Enfield Dealer's ready for the off

Well it’s fair to say the Enfield dealer weekend didn’t go quite to plan!

We left Southend as planned about 5-30 and sure enough with the screen and 1 tooth larger gearbox sprocket we could cruise around motorway speeds and indeed we wasn’t the slowest vehicle on the motorway. After 101 miles we arrived at our overnight stop at ‘The Holt Hotel’ at Hopcrofts Holt, about 7 miles the other side of Bicester in just over 2 hours, with the last 30 miles on old single carriageway ‘A’ roads. This was a lovely hotel and the room was nice and large , always a benefit with motorcycle gear and luggage taking up so much space.

The next moring we left before 9am and headed towards the start 35 miles away at ‘The Orchard’ on the Evesham bypass. We arrived in good time and after a quick explanation of the rules of ‘End over End’ ride outs we set off . With Over 35 Enfields led by Ben on a Royal Enfield Classic Efi with a sidecar attached and Rob on a ‘Victory Cross Country Tour‘ took up postion at the rear the logic being none of us dealers would mistake that as the Backmarker unlike last years run !

So off we set, the country side is gorgeous as indeed is the weather for the time of year and the Enfields just lap up these type of roads. All goes well and we arrive at our first stop, a layby cafe on a sweeping hill. It was a joy to sit there in the Sun, eating Rockcakes and watching among other things several Morgans whizzing up the twisty hill.

We left the layby and started towards our lunch stop at the Royal Enfield Pub in Redditch , after a few miles Ben leads us down a tiny country lane only to be met by 3 vans coming the other way , Discussions take place and in the end the vans (and indeed the 3 cars that have now pulled up behind them) have to reverse up the road so we can get past.

So far so good and that is where i shall leave us for now , on a small country lane just having got past the vans

Stephen

Those who have previously read this blog will know that last year We did 440 miles over the weekend of the Royal Enfield UK dealer conference. I carefully choose the route to suit a Royal Enfield and in 440 miles we probably did less than 20 miles on dual carriageways and none at all on Motorways. It was a great weekend and apart from Margaret getting a sore derrière towards the end we both thoroughly enjoyed the ride. and proved that a EFI Enfield can cover miles on the roads it loves . So this year they have moved the start 40 miles further away , and its time to ride again .

This year with the new start location near Evesham it is more difficult to avoid the motorways so we are going for it, the route will be A127, M25 , A41 to Aylesbury then across to Bicester and our overnight stop at the Holt Hotel. Then a quick 60 mile run on Sunday morning across to the start outside Evesham. Sunday’s run is organised by Ben and the team at Royal Enfield UK and will be about 140 miles . Monday morning will see us back to Southend, as i have collections and paperwork to sort out on Monday afternoon.

So to the bike , our current demonstrator has had a Small screen fitted (to combat the wind stress on the motorway/dual carriegeways ) , a 12v power socket added for the sat nav, although i shouldn’t need it having used this route several times before. By personal preference I have fitted bar-end mirrors, I find I get a much better view compared to standard mirrors past my shoulders!

We have also fitted the Hitchcock’s Pannier frames to stop the throwover panniers going in the rear wheel and lastly as far as riding goes an AIr Seat cover , Yes i have listened to my wife and hopefully she will still be talking to me on Tuesday morning ! The last 2 mods are the Shorter Royal Enfield Silencer and a 1 tooth larger gearbox sprocket , to just ease the rev’s a bit on the motorway. So come 5 o’clock on Saturday it time to go,

Hopefully i will update after the weekend.

Ride Safe

Stephen

Well somewhere along the way i have managed to delete the whole of the blog and also the backups by the look of it , so here we go again , Welcome to the blog of John Parker Motorcycles , where i will ramble on about the shop , Motorcycles trials, both modern and pre65 and anything else that takes my fancy.