Bert Remington Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 While surfing I bumped into a Royal Enfield mention a few weeks ago and, having owned one a half-century ago, wondered how the marque was doing these days. Actually fairly well since they created their fuel-injected Unit Construction Engine and automated much of their production (in India). For grins I checked Cycle Trader and found a nice cafe racer (Continental GT) at a Triumph dealer in San Diego. Beautiful British (racing) Green but I don't bend that way any more. Sat on a Lagoon Blue Classic 500 and perfect fit. There was a new 2016 Lagoon Blue $4,000 in Brea (about 100 miles north), the new 2016 Lagoon Blue $4,500 in San Diego, and a used (104 miles) mildly customized 2016 Lagoon Blue $4,300 in Chula Vista (about 10 miles south), all Classic 500s. After we agreed on inclusion of original parts, the used one was mine at $4,000. Being 250 lbs lighter than the R1100RT with weight low-to-medium height and being speed-challenged, the RE is more than a pleasure to ride, it's fun! I'd forgotten that shifts could be quick and silent. Etc etc. Being a long-stroke single limited to 5K rpm (no tachometer provided) vibration is noticeable but so far manageable for hands and mirrors. Build quality is laughable. Basically everything has 500% engineering margins to compensate for 500% production tolerances. Did I mention it has a chain? While the BMW will always be my long-distance, all-weather, #1 lane freeway cruiser, the RE will be my SD County, sunshine-only, back road thumper. Here's a link to the Triumph dealer's Classic 500: https://triumphsandiego.com/bikes/inventory_Detail.php?id=194 Link to comment
kalali Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Very nice, congratulations. Used to own a 500cc Buell thumper for a while and really enjoyed it for backroad short distance runs... Link to comment
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