Classic Bike Guide - Real rides, real riders

One hundred percent Hack

Whether the UK winter is sharp or mild, what can always be guaranteed is that for the best part of four months, give or take the odd nice day, the roads are wet, often salty and always downright mucky. If you live in a rural area there’s usually the slippery sludge legacy of the sugar beet harvest to contend with too. The last thing you want to be doing is offering up your pride and joy to the ravages of corrosion courtesy of the Queen’s Highways. What you need is a bike you can enjoy riding whilst not altogether having to concern yourself too much with its aesthetics, in other words the archetypal winter hack.

There are many cheap orientals to choose from but if you want to maintain standards within your local classic or vintage club, what better than a Bullet. Ok, for the last half century they’ve been built in India but we can turn a blind eye to that – and the good bit is, they can be had for reasonable money, they look the part and there’s a terrific spares back up for them.

Now I’m not talking here of a new Electra or something on those lines, because when all’s said and done you’d want to keep that clean, no I’m meaning something on the lines of what you see here, a 1967 ex Indian Army 350cc model.

This particular example belongs to John Hutchings, proprietor of Tollgate Classics, and he very kindly offered it to me to use over the bad weather period.

Not so long ago, the great British pound had a half decent value and the international exchange rate was good enough for John to be able to buy batches of the military surplus Bullet, from India, give them the treatment and sell them on to his satisfied customers.

Specification was standard Bullet with heavy-duty mudguards, pannier racks, chunky tyres and an overall lower gearing suitable for convoy work. However, John would convert them to any form of requirement, and many such machines formed the basis of pre 65 trials irons. Unfortunately, presently at least, the adverse exchange rate renders the operation unworthwhile.

I turned out on Boxing Day morning to join the Mid Lincs VMCC for their festive season run out and once parked up in Market Rasen market square, the khaki painted hack attracted a great deal of attention. Everyone agreed it was an ideal tool for the run, especially as all but the major roads were still icy and snow covered, not too unwieldy and with nice, gentle power. Indeed, even my next door neighbour, hardly a classic enthusiast with his gleaming 1400cc Suzuki behemoth, expressed his envy as I took off for a bracing ride out.

As usual, a small crowd gathered as I went to start up. Flood the carburettor, switch on the ignition, find compression and with a flick of the valve lifter, a single swing had the Enfield ticking over with a quiet, soft ‘duff, duff, duff.’ Indeed, one regular remarked, “There’s something strangely comforting about that sound.” The original route planned was out of the question due to conditions so we decided to just stay on the main road to the pub destination, some 15 or so miles away.

The first few set off but I was held up for a short while before heading off after them, along with another rider on a mid 90s 500cc Bullet. I knew the road well and set about catching up with the leaders, which I eventually did, but as we pulled into the pub yard, my 500 mounted colleague was no where to be seen. On his arrival, he came straight over to me and asked “What size is that, I couldn’t keep up with you.” As you can imagine he was pretty deflated when I told him. However, I was being economical with the truth and over what was probably the worst cup of coffee I had ever tasted in my life, I explained the whole story.

This bike is essentially John’s research and development machine and has been in many guises as he tries out various ideas. As such, the unassuming army bike is not quite what it appears. The standard 350cc barrel has been fitted with a new liner, which has allowed the bore to be taken out from the stock 70mm (346cc) to 80mm, thus making a 452cc capacity. The piston is ex Fiat 126 with a 20mm gudgeon pin, as opposed to the standard Bullet’s 3/4in. The flywheels are those normally found on the 500, which weigh in at 22lb – the 350 weighs 15lbs – and the con-rod is an AJS-Matchless steel item, stronger than stock Enfield when put under pressure. This gives a little extra ‘plonk’, indeed the engine is essentially in trials specification. The complete assembly weighs the same as the existing set up so there’s no need for any extra balancing. The top of the barrel is machined to form a socket and spigot, metal to metal fit, thus obviating the need for a cylinder head gasket. There’s a bigger carburettor too, up from the standard 26mm of the 350 to 28mm and whilst there’s an option to fit a larger inlet valve, in this instance the head has simply been ported to make life easier for the charge. The rockers are also the Samrat forged items, as sown in the May 2009 issue, a big improvement on standard items.

These alterations have made quite a difference but let’s be fair here, it’s still no Gold Star, however, it is a very willing unit, which has a fair bit more ‘pep’ than a stock Bullet. With the military gearing, it revs out quickly and could probably pull a higher combination but personally I wouldn’t bother unless you’re contemplating long distances.

Obviously, as the photographs show, this is a ‘no frills’ machine and when my offer to keep it clean over the winter was put forward, it was met with “Don’t worry about that, if it goes rusty, I’ll just rub it off and slap some more green paint on it”, from John.

The original chrome on the wheel rims was scruffy so John shot blasted it all off and had them powder coated. That way they can be kept clean without the need to polish them. The standard twin leading shoe front drum has also been powdered and I would go as far as to say that it is the best set up Enfield brake of its type I’ve ever used, smooth take up with no snatch yet capable of squealing the tyre if necessary. Likewise the back is its equal.

Electrics are 12 volt and whilst the standard Enfield sidelights work well, they’re a pretty useless feature, but not so the headlamp, which gives forth an excellent beam.

Ignition remains on points but with a flooded carburettor the engine will start from cold within half a dozen kicks.

With Royal Enfield parts bountiful and the likes of Hitchcock’s Motorcycles able to supply anything you’ll ever need to update, convert, or merely maintain, there’s never been a better time to own a Bullet and a machine such as this will give sterling service for donkey’s years with a minimum of tlc.