Difference between revisions of "Royal Enfield Model K"
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[[File:Royal Enfield Model K.jpg|300px|thumb|Royal Enfield Model K]] | [[File:Royal Enfield Model K.jpg|300px|thumb|Royal Enfield Model K]] | ||
The 11-50 [[Brough-Superior]] (11 RAC horse power/50 bhp) at 'only' 1096cc, left the 1,140 cc [[Royal Enfield]] Model K as the most massive [[motorcycle]] available on the British pre-war market. But whereas the rider of today equates size with shattering speed, the big Enfield was not exceptional. Certainly it could be supplied to special order, with solo ratios in its four-speed gearbox, but sidecar gearing was standard, for the Model K's role in life was as a heavy haulier. | |||
This was the machine to which a trader would attach a float to carry ladders, bags of cement, and the tools of a builder's business; it would carry a farmer's beasts to market; with a suitably decorated box chair, it sold ice-cream at the seaside on sunny summer Sundays; and, neglected and unkempt, with a plank tied to a bare sidecar chassis, it was a motorcycle dealer's hack, used to deliver or collect a customer's machine. | This was the machine to which a trader would attach a float to carry ladders, bags of cement, and the tools of a builder's business; it would carry a farmer's beasts to market; with a suitably decorated box chair, it sold ice-cream at the seaside on sunny summer Sundays; and, neglected and unkempt, with a plank tied to a bare sidecar chassis, it was a motorcycle dealer's hack, used to deliver or collect a customer's machine. | ||
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Normally, the Model K had a hand-operated clutch, but if required it could be supplied with American-style controls including a foot clutch. In October 1938, Motor-Cycling road-tested the machine with a huge touring sidecar attached, and, with the chair occupied by a 14 stone passenger, the outfit clocked a respectable best-one-way speed of 62 mph, with a two-way mean of just over 58 mph. Fuel consumption was a bit disappointing, at 44 mpg on the open road. | Normally, the Model K had a hand-operated clutch, but if required it could be supplied with American-style controls including a foot clutch. In October 1938, Motor-Cycling road-tested the machine with a huge touring sidecar attached, and, with the chair occupied by a 14 stone passenger, the outfit clocked a respectable best-one-way speed of 62 mph, with a two-way mean of just over 58 mph. Fuel consumption was a bit disappointing, at 44 mpg on the open road. | ||
Production of the Model K ended officially at the outbreak of war, the factory thereafter turning out thousands of 346 cc Model C and Model CO singles for military service. However, one more Model K was built, some time around 1941 - a rather special version, with a live rear axle and prop-shaft drive to the sidecar wheel of a military-style outfit similar to the Norton Big Four. It was an experiment, built in the hopes of attracting a military contract which, alas, failed to materialize. The Army, it seemed, had decided to abandon cross-country sidecars in | Production of the Model K ended officially at the outbreak of war, the factory thereafter turning out thousands of 346 cc Model C and Model CO singles for military service. However, one more Model K was built, some time around 1941 - a rather special version, with a live rear axle and prop-shaft drive to the sidecar wheel of a military-style outfit similar to the Norton Big Four. It was an experiment, built in the hopes of attracting a military contract which, alas, failed to materialize. The Army, it seemed, had decided to abandon cross-country sidecars in favor of the Jeep. | ||
Surprisingly, the sidecar-drive Model K was not scrapped, but with prop-shaft removed it served the factory for many years as a hack, carting spares until well into the 'fifties. It was then sold off, bought by private enthusiasts, and survives to this day rebuilt to its original military condition as a reminder of something that could well have worked, given a touch of encouragement from those in high places. | Surprisingly, the sidecar-drive Model K was not scrapped, but with prop-shaft removed it served the factory for many years as a hack, carting spares until well into the 'fifties. It was then sold off, bought by private enthusiasts, and survives to this day rebuilt to its original military condition as a reminder of something that could well have worked, given a touch of encouragement from those in high places. | ||