Author Topic: Wanted bullet 500  (Read 2893 times)

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Stanley

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Reply #15 on: April 15, 2021, 04:23:39 pm
This looks like a retro-mod tribute with a bouquet of fresh paint.
I recall the first Indian 350 Bullets sold in California offered by Ricky Racer Supply around 1972. They were olive drab and had small SLS front brakes, dull castings and scant chrome. At a time when real Britbikes were often shunned, an Indian copy was hardly desirable. Maybe by that time Arizona had a supplier of future bikes?
« Last Edit: April 15, 2021, 04:27:46 pm by Stanley »
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viczena

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Reply #16 on: April 15, 2021, 04:39:44 pm
A $1500 machine and a $1500 Hitchcock's crank and you have a 6000+ RPM, 40 HP capable machine, assuming you are willing & able to do the work. A $250 forged piston, $200 alloy barrel and $1100 5-speed gearbox and you have a real runner. Another $1100 for a disc-brake front end and she'll stop like a modern machine too.

That makes 5600$ . For this you could easily buy a nail new machine. With warranty. And no wrenching necessary. No old cables, no old electric, no old anything.

Thats better than a doped old warhorse.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2021, 04:44:45 pm by viczena »
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AzCal Retred

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Reply #17 on: April 15, 2021, 06:03:23 pm
True that, that's why these are largely hobby machines. Like yourself, other people derive entertainment from modifying equipment to fit their personal preference. If a guy was saving money he'd largely skip personal vehicle ownership and use Uber, Lyft, trains, busses & aircraft. Not much practical justification for owning a fleet of motorcycles other that ability to purchase and personal preference, eh?
A trifecta of Pre-Unit Bullets: a Red Deluxe 500, a Green Standard 500, and a Black ES 350.


axman88

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Reply #18 on: April 15, 2021, 06:42:55 pm
That makes 5600$ . For this you could easily buy a nail new machine. With warranty. And no wrenching necessary. No old cables, no old electric, no old anything.
Thats better than a doped old warhorse.
One advantage of an old machine is that it can pay YOU to ride it.  I like to buy vehicles at the tail end of the flat section of the value curve, something like 20 years old (aka "junk").  Once they get to 30 or 40 years old, the yearly appreciation in value is effectively paying for all costs, including gas money.  This can work even if the thing is sitting in a field and slowly turning to rust.

There's a rough approximation of the value curve published in this article, which gets the idea across:  http://classiccarinsuswa.blogspot.com/2015/10/classic-car-value-curve.html

Of course, with research and some economic modeling, much more accurate valuation is possible:
https://csddaily.wordpress.com/2016/07/17/modern-classics-a-hard-look-at-the-appreciation-curves/

Eventually, many vehicles become too valuable to ride, unless you are Jay Leno.  This probably won't happen with an Indian made Bullet, but don't be surprised if the IBs shortly become more valuable than UCEs fifteen years their junior.  I think that the older REs will increase in value in the US as brand awareness grows. 


viczena

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Reply #19 on: April 15, 2021, 08:05:23 pm
You are right. The question is do I want to ride the bike or do I want to collect them. If you are not Jay Leno.
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Harley CVO EGlide, Boss Hoss 502, BMW 1200 RT, Harley Panhead , Harley Davidson &Marlboro Man Bike BD2, Royal Enfield Trials, KTM EXC 500. And some more.


AzCal Retred

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Reply #20 on: April 15, 2021, 10:40:31 pm
I want the job of exercising Jay Leno's motorcycle collection... ;D
A trifecta of Pre-Unit Bullets: a Red Deluxe 500, a Green Standard 500, and a Black ES 350.


axman88

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Reply #21 on: April 16, 2021, 12:15:02 am
That "64" model looks later than that.  Late 80's - 90"s I'd say.
Plenty of them came with a plate that stated a certain year but found to me much later   Can be dated by the chassis/engine number of course.
My "1970" model was made in 1995.

Someone tried hard to make it look older, I think. Amp meter is same as on my 2007. Carb is no Amal. Big front brake is not from the 1960s. Tool box decals look too new to my eye. It's nicely done though.

I was ready to accept the '64 at face value, at least here in my comments in the forum, ... after all the price tag is only $3500.  If the title said '64, that's what I'd tell all but my closest friends, even after I knew the truth.

But something about this alleged '67 makes my nose twitch.  http://suprememotos.com/royal_enfield/128527-1967-royal-enfield-british-racing-greenpearlgold-accents.html  It's SO shiny, and that cannon medallion?  And the nice round, $10K price tag seems much more in keeping with an intentional misrepresentation.  We've been warned many times, here in the forum, and elsewhere, that Royal Enfields from the 'tween period, after Redditch stopped production and before importing from India started in earnest, are quite rare in the US.  I'm no expert though, my instincts can be, and often are, quite wrong.

Paul Henshaw's video may be relevant:  https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php?topic=30202.0

When did the importing of "large" numbers of REs to the USA commence?  I wonder what the actual numbers were in those days?   A hundred, yearly?


AzCal Retred

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Reply #22 on: April 16, 2021, 01:30:19 am
The main point of the C.I. Bullet is that it provides an affordable taste of motorcycling's past. A pre-unit machine with a 50+ year production run means parts availability. Pushrods & about 6 bolts and the top end is off. The transmission guts can be in your hands in an hour. Even the bottom end can be taken apart, a new pin, bushing & con rod installed, line up the crank halves by rolling across the flattest surface you got India-style and it'll run OK, at least for awhile. You can invest a lot of time, money & effort and it'll run very well indeed, but it's a labor of love. Enjoy them for what they are, not what some collector book hypothesizes that they're worth. A '55 thru '05 are all going to run in a similar manner; the enjoyment and sensation don't care where or when they come from. These machines embody a moment of brilliant, pragmatic engineering by folks that rode motorcycles themselves. Easy to maintain tappet clearances & points, easy flat repair access with the flip-up tail section, a stub-shaft retaining the chain & rear brake so you need deal only with the wheel, drain plugs for all the fluids, an actual oil filter, swing arm rear suspension, oil dampened telescopic forks, magneto or points/coil ignition. With an attentive & mechanically sympathetic owner these old beasts have gone amazing places, and because of the parts availability they're easy to keep running. No practical difference between running a 1955 machine or a 2005 model, you'll feel at home on either.
A trifecta of Pre-Unit Bullets: a Red Deluxe 500, a Green Standard 500, and a Black ES 350.


ddavidv

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Reply #23 on: April 16, 2021, 12:07:45 pm
AzCal, excellent post!
I bought my Bullet as a hobby project. I didn't expect to like it all that much when it was done but the 1950s riding experience is SO enjoyable I've kept her. In the process of working on it I was highly impressed with the engineering and ease of repair. Those folks at Redditch really knew what they were doing.
So convinced of their genius was I that I then bought my '64 Interceptor.  ;D
I'm the type that likes 'interaction' with a machine. The smooth-yet-soulless performance of most modern machinery does little for me. Technically superior in every way on paper but not providing that immersive mechanical feel the mechanic part of me adores.
Bullets certainly aren't for everyone. I understand why some owners quickly become unhappy with theirs.
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