LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE
New and old Indian built Enfields on a slow tour of The Peak District.
Rempstone to Ashbourne Shedding side-panels at 55mph
Is there anything better than a weekday bike ride? The promise of sunshine is the perfect excuse to bunk off work and head for the Peak District. After the interminable and infected winter of discontent we’ve earned it. Surely… Mike and I meet in a layby beside the A6006 at 9am and remark on the benefits of heated clothing; it’s a sunny morning, but cold. Just as well the kit is battery powered though as Mr Armitage seems to be having difficulties with the electrical system on his Royal Enfield. ‘It’s been fine,’ he claims, ‘but the starter wouldn’t work this morning so I’m kicking it.’ He then provides a lengthy demonstration of kick starting technique, but at last his 500cc single chugs into life.
As a superfast rider and former sportsbike obsessive Bike’s Deputy Editor seems an unlikely owner of this Indian built eccentricity, but this is his dad’s old bike and an irreplaceable family heirloom, and surely Mike’s kids will be delighted to be lumbered with it in due course. While the Armitage Bullet is based on stone age technology (first manufactured 1948 etc.) it does have a disc brake, five-speed gear box and, intermittently, an electric start.
I press the button on the Enfield Himalayan I’m riding and the 411cc engine settles into a muted tickover. The bike’s model name is possibly inspired by its glacial acceleration though with a more modern engine than the Bullet it can be ridden flat-out at a giddy 75mph and 6000rpm without fear of mechanical carnage. A rear disc brake and monoshock suspension bring it slap bang into the 1980s.
This example is the Adventure version with handguards, enormous crashbars and very non-qd metal panniers in which to stow sandwiches, Peak District souvenirs and the pieces that will fall off Mike’s bike. The compass on the dashboard is a standard fit alternative to sat nav, but its function is comedic. Fortunately I have brought a map. There were other, more obviously tempting machines in the Bike lock-up, but we wanted to enjoy the scenery and avoid the frustrations of choking rural 50mph speed limits. Both bikes keep up with the traffic on the A6006 but, after circulating the gyratory junction of the M1/A50/A6/A42/A453 near Donington Park, we settle onto the dual carriageway A50 and the limitations become obvious. The Bullet is more musket than machine gun and 55mph seems to be the selected dual carriageway pace.
‘The compass is a standard fit, but its function is comedic. Fortunately I have a map’
Still, there are other entertainments. The Bullet’s left side panel falls off, I swerve to avoid and then, while Mike continues oblivious, pull onto the side of the road and run back to retrieve it. An adrenalin drenched sprint to the A50’s central reservation and back (not sure how it got there from the slow lane) is plenty of excitement for one day.
Ashbourne to Cat and Fiddle Plunging into Dovedale’s splendour
Thumping is better than thrashing if you ride a long-stroke single. According to the owner’s manual my Royal Enfield Bullet Electra X has a 50mph cruising speed and will creak to 78mph flat out, so somewhere between the two seems sensible to balance safety and engine longevity on the fastflowing A50. Bobbing among HGVS at an indicated 60mph is far from joyous, mind.
Warming air and hazy hills along the breezier A515 revive my spirits, as does being reunited with a misplaced side panel as we stop in Ashbourne to consult Hugo’s map. A large-scale paper chart is always far better for devising a route than a sat-nav, though unfortunately the impressive one our esteemed leader has brought doesn’t show the Peak District. After ten minutes failing to find where we are, he scurries off to buy a new one, and we plot a tangled circuit. Where the new map turns green north of Ashbourne, we dart onto The Pinch and plunge into Dovedale’s splendour. The Bullet is the right bike here, whump-whump-whump torque and thin-tyre handling are all I want for these meandering lanes. Into Staffordshire, and traffic becomes scarce as the very British B5053 flounces to Longnor. Left at the Grey Telephone Box at Glutton Bridge and there’s simply nobody around. Tight lanes carve through steep gullies and flick us up onto the wide-open hilltop expanse towards Buxton
Raceway (home of
‘Whump-whump torque and thintyre handling are all I want’
Buxton Hitmen speedway team). We stop, taking time to soak in the silence, isolation, views and sun. It’s glorious. My Enfield must like it up here too, being unwilling to yield to the kickstart. Again.
The landscape changes again as we hop over the A53 and drop onto the A537 Cat and Fiddle. So does the traffic. MA
Cat and Fiddle, Snake Pass, Winnat’s Pass More trouble with disappearing parts
The Peak District is surrounded by big towns and cities; apparently 20 million people live within an hour’s drive so small wonder it’s busy. Geographically it’s two areas, the rugged High Peak to the north and the softer Derbyshire Dales (and a bit of Staffordshire) to the south. Our circular route takes in the region’s three most famous roads, starting with the Cat and Fiddle Pass. The view from the summit is amazing, but the twisting road down towards Macclesfield is strangled by double white lines, a 50mph limit, average speed cameras and endless traffic.
