I had a CA-72 . . . that I tore apart and built a Frankenstein out of (pop owned a used motorcycle shop and I had a boneyard to pull apart). Properly tuned - it always started and ran but - yea - it was anything but impressive beyond being my first multi-cylinder motorcycle . . . Took coils from a couple of 125 Kawasaki's to actually make it run reliably though.
My uncle owned a Harley Sprint 350. All I can say is . . . for a road bike to a kid used to the 250 already mentioned - it was ok. To that same kid after owning a Suzuki 380 3 cylinder (for a road bike) and a Yamaha TT-500 after owning a 1978 YZ 125 then finally buying a Honda 550F . . . before owning a 1981 CR-125 (all of these I got in boxes) . . . yea not so awe inspiring - but for puttering around it served its purpose and was probably 'about right for minimal requirements' when it was manufactured. I road my Uncles some 30 years after it was manufactured. Kinda like getting into a Model T vs what was currently being made.
Royal Enfield has been built in India since production stopped in the UK, and still is. The Indian company has even opened a production line back in the UK and is back on track today. So stating that it stopped evolving since the sixties only shows that you did not do your homework right. By the way, the great Harley Davidson also was known for marking its territory with leaked oil. This was common in those days and was mostly due to the poor quality of the sealings.
Wish I had Dacuti !
I had a CA-72 . . . that I tore apart and built a Frankenstein out of (pop owned a used motorcycle shop and I had a boneyard to pull apart). Properly tuned - it always started and ran but - yea - it was anything but impressive beyond being my first multi-cylinder motorcycle . . . Took coils from a couple of 125 Kawasaki's to actually make it run reliably though.
My uncle owned a Harley Sprint 350. All I can say is . . . for a road bike to a kid used to the 250 already mentioned - it was ok. To that same kid after owning a Suzuki 380 3 cylinder (for a road bike) and a Yamaha TT-500 after owning a 1978 YZ 125 then finally buying a Honda 550F . . . before owning a 1981 CR-125 (all of these I got in boxes) . . . yea not so awe inspiring - but for puttering around it served its purpose and was probably 'about right for minimal requirements' when it was manufactured. I road my Uncles some 30 years after it was manufactured. Kinda like getting into a Model T vs what was currently being made.
Royal Enfield has been built in India since production stopped in the UK, and still is. The Indian company has even opened a production line back in the UK and is back on track today. So stating that it stopped evolving since the sixties only shows that you did not do your homework right. By the way, the great Harley Davidson also was known for marking its territory with leaked oil. This was common in those days and was mostly due to the poor quality of the sealings.
@@thehighwayband thanks for the information. Much appreciated. I will do my best to research more thoroughly on future content.