Buying an Enfield
 

Me and the chief engineer and the chief electrician on my ship will be in India in a couple of months. We have connections there and are researching the possibility of buying three Enfields. We can crane them onto the fo'c'sle and transport them back to Norway and Canada respectively. I know the general opinion of an Enfield is its unreliability. These would be new. Any other thoughts?

And if anyone has experience of importing a new bike into Canada (possibly thru the states) I{d be interested in hearing.
Cheers!
Kit

Hi Kit,

Unfortunately, even new Enfields are unreliable, although the new 350cc alloy engines are much better than the old ones.

The standard iron head 350/500cc models are built to the original 1940s British design - when it was normal to spend two hours in the workshop for every hour's riding! Add some high class Indian manufacture and you have a bike that has bags of 'character' (the great 'bullet beat'), but could dump a litre of hot oil down one of your legs at any moment. Running in takes a while too. 1000kms at 30mph max, then 1000kms at 40 mph, etc.

The alloy engined models were launched in the last couple of years and are lighter, better on fuel, more powerful and look good, but true bullet afficionados say they don't have the 'bullet beat' (personally I think they sound just as good). They also come with front disc brake and gear shift on the left (front drum brakes and gear shift on the right are still standard on Indian models).

Technically you can't legally buy an Indian Enfield as a foreigner, but most dealers will ignore the law and happily sell you one. Cost new is 75000 to 85000 Rupees (US$1700 to $1950) depending on model and extras. The 500cc engine is no longer available as standard, but can be ordered from the factory and takes up to 14 days for delivery.

I understand that US customs has some wacky law which stops the import of Enfields younger than 21 years old (or something like that!), so you're right to check Canadian import rules.

Hope that's useful.

Harvey

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no pipe, no slippers
www.chasingthesun.org

Importing a new Enfield into Canada is impossible, it won't get past customs. Older than 15 years gets a "vintage" rating, and then you can import it.

Search the site for

import Canada

and you'll find more info, including someone who tried to import an Africa Twin, and was flatly refused. It's now sitting in storage in England until it gets to 15 years old.

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Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
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One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Kit, Please correct your email address in your profile, it's currently bouncing back to me.

Thanks, Grant

Hello Harvy/Kit

You still can get a Std 500 from dealers easily here in India but if you are looking at a more powerful bike then you can go in for the new 500CC that is launched in UK (yet to be launched in India). The engine is made of aluminium (known as AVL) and are more efficient, powerful than the Standard Cast Iron Engines. You can check out the details on the Royal Enfield website.