Bill has a 350 Enfield which he is loath to give up as it is the reasoning behind his nick name.
It is rumoured that he is going to switch to anthracite in it as a fuel to assist the current climate problems.
The bike that Bill took to Europe was an Enfield Bullet 500 electric start. He bought it for a few hundred quid in several baskets and proceeded to resurrect it from the floor up. The fact that it generally held up for a 4000+ mile trek is testimony to his skills and confidence as a mechanic.
These skills are second only to his ability as a rider. Now, if only he had longer legs and could reach the floor when he stops.......
BILL AND HIS W650 KWACKER
I apologise for having to use a picture with a Kawazaki in it on a Blog about Enfields but, as you will see as this Blog continues, this is the only incident, on record, where Bill is smiling.
The one mod that Henry did to his Lightning for the trip was to copy my mod by removing the twin seat and fit the "fat arse" U.S. style sprung solo seat. To this is added a piece of sheepskin.
You may laugh but no more "Enfield Arse"!
I'd installed a weatherproof 12-volt cigarette socket into the battery cover to power the Sat Nav, Mobile Phone and Ipod chargers.
PRINCE HENRY OF ROCKHAMPTON
Henry is the proprietor of Price Parts Motorcycles and it was his stupid idea to go on this trip.
For those who don't know Henry, he supplies an excellent service in all aspects of anything Enfield and, I have to say that, to watch him set about fixing a non running, fully loaded bike, spanners and oil flying all over the place, in temperatures of 35 degrees, while you and your mate wander across the road and have an ice cold beer is truly a sight to behold.
HENRY GETTING LONELY BOB OUT OF THE CLAG
Henry's daily hack is a Royal Enfield Lightning 535 with many mods. Samarat rockers, lightweight piston, rollerbearing big end, upgraded oil pumps, en-suite panniers..... the list goes on and on. It's more of a work in progress considering that Henry rarely has less that six bikes ready to go in his workshop and enough spares on the shelf to build another six.
The one mod that Henry did to his Lightning for the trip was to copy my mod by removing the twin seat and fit the "fat arse" U.S. style sprung solo seat. To this is added a piece of sheepskin.
You may laugh but no more "Enfield Arse"!
TINY TIM
Yours truly from Chepstow, South Wales. I've had an Enfield, of one sort or another for about 5 years and recenty went for the Electra with the alluminium lean burn engine.
My bike had done 6000 miles before we departed and has had a Delorto 32 m.m. carb, unrestricted Hitchcock’s exhaust and a Goldie silencer fitted along with the single seats (and sheepskin cover)
The rack has a large top box and large hard cased panniers attached to the sides. But more of that later.....
YOUR'S TRULY WITH HIS MOBILE CARTHORSE
I also had my Tom Tom Sat Nav with the maps for Western Europe. We decided that, rather than be led by the nose for the whole trip, we'd use the Sat Nav to get us out of the clag when we got lost beyond redemption.
I'd installed a weatherproof 12-volt cigarette socket into the battery cover to power the Sat Nav, Mobile Phone and Ipod chargers.
