‘A classic without the hassle'
‘You have to engage your brain to get the best out of it’
Sometimes it pays to wait, which is exactly what systems engineer Mark Anstee did when he heard a rumour that his dream bike was being developed. “Royal Enfield came onto my radar when I was flicking through a magazine,” says Mark. “It was the singlecylinder 535cc Continental, which I thought looked really nice. I took one for a test ride and although it rode well, the engine vibrated like an Ann Summers warehouse. There was talk that a twin was in the pipeline so I decided to wait, and when the opportunity arose to put a deposit down on one with Haywards of Cambridge, I did – even though it wouldn’t be delivered for another year.” Mark’s had a varied history of motorcycle ownership in his 40 years of riding, with two machines standing out. “The bike I’ve had the most fun with was an old Kawasaki Z750,” he says, “I used to regularly spend three weeks of the year exploring Europe with my girlfriend as pillion. It had over 100,000 miles on the clock when I sold it, but the 1992 Ducati 900SS I bought next with was a total pain in contrast. It was a lovely bike, but I was just throwing money at it all the time.” After 12 months of being patient Mark finally got to sit on his Conti. “It fitted me perfectly, plus it was one of the first blue ones in the country,” he says. “Including the paint it came to just under £6k, so I bought it outright.”
0 MILES
Even though I was running it in, I was surprised at how good it was out of the box – and that left me satisfied that I’d made the right choice. It actually gave me the same level of fun as my 900SS, but without any of the grief. I ran it in pretty quickly because I wanted to ride it to the Isle of Man for the TT. I took it to Haywards for the first service and it cost about £100, which is very reasonable. They’re nice people to deal with and do a good job, but I’ll most likely service it myself.
600 MILES
The engine has an excellent spread of power. The decision to go with a 270° crank gives it a feel and sound that is just spot on. It’s quite flexible, you can run it down to 2000 or 3000rpm and it’ll still pull, but I normally keep it upwards of 4000 then between 5000 and 6000 it goes really nicely. You have to engage your brain to get the best out of it, which means picking the right gear and riding it on the torque curve. It doesn’t seem to have used a drop of oil so far.
1500 MILES
It has a modern gearbox so changes are nice and slick – I’ve had no issues at all and finding neutral is not a problem. The clutch is incredibly light and you barely notice any effort at the lever. Fuel economy is pretty good, I reckon I’m getting 60 miles to the gallon. The fuel gauge blocks start flashing at around 100 miles, though I have managed to stretch that to 120.
2000 MILES
The suspension is basic, but it suits the bike well and the handling is fantastic. You can tell a lot of development
has gone into the chassis. It feels like you imagine a classic bike should – it’s a classic without the hassle. The rear is adjustable and I had to wind on some preload when I took the missus on the back, but it’s not really a two-up kind of bike as there’s nowhere for luggage when you’ve got a pillion. Comfortwise it’s fine. I’m 6ft 2in and the riding position is perfect for me, in fact I was surprised how well it fits.
2500 MILES
As an overall package, the GT is really well balanced. The single front disc is really good. It’s got all the power, feel and feedback I need. The rear is fine too. I’d like to upgrade the wheels to run without inner tubes, purely from a practical point of view. The tyres themselves are tubeless and I’m investigating kits to do this now. I’ve checked the chain on several occasions and have only needed to give it a slight tweak once. I’m fairly hard on the throttle, so that’s pretty impressive.
500 MILES
I received a recall saying road salt could have a negative effect on the brakes. I hadn’t used it much in the winter so it wasn’t too much of an issue but I took it to Cooperb Motorcycles in Wellingborough. While it was in I asked them to fit an S&S air filter kit (£89). It’s supposed to make the engine breathe better and it does improve it a bit – but it’s the induction roar that’s the best benefit.
202 MILES
The service interval is 6000 miles, with a major service every 12k. However, as it was a year old I decided to change the oil and filter myself. It was simple enough, but I thought that at £20 the filter was rather expensive. Despite cross referencing all the pattern catalogues with the guys at Flitwick Motorcycles (who I’ve used for parts for the past 30 years) we found that there’s currently no pattern part available. It’s pretty easy to keep on top of maintenance though, as there’s not all that much to the bike.