[Warwick]

Hi all
Please see attached some piccies of my new 1950 flying flea. I need your brutal honest opinion of what is original; or not. I know the exhaust. horn, stop light, seat and mirror, some wiring, etc, are not original. I am on the look out for these parts as well as a new head as it has a fin missing and the stand has been cut down. It hasn't been started for years. The paint is also not original but has a great patina. I am not sure if to restore or just get going. Whats your thoughts?

[grumbern]

The missing fin can be welded - not a big problem. As well as the stand. I'd probably go for a restauration, as it already isn't in original paint anymore anyway, but some tidying up to get it running would allso do.

Andreas

[Adrian II]

You can get replica rubber battery cases with modern batteries inside. Or even the real thing, might be cheaper in India!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FULLER-CLASSIC-B49-6-6V-8AH-HARD-RUBBER-MOTORCYCLE-BATTERY/153654448873?hash=item23c684d2e9:g:ZH8AAOSwyOVdiOTj

Nice to see it looks pretty much complete (to my un-trained eye where these models are concerned).

A.

[ddavidv]

If the paint looks good to you I wouldn't restore it. Much more fun to have one that you can use without worry. A PO repainted my Interceptor in a decidedly non-factory color that I actually like and think the bike looks quite good wearing it. I've left it alone.

[Bilgemaster]

Hi all
Please see attached some piccies of my new 1950 flying flea. I need your brutal honest opinion of what is original; or not. I know the exhaust. horn, stop light, seat and mirror, some wiring, etc, are not original. I am on the look out for these parts as well as a new head as it has a fin missing and the stand has been cut down. It hasn't been started for years. The paint is also not original but has a great patina. I am not sure if to restore or just get going. Whats your thoughts?

That's a cute little ride. 1950 must have been the first year with the telescopic forks. My suggestion to your question of "restore or just get going" might be, why not both in juxtaposed order? Namely, first get her roadworthy and then more original bit by bit.

Shame it doesn't have the girder forks. As a clearly later civilian model it'll never have the élan (or collector value) of the earlier wartime one that might almost demand one of those "a meditation on perfection" restorations to WD trim, even a later "civilianized" one. But there's no reason you can't "tart it up" back to how it was more or less in 1950, when they finally dropped wartime soap and fuel rationing in Britain, leading to the Underground trains and buses smelling less and less like an overcrowded dog kennel, which is why one of those little fuel-sipping Flying Fleas out in the open air was perhaps so desirable to begin with. Once this whole Kung Flu bother has passed, and those motorcycle jumbles markets start coming back, you should begin seeing those affordable needful parts for a decent bit by bit resto back on tap.

What's kind of interesting, is that Enfield in India (aka. Madras Motors) back in the day didn't also make those RE 125 Fleas once their civilian market began perking up, since that 2-stroke 125cc segment would have been a real "sweet spot" in their home market. According to the list of their models at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Royal_Enfield_motorcycles, they did manufacture the Flea's successor, the Villiers-engined 150cc Ensign, for several years, but one might have thought they could have grabbed the discontinued  RE125 model's engine's tooling, jigs and whatnot for a bargain. It must have been some special licensing arrangement with Redditch prompting the "upgrade".

[Karl Fenn]

Well if it's any consolation you can get the fin repaired but make sure the bore is ok, this is primarily a collectors bike, not really rideable today on modern roads.