and no-one even mentioned carburettors on this thread yet, though I suppose we can, now. 

A.

[viczena]

I am shure you are the right guy for this kind of "investment".

[Arschloch]

Something else for you to troll? Those who HAVE tried rate it pretty highly, and no-one even mentioned carburettors on this thread yet, though I suppose we can, now. 

A.

Well we could discuss now the advent of fuel injection.

[Adrian II]

Those who can afford it and have a use for it will buy it. The rest of us will (mostly) think "that's nice" and move along. As I posted above, it's a limited market. That said, Hitchcocks' managed to sell all their reproduction Big Head kits for Redditch and Indian 500 iron barrel Bullets despite the price, Baxter Cycle even bought up the reject castings to fix them. I would assume a company like Hitchcocks' would have researched their likely market carefully before taking these beyond the back of envelope sketch/drawing board/CAD file, or whatever voodoo modern manufacturing currently uses. My suspicion is that they'll sell most of them once the all the money from the sale of spare kidneys has been banked.

If we're talking about investment, I think there are enough level-headed people in the RE world who realise that any major upgrades made to their bikes won't necessarily be recovered when they sell their bikes on, Same as restoring a vintage bike, the money spent on a really good restoration isn't often recovered in a subsequent sale. However, people do gain a lot of personal satisfaction seeing an old heap of a bike restored into something desirable again, or taking an under-developed production bike and turning it into something a bit special. If you don't get that, others here certainly do, and no, I haven't ordered one of these kits, for sure/shure.

A.

[Arschloch]

My observation those day is, it doesn't matter what the investment is. More important who does it and where. if it's the biggest crap doesn't matter, if I did invest in Sweden into anything it would ring, 13, 13, 13....all the time.  From that perspective buying into this doesn't appear to me like the worst idea. The head itself will probably retain value better than the bike itself anyway and can be sold of at a brighter day separately. For such a low volume production run it would not appear overly expensive.

And than if someone enjoys it putting it on his bike even better.

Firewood might be a better investment those days, and that will go to zero.