BULLET B POINTS
THE BULLET was first fired all the way back in 1932 when three new sports models were added to the RE range. These advanced machines of 250, 350 and 500cc came equipped with a four-speed gearbox, an oil tank contained in the crankcase, chilled-iron valve guides and nitrided valve stems
THE MODEL G which arrived in 1935 is however the true ancestor of the post-war Bullet with a vertical cylinder of 70mm by 90mm, totally enclosed valve gear and gear-driven magneto
THE PROTOTYPE BULLET broke ground after WW2 as a 346cc trials bike with swinging arm rear suspension, ridden by a works trio at the Colmore Cup Trial
THE NEW ENGINE featured an RR56 light-alloy conrod and an ovalturned piston in low expansion alloy. Unusually, Enfield used a floating bronze bush instead of a more conventional roller big end bearing. Power was 18bhp at 5750rpm with the compression kept under control to cope with low octane fuels
UNLIKE MANY single-cylinder Britbikes, the Bullet was designed to be a 350 and not a heavyweight 500. This made it significantly lighter than its competitors; a Matchless G3L weighed 30lb more while BSA’s B31 was 60lb heavier than the Enfield
THE 350 BULLET performed superbly in its first ISDT of 1948 as part of the victorious British team
FOR 1949 the Bullet went on sale at £171 while the old rigid Model G was still offered at £146
AN ALL-NEW welded frame arrived for 1956; rear shocks had swapped to Armstrong units giving three inches of ground clearance; compression was raised to 7.25:1 which together with a new cam profile and many other mods pepped up the 350’s performance
TUNING TWEAKS for the big twin Super Meteor were passed onto the Bullet which benefitted from a modified combustion chamber and large-diameter inlet valve
THE 1956 350 was almost as quick as its 500 stablemate and could reach 80mph with a following wind. Riders had to rev the smaller engine harder, but many preferred its sweeter nature for low-rev riding
FROM 1959 the 350 gained the tele forks from the Meteor Minor 500 twin, 17-inch wheels which lowered the saddle height, a 7-inch full-width front brake and 7-inch rear brake, revised gearing, a bigger Monobloc carb and a further compression boost to 7.75:1, plus a new exhaust system
PERHAPS THE most famous proponent of the 350 Bullet was trials star Johnny Brittain who demonstrated just how well a swinging arm machine could perform in the rough
ONE STRANGE claim to fame is that Frank Sheene (Barry’s dad) rode a 350 Bullet in the 1952 Junior TT. He finished 60th