Royal Enfield Desert Storm
Posted by Howard Trott on Saturday, November 16, 2013 Under: British Motorcycles
Thousands of Royal Enfield Bullets were painted olive drab green, and desert beige during the Second World War, and saw action on all fronts. The Indian Army used them from 1949, and that paved the way for them still being around today.
I still look on the Royal Enfield as being a British Motorcycle even though its now made in India. Hence I've put this blog in the British Motorcycle category. As for the Desert Storm, far from being cheesy retro lash-ups, this Desert Storm ( and its Battle Green stable mate ) have a proud family tree.
Based on the Bullet Classic 500, the Desert Storm is a styling exercise rather than a model in its own right, but the effect is quite dramatic. When your standing next to it, there's an overwhelming child like desire to dress for action and play soldiers. That's the joys of having a mate that owns a motorcycle showroom. I get to test ride his motorcycles. Back to the Desert Storm, once you get out on the road, you can tell its a no frills motorcycle and your more focussed on keeping it on the black stuff. Although the kick start remains, there's a nice little button on the right bar that saves you the effort of lifting your leg, and the cleverly concealed fuel injection then does a perfectly adequate job of keeping the 499cc single thumping away between your knees.
It's not quite as refined as a well honed Amal carburetter, but it's much easier to live with. The steering is exceptionally light, and with 19'' front and 18'' rear rims, which look barely more beefy than your average mountain bike, it tips into corners with lightening pace. Once over, though, you have to be very mindful of the terrible lack of ground clearance which will see you dragging the entire silencer if you barrel in too hot. The only real annoyance is that the Classic actually carves a turn rather nicely, and the Avon Road Riders are more than up to the job, leaving you begging for a bit more dangle angle to play with. This is no motorway or A-road cruiser, but get the Desert Storm thumping down the back lanes of Britain and you'll be laughing out loud at the pureness of the experience. You can see why motorcycles like this were turned into cafe racers. You wouldn't want one as your only motorcycle ( unless your an old fella ), but its a great motorcycle to have in the garage for lazy Sunday rides, or commuting duties. It'll give you a dram short of 80mpg if you treat it right, and that's cheap miles. You'll be wearing a grin, and attracting a lot of attention too.
I still look on the Royal Enfield as being a British Motorcycle even though its now made in India. Hence I've put this blog in the British Motorcycle category. As for the Desert Storm, far from being cheesy retro lash-ups, this Desert Storm ( and its Battle Green stable mate ) have a proud family tree.
Based on the Bullet Classic 500, the Desert Storm is a styling exercise rather than a model in its own right, but the effect is quite dramatic. When your standing next to it, there's an overwhelming child like desire to dress for action and play soldiers. That's the joys of having a mate that owns a motorcycle showroom. I get to test ride his motorcycles. Back to the Desert Storm, once you get out on the road, you can tell its a no frills motorcycle and your more focussed on keeping it on the black stuff. Although the kick start remains, there's a nice little button on the right bar that saves you the effort of lifting your leg, and the cleverly concealed fuel injection then does a perfectly adequate job of keeping the 499cc single thumping away between your knees.
It's not quite as refined as a well honed Amal carburetter, but it's much easier to live with. The steering is exceptionally light, and with 19'' front and 18'' rear rims, which look barely more beefy than your average mountain bike, it tips into corners with lightening pace. Once over, though, you have to be very mindful of the terrible lack of ground clearance which will see you dragging the entire silencer if you barrel in too hot. The only real annoyance is that the Classic actually carves a turn rather nicely, and the Avon Road Riders are more than up to the job, leaving you begging for a bit more dangle angle to play with. This is no motorway or A-road cruiser, but get the Desert Storm thumping down the back lanes of Britain and you'll be laughing out loud at the pureness of the experience. You can see why motorcycles like this were turned into cafe racers. You wouldn't want one as your only motorcycle ( unless your an old fella ), but its a great motorcycle to have in the garage for lazy Sunday rides, or commuting duties. It'll give you a dram short of 80mpg if you treat it right, and that's cheap miles. You'll be wearing a grin, and attracting a lot of attention too.
In : British Motorcycles
Tags: royal enfield desert storm british motorcycles motorbikes