And the route back up onto the Peaks on the B5470 is a frustrating crawl behind a VW Polo doing 43mph. On a more powerful bike you’d make some overtakes, but in company with the thudding Bullet you just sit back and accept it. Between Whaley Bridge and Glossop, we turn off the A624 to sit in the sunshine, backs against a dry stone wall to admire the scenery and eat our well deserved sarnies. The re-start provides further amusement as the Bullet’s kickstart lever parts company with the gearbox. It’s refitted using local gritstone as a hammer and cheap spanners from the Himalayan’s toolkit.
The Snake Pass heading back towards Sheffield is a belter. Sure, there’s the inevitable 50mph limit, but the view is amazing and the traffic surprisingly light as the road climbs up to the 502 metre summit where, on bleak moorland the road is crossed by the Pennine Way footpath.
The descent maybe even better, especially on bikes as underpowered as these, a flowing sequence of turns as road descends into gorge before the scenery opens out at Ladybower reservoir and we turn south again. Winnat’s Pass is a narrow, one-in-three-and-a-half tourist crawl that’s more first gear buzz than riding challenge, but it’s something to tick off the list. HW
Bakewell to Derby In search of puddings
Obstinate starting, map malfunctions and our persistent dawdling mean it’s late in the day as we burble into Bakewell, but we manage to make it into The Old Original Pudding Shop for essential sustenance. Topped up with pastry, raspberry jam, almonds and other goodness, a short section of A6 leads us to the B5056. It’s a road I have never been on before but with corner after corner cascading through scenic greenery I make a mental note to return… soon. The roads are tight enough for the Enfield to be entertaining, but a KTM 890 Duke would be sensational.
Matlock passes over to our left and we point for the city of Derby on the wider B5023. The road is great – when I was a sportsbike-riding Matlock regular back in the 1990s this was the way my mates and I would come – but it’s also a little busier than it used to be back in historical times. Overtaking is frustrating, though this is because the Bullet lacks any real acceleration above 50mph as much as double white lines and speed limits stretching out from quiet villages. It wasn’t this hard work on my GSX-R. Rather annoyingly, Hugo’s
‘We make it to The Old Original Pudding Shop for sustenance… raspberry jam, almonds…’
able to make considerably better progress on the revvier and thrashable Himalayan.
Duffield marks the end of proper routes. I lead us to the A38 and onto Derby’s ring road, the Enfield mixing effortlessly with dawdling evening traffic as we weave back to the A50. Returning to a 60mph dual carriageway cruise requires effort after our soul-soothing day of easy-going riding and relaxed escapades. Enfield claimed my bike’s stubby 1370mm wheelbase helps deliver ‘rides free from tail wagging and overturning’, but whoever decided that had clearly never clenched their bumcakes around the long, fast sweep where the A50 crosses the M1 at Kegworth.
Not enthused by the prospect of further ‘high’ speed on the A6, we sidle onto lanes in the direction of Melton. Thrumming resumed, my minds drifts to the best bits of today’s route, the enticing prospect of a post-ride pint, and whether the Bullet will survive the final miles. MA
The last leg; 1 A frustrated GSX-R1000 in Rutland
A mellow day on the Himalayan ends with a 50mph weave through Rutland which must have been frustrating for the GSX-R1000 I followed, and then down the A1. At home the tripmeter says we’ve covered 260 miles (at 77.2mpg). Going fast is fun, but going slow has its own charm.
A few years ago I would have recommended cheap used motorcycles for this kind of riding day out, but secondhand values have risen and a brand new Himalayan on minimal monthly payments is hard-to-ignore tempting. And so is a return visit to The Peaks. Britain’s National Parks are fantastic, despite the grandeur of continental Europe sitting on our doorstep. HW
The last leg; 2 Enthusiasm for an antiquated device
When I got my Royal Enfield a well-known road tester who shall remain nameless (it was Michael Neeves) couldn’t understand my enthusiasm for the antiquated device. Explaining that the Bullet’s meagre performance and engaging dynamic make sense with today’s blanket speed limits and cluttered traffic convinced me more than it did him, but our Peaky adventure has proved the point. And the age-old single averaged 88.9mpg as well.
The only problem is that I don’t live in the Peak District. What I really need is something with the Enfield’s undoubted charm and easy-going nature, but a little more modern-day usability.
I see why so many people buy Royal Enfield’s Interceptor. But what I really think I want is a Moto Guzzi V7 (see page 78 for confirmation). MA