It was as challenging as it was refreshing – testing a motorcycle that appeared to be the antithesis of my regular wishlist . Time to face my demons and see if I could ride for a few days in someone else ’ s helmet . It might get a tad crowded in here ... I felt like I was talking to a shrink as I mused and kitted up to take the stylish looking , but mildmannered Royal Enfield 350 Classic Halcyon for a meander around the local environs . There is no denying it really does look like an actual modern classic , not just a base model with a few retro pinstripes and a round headlight that has become the norm . Built as a tribute to the G2 from the 1950s , when Royal Enfield was a pukka English marque , the attention to detail despite , and my guess , in spite of the modern habit of thinly veiled disguises , it retains much of the eclectic designs .
More Framework than the Eiffel Tower Keeping twice as many welders on the payroll as anyone else per machine , the tubing is both elegant and largely there purely for the sake of retaining that slightly extravagant excess of the era it represents . The ‘ fenders ’ are steel , unlike the injection moulded mudguards everyone else has used for the past 30 years , and the pinstriped subtly metallic paint liberally applied looks totally dapper , as does the tidy brown saddle ( olde worlde taking over ). The headlight nacelle and fork slider shrouds ( concealing telescopic sliders ) look like they ’ ve just popped out of the Tardis from 1952 , apart from the small digital
insert anyway ... Despite myself , I was warming to the “ Made Like A Gun Since 1901 ” Classic . But , and there is always a but , I had yet to find out if 21hp and 195kg mass would feel completely appropriate and fine or , umm ... not .
Yeah or Nah ? Firing up the 350J series engine , it sounded the part . It runs smoother than the bikes it reflects from back in the day , thanks to a counter-balancer and fuel injection that is pretty much spot on and metronomic even from cold . None of the fiddling around until either the rider or the bike warms up enough to go , so totally modern in that regard . Reