Introduction:
Idea for the build was the fact that I am a big admirer of 1920’s design features, although I believe, that most of what describe as design-feature here, was born out of necessity, respectively the features were built to perform, not to look good. So the search for proper performance dictates their shape. Using a Royal Enfield Bullet 500 out of Indian production, I wanted to build a motorbike that shares features with a Vincent Comet. In this case I chose the girder fork and the cantilever swingarm, since I find these, beneath the engine, the most defining attributes the Comet had/has.
Summary:
- Main frame changed to support the cantilever swingarm
- indian made girder- fork attached as front end
- Yamaha RD 350 LC rear swingarm mounted and changed to support the original RE- brakes and rims.
- self-manufactured seat that carries most of the electrical installation
- self-manufactured adapter for a Amal Concentric carburettor
- battery cage now situated behind the gearbox
Planning:
The RE- customization that is on display here was my first more major work, which is why the way how I dealt with it was more a trial and error way than a planned and executed project.
At that time, I was still more of a mechanic then a professional in mechanical engineering, which is why I „just started working“ without a proper prior planning phase.
The initual situation with the project, was a bike that I bought pretty cheap from a neighbour, who had bought it pretty cheap from a guy who had been working in some countrys diplomatic service in India, and brought that Bullet with him, to let it spend the next years in his garden as an „objet d’art“.
The changes the mainframe underwent were not substatial. Merely the tube then connects the gearbox holder with the framepart that carries fuel tank and steering head was substituted by one in a more vertical position to make place for the rear central shock absorber. The part of the mainframe that carried the battery container, maintenance box and the dual shock linkage was entirely removed. The rear swingarm of the Yamaha RD350LC was chosen after some research, because it is a fine swingarm that supports the planned „steel-pipe-look“ instead of having one from e.g. the Ducati Supersports models that were made of square-typed tube. It was changed to carry the original RE-rear wheel and brake. Like this, one nice feature the Enfield, and I think many older English bikes provide: The rear wheel can still be removed, while brake and secondary drivetrain stay assembled to the swingarm.