Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms That's Not Nice

TBM, my first four stroke in the sixties was a 250cc Royal EnfieldClipper, a pal had a RE Bullet, Royal Enfields were more looked upon as a bike to get folk to work and back around here, and I never came across an interceptor hereabouts when we were rocking around the cafe`s..

As best I can remember RE tried to change that image with the 250cc Bullet it`s clip ons and fi-glass tank I think Royal Enfield died a death after that and sold the name and machinery to India...

Enfield India has been going since 1955 and currently have an extensive range of 350,500 and 650 bikes, both in classic styles and more modern offerings.Their design centre is UK based.

I'm a big fan of the Enfields ... especially the UK derived 350/500 singles (though I know two riders who love their more modernTwins) ... definitely a 'hang-over' from a previous time as are Morgans.... and great fun to ride.

Putting my Ten-Pen'orth into the Harley saga ... for my money Harley haven't been the same since the demise of the Shovelhead .... and like the British bikes before them a big chunk of their 'shortcomings' derive from them being a simple bike you can fettle yourself that survived into a time when less owners had the skills for that and the competition was designed to be exclusively 'Dealer-maintained' .... it was noticeable as a Triumph/BSA rider that as soon as the Japanese bikes fell down the food chain into the hands of riders who couldn't afford to buy new and have every detail coddled by dealer workshops their reliability advantage quickly disappeared.




K

Thanks for the heads up on Enfield India TBM. I guess I kinda classified the EI in much the same way as I viewed that other export to india that became Hindustan Ambassador, which is perhaps again more linked to my old geezer mentality..Despite my selective Luddite tendencies that appreciate the idea of keeping old technology alive and appreciating it`s simplicity from the point of the long term home mechanic.

Yes the shovelhead for many is the watershed, I'd go as far as to include the early evo's before moving from leaded to unleaded fuel and pre the introduction of fuel injection. The increasing sophistication of the mechanicals and electronics is also a result of the growing cleaner emissions lobby/requirements of places like California and for European spec. bikes Switzerland. Of course as we became more affluent, and move out of the 50's and 60's where the motorcycle loses its 'raison d'etre' as a cheap mode of transport for the working classes, and the need to understand how things works is no longer driven by the financial imperative of little or no funds. We moved from a society of 'mend and make do' to consumerism and lost for many the basics of how to maintain, coupled with increasing sophistication of mechanica/electrical components not allowing repair but requiring replacement, when mechanics became fitters.

Funny you should mention trousers, I was just sorting out my pink ones ready for the coming season along with my orange driving shoes.

Trousers..?? I think there is a cartoon about the wrong trousers, which could be pink if worn in some locations..?

This little thread has taken an interesting turn has it not..? Within that which has been typed it seems basic human nature,cultural influences and adopted beliefs create that seem to create our behavioural patterns might just have shown it`s face, many of which repeat and continue repeating, the cyclic timescale perhaps being determined by generational influences..?

OK to break it down a bit relative to that which influences my thinking, flawed or otherwise... K`s thinking on picking a particular engine change at Harley to determine a personal datum seems to be a predictable aspect of our natural tenancies..? In Morgan terms there may be a few left who determine it is not a real Morgan if it has four wheels, though I suspect that generation may have few surviving ORIGINAL members, however their offspring may well contain those who choose to adopt the personal datum/belief that it is not a real Morgan if it is not a Trad... (-: Identical thinking exists in the Porsche world where evolution of the marque has a number of changes in design which caused datum points to be created by the faithful, I guess not quite as significant as adding another wheel, but changing from air cooling of the engine to water cooling was a rather hard to ignore alteration..? ( I have air cooled tendencies(-:) Of course the marketing men require to keep as many of us on board as they can, thus the engineers are tasked to maintain the essence of the marque and Morgan has managed that rather well over a few generational cycles, as have Porsche and others..?

It seems exactly the same thought patterns on setting datums can be found across all sorts of human interests, activities and belief structures..?

It is all in a name, is a phrase I have read and heard, and that name can also have a monetary value attributable to it given that our instincts to be both tribal and faithful to something or other, can create a market..? In terms of the value of a name/brand, you only need to research to what extent Harley were/are prepared to go to protect their branding/logo. I seem to remember a while back Morgan made moves to copyright the Morgan outline...? One only has to see how many folk are wandering around wearing logos perhaps unintentionally promoting all sorts of brands... Jeez they used to pay poor folks a few pennies to walk around the towns with a a couple of advertising boards attached, one front and another rear supported by over shoulder straps.... Today... Folk pay to promote brands on all aspects of apparel and pay rather large sums of money to have just the right brand on their kit in order to promote their perceived status or brand loyalty..?

It is a long way round to return full circle to Royal Enfield....(-: As some smart American, perhaps an advertising executive determined, "Win on Sunday sell on Monday." In my yoof I spent some time at race tracks messing with m/cycles... And in all the time spent there I can not ever remember seeing a Royal Enfield, thus for me today trying to choose a m.cycle...Hmm..? Other than the that which attracted me to a pre digital Morgan, being simple maintenance/repairs on machines of an era I grew up in, and the need to rely on no one but myself to keep it running...Today pic of bikes from that era would likely be Triumph or Norton, though a bit like the reason I was initially attracted to Morgan, an old flat tanker or similar would be a nice garage ornament to enjoy a mile or two on a warm dry day. I have a pal who required a stent or two, discovered when he was trying to kickstart an old Triumph back into life that he was restoring...Hmm..? I think I am finished with bikes..Sigh, But I still have my leathers.. Whether I might still fit into them...

Harley... yeah well having been attracted to HD in my teens, thus long before they were de-riguer, I wrote to Fred Warr in London in the 60`s, Fred marketed ex-WD Harleys converted for civilian use, but again out of my budget, I just made do and mended whatever became available. In the late 80`s when I thought to return to m/cycling Harley sprung to mind once more, though being the choice of bike ridden by bad a*s lawyers and dentists kinda put me off.. I had bought every issue of HOG magazine till (as best I can remember) Harley shut it down claiming the name HOG was owned by them, threatening the publishers with all sorts of issues to bankrupt them...! Never got round to owning a Harley and bought a B40 from a friend, just to throw my leg over and check myself out, but the Beesa not having power enough to find and maintain a safe space in modern traffic, it had to be replaced with something more practical for year round riding I bought a BMW R850R and it was perfect for all my needs. The Beemer was fast enough for me, braked and handled very well, I had even been known to overtake much sportier bikes on the twisties.... Though they flew by me on the straights...which was easy peasy for them, as I ever do try to stick to speed limits, much more so these days.

Yeah, got to rambling on and on and on....again.

Luddite we are going to impose a TwitterMorgan character limit on you.

Where Twitter limits you to 288 characters so lets say 2880

Keep up the great, entertaining work Luddite

Thanks OZ it is good to know that someone somwhere finds interest in my rambling.... But for TM I would be typing to myself...