1999 being sold because it had a "knock". Guy removed the piston and jug, bought a new cylinder, but that's as far as he got. The way he described the knock, it sounded like a rod bearing.
He's asking $500. Do you know anything of their parts availability, chronic illnesses or anything about these?
Thanks, Dan
It's built in India. Generally speaking, india's quality is inferior to China
They are trying to make inroads into the US market. They have a new corporate office in Milwaukee and are working on expanding the dealer network. The quality of the new bikes looks quite good to me, especially considering the price-point.
I thought Indian quality was generally good. Their tractors are indesructible.
All I know is that parts availability on even the US sold ones is abysmal. Like 5-6 months waiting on parts and not everything showing up.
That age Royal Oilfield has a really bad reputation in the UK both for the build quality and parts availability. IIRC the importers at the time basically stripped down the mechanical parts like engine and gearbox, corrected the most obvious mistakes and put them back together.
Might not even be worth the hassle if the owner paid you $500 to take it away.
In reply to bearmtnmartin:
Their tractors are decent quality and a real bargain but a Kubota is worlds better, for example.
Ask yourself what engine could you tranceplant into it? CRF250 2 storke?
Five hundred dollars for a 16(or older) year old, Indian built, non-runner? Seriously?
In reply to minimac:
Said that way, it seems reslly steep
Yeah, I'm a putz.
Nah, you asked a question for a reason and we gave our 2c. Maybe you will buy it, find a cheap fix and love it.
That is a pre-unit engine, so it is the same as RE's from the dawn of time until recently. RE's of that vintage in running condition can be bought for $1200 and up. They adapted the shifter to the left side to match the rest of the world but the conversion can be problematic. Best if you get one that has the right side shifter.
I like the classic looks of the RE's and keep returning to them as a garage candidate but I'd probably want one of the newer unit construction ones with fuel injection. Starting one of the old ones isn't a simple "turn the key and kick it" deal. You can find info on YouTube about what they are like.
Quality is, well, old world without the 'craftsmanship' part. The chrome typically sucks, things rust easily, fasteners vibrate out and the electrical systems were very British-like. Still, they are nifty bikes allowing you to ride an antique without the antique price tag.
This looks like a better deal for the money.
GRTechguy put an 1100 into his SV650, when his motor went bad. This might make a good fall project.
Don't really have anything useful to add, but an interesting anecdote... I was drag racing bikes back when these first came out, and a buddy had a motorcycle tuning shop with dyno. Well, one day a friend of a guy getting his race bike worked on rode up on a Royal Enfield, and just for giggles we put it on the dyno. It put down 18hp at the wheel...
914Driver wrote: This looks like a better deal for the money. SV650 - $450
That is a screaming deal.
I emailed, there's no phone number; no response yet.
https://youtu.be/Oc0-Ndu_rzI
I have nothing to add to this conversation except that I must have seen that commercial 300 times in the last 4 months on Indian dishtv.
Cinematography is pretty to my amateur eye.
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