NEW HIMALAYAN VS OLD WORKS REP

Royal Enfield catch up with their off-road past with the new Himalayan adventure bike

RE’S latest adventure bike plays in the dirt with Hitchcocks’ 1950s over-the-counter trials Bullet

What a difference 60 years makes. Back in 1958, Royal Enfield’s top of the range off-roader was the Works Replica – a competitive, though road legal, trials iron that superseded their existing Bullet Trials in 1958. Marketed following the phenomenal success of works rider Johnny Brittain in winning the ACU Trials Star, the British Experts Trial and his second SSDT title in 1957, the new model represented the pinnacle of development for Royal Enfield’s traditional off-road, big single. Now, six decades later, the Indian manufacturer offers its Himalayan adventure bike ,with their new 411cc single-cylinder engine. We’ve brought together the best of the old and the newest of the new to get an appreciation of what’s changed. Launched late in 1957 for 1958, the Works Replica was the ultimate in over-the-counter trials Bullets and incorporated a number of the features of the genuine works machines. Alloy barrels and heads, heavier flywheels, lower compression, small bore (15/16in) Amal carburettor and magneto ignition were the main changes to the trials engine, and the rest of the bike closely mimicked the works bikes. There was a new lightweight frame, with neatly tucked in exhaust, a kickstart lever that curled under the footrest, and the older style of Bullet gearbox with trials ratios and a high-mounted shift lever. Only the special alloy hubs and a few other refinements from the factory bikes were missing. In 1959, when this example was registered, most trials used green lanes and roads to link the sections – and, in events like the Scottish, riders could be expected to cover over 100 miles in a day. Trials bikes had to be versatile enough to put in that sort of mileage while affording the rider a degree of comfort on the road and trail sections of the route. So, will a largely unmolested Works Replica cut it for a gentle green lane run? We’ve tracked down an unsurfaced ‘unclassified county road’ (UCR) near Hitchcocks’ base to find out. The bike Allan Hitchcock has kindly loaned me is one he picked up back in 2009. “It’s not completely original,” Allan admits. “It’s been used and abused a bit, but it’s still largely unmolested. It had been used in pre-65 competition, but never really modified to make it more competitive. I used it round the paddock a bit, but that’s been about it.” This is a bike that would still be familiar to a trials rider from the late ’50s and it’ll give me a real flavour of what it would be capable of back then. The 346cc engine fires up easily – no problems with the magneto – and, despite receiving little attention over the last nine years, settles down