Gary. I'll see what I can do.

Chris

Chris, is there any chance you ask your neighbour to let you take a few photos, and post them on here to make an old man very happy and somewhat envious. That would really make my day, and of course do not photo his rear number plate, to be on the safe side in these somewhat troubled times we are living in. Regards, Gary.

My neighbour has recently taken delivery of his Vincent which he has had rebuilt to Black Lightning spec. No front lights and straight through exhausts!

Hi Bob, and good morning, yes I have to agree that the Enfield Continental was definitely the bike to have in the sixties. The best looking and the fastest and most expensive, the boy racers dream, plus a very reliable machine into the bargain. Check out Hitchcock's Royal Enfield web site, they have every part nut bolts and washers, to build a complete machine, mind it would be a very expensive exercise. As crazy as this sounds you can actually buy a brand new one as built by them, mind I dare say the price would be astronomical, probably need to take out a second mortgage. Regards, Gary. (A photo of my dream bike of all time, a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Norvin.)

Royal Enfield Continental GT.

This was the last time a saw a mint example of the original 250cc Continental GT at a show in Southport.

It was a really nice example that was fitted with the optional factory fairing that was available from Royal Enfield in the 1960’s.

Bob.

Hi Gary,

Thanks for sharing your pictures of the Royal Enfields and the Ariel’s too.

The original Royal Enfield Continental GT was a 250cc single cylinder motorcycle that at the time it was introduced was legal to ride with an “L” plate.

As far as I was concerned it was the ultimate first motorcycle that was also the best looker too!

Several of my classmates that left school when I did bought them new, but as a poorly paid apprentice, I never earned enough to take on the HP payments!

I ended up with an old Matchless 250 that I bought for £20 that ran OK but had a repaired rear swinging arm that needed changing ….but was better (IMHO) to than a BSA C11G or possibly a rough C15 that my twenty quad may have been able to buy instead.

A trip to a scrap merchant in Bristol resulted in a replacement swinging arm being found and fitted to make the bike “straight ”….but it could never be a match for the Continental GT.

The Kawasaki 250cc two stroke triple was the only other motorcycle that I would have liked to learn to ride on (if funds permitted) at the time, although the Ducati 250 Desmo had some appeal too, but by the time I was earning enough to have a choice I was able to buy a car instead so I missed out on owning the Continental GT that I had dreamed about since the day it was first launched.

I seldom get to see any Continental GT motorcycles these days, but when I do I always stop to look at them as they have the same appeal to me now as they did back then in the 1960’s.

Bob.

My last bike, gave up riding when I was diagnosed with heart issues

It's your thread Gary so you can go off at a tangent whenever you want and it was my fault for mentioning motorcycles in the first place!

Some of my bikes are big and heavy and at 72 I'm noticeably losing strength so before long I'm going to have to make some painful decisions.

One of them is a Triumph 1200 Scrambler which I cleaned and fettled yesterday for a ride this morning. Photo of it on a previous run, my Tiger 750 and Lambretta.

One of my neighbours who is a bit older than me has one of the newer Enfield GTs.

I think we may have have posted our motorbikes on another thread! We shall have someone after us! 😁

Chris

Having joined the easily confused syndrome, I thought I had better explain that photos 1. 2. and 3. are Royal Enfield. Photos 4. and 5. are of course Ariel. Sorry about that it has something to do with being the wrong side of EIGHTY. Age and time seem to be some how connected in the fact that the time does very much seem to slip by that much quicker these days, now that I am getting on a bit in years. Mind, I must not complain, time has been good to me so far. (touch wood.)
Regards, Gary.

Hi Bob, as per your request for Continental GTs, yes I have found a few both the 250 and 535, all the bolt on goodies and tuning stuff is care of Hitchcock's, the main Royal Enfield dealer. The 535 was and is a great bike but it was never made to be comfortable. Sort of good to get on it and even better to get off, definitely not a touring bike. Enjoy, regards Gary. ( I do appreciate the fact this has nothing to do with model boats, so please forgive me for that. No 4. is a Square four, and No 5 is a Cyclone, made for the US market.)