Built like a tank, fettled by a genius, designed by Berty Basset on acid, so thuggly its cool.
Regrets - The things you gave away or sold but wish you hadn't
- Thread starter Tony
- Start date
Ah yes I'd forgotten the six volt electrics untill you switched on that headlamp!... where's the bend?... ah whoops there it is!
I changed mine to 12volt. These are getting collectable.
Or an electric two wheeler.
Just about the only bike I had that you could miss a bend crashing the bike into a brick wall and iron railings (I was ok) and on picking it up find you only had a bent footpeg. Two minutes with a lumphammer put that right and I was back on the road.. if I was to do an adventure journey round the world this is the bike I'd pick over anything modern. Easy to work on built like a tank and easy on the juice. Cruise all day at 80 mph on one tank of petrol. Took a look to see if anything was available on the Web last night. Plenty of 125 and 150 versions but not one TS 250 where they all gone!
Cool ? I had a blue and white one of these. Cool on a whole different level.
Would love one of those there such a freak! and the engines so simple they tune up well!Cool ? I had a blue and white one of these. Cool on a whole different level.
I scrapped the first car I ever owned: a 1933 Riley 9 that was nine years older than me. It would now be a collectors piece.
I also abandoned a Morris 1000 convertible I had in the Bahamas. It later had a drive-on part in a James Bond film and every time I see Sean Connery in it I wince.
Good job I didn't try far dealing as a career.
I also abandoned a Morris 1000 convertible I had in the Bahamas. It later had a drive-on part in a James Bond film and every time I see Sean Connery in it I wince.
Good job I didn't try far dealing as a career.
Since the thread meandered onto MZs, I did a nut and bolt restore on this:
<img src="https://i.ibb.co/km9FpPW/IMG-4684-small.jpg"</img>
(hmm can't seem to direct link at the moment) I'll try to take a more recent picture. All the pics I have are of it in pieces.
Slowly built to to a spec somewhere between the army and police versions. I intended to have a forever bike that would see me out and that I could go touring on but now I've built it and got everything right I have no time. I fear if I sell it on I'll regret that.
Apparently the ETS engines are nicer than the later ETZ which I can attest have no low down torque.
<img src="https://i.ibb.co/km9FpPW/IMG-4684-small.jpg"</img>
(hmm can't seem to direct link at the moment) I'll try to take a more recent picture. All the pics I have are of it in pieces.
Slowly built to to a spec somewhere between the army and police versions. I intended to have a forever bike that would see me out and that I could go touring on but now I've built it and got everything right I have no time. I fear if I sell it on I'll regret that.
Apparently the ETS engines are nicer than the later ETZ which I can attest have no low down torque.
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I ran one for years, and decided to move it on when BSA Regal in Southampton stopped selling spares. Between them and Hitchcocks for Enfield stuff, there are no better for spares back up, something that the rest could learn from. I had a modified Suzuki crank pin and bearing in mine, and the gear selectors built up with Stellite and re-ground. Still love them, as it was longest time I've owned and continuously run one bike. Always had a spare motor ready to swap. Not many bikes you can do an engine swap in around half an hour. Genious.
P.S. Your ETZ looks first. Class.
Keep it, you know you want to.
fwiw spares are no problem at all. Burwyns are still knocking about over here and thanks to the Internet and Google Translate the suppliers in Germany are readily accessible. Heck there is a place in Holland that even has new old stock (army but identical to normal) ETZ frames. I had an Enfield before the MZ and prefer the deep thumping sound of that to the unique MZ 'stones in a tin can' rattle. I'll stick some pics up soon.I ran one for years, and decided to move it on when BSA Regal in Southampton stopped selling spares. Between them and Hitchcocks for Enfield stuff, there are no better for spares back up, something that the rest could learn from. I had a modified Suzuki crank pin and bearing in mine, and the gear selectors built up with Stellite and re-ground. Still love them, as it was longest time I've owned and continuously run one bike. Always had a spare motor ready to swap. Not many bikes you can do an engine swap in around half an hour. Genious.
P.S. Your ETZ looks first. Class.
Both Enfield and MZ, perhaps BSA were built as work tools to be maintained rather than toys. On the German MZ forum people still tour off to far flung places on various MZs. Enfields have become a bit of a cult and prices have reflected that. The new ones coming out of india look good though. They've even brought out (or brought back!) an Enfield Twin
I'll stick some more img links here
https://ibb.co/r24xpDJ
https://ibb.co/WphwG86
https://ibb.co/JHPY65K
https://ibb.co/KyRf0s3
https://ibb.co/mNZbtXD
https://ibb.co/GPYm8yV
https://ibb.co/L5x2hhF
I had a 350 Bullet after the MZ went, and did a lot of running around on that. It was super comfortable and super slow. The original rockers wore out at 7000 miles, and it did need a bit of work to keep it reliable. It got replaced with an EFI 500 Bullet in 2015, which I sold at the end of last year. When I was running around on these bikes, I also had a succession of Ducatis. One I do regret selling was this.
I had a 900ss for 11 years. It didn't give me any trouble either. Honda Cub these days, so my license is safe. Best looking "Enfield" ever built was Floyd Clymers Indian badged Interceptor 750 twins.
How does the 500 EFi compare to the carbed 350 - apart from the engine size? I've heard some people ditch the EFI for Carbs and simpler ignition
I didn't have any problems with mine whatsoever. Also, keeping things steady on long runs could return 90mpg, which I attributed to efi. If the bike is properly set up, and most importantly, the wiring is checked and all connections secured, then the likelihood of problems is greatly reduced. The efi motor does take a bit longer to get to operating temperature, and does run a bit rough (in commuter traffic) as a result. Otherwise, everything is fine. The routine maintenance is also a lot easier. I've always found treat with (mechanical) respect, and don't look for problems that aren't really there.
even with EFI etc, the bikes are still basically "1940's" and the quality control can be a bit hit or mis. A well looked after Bullet 65 would be my choice.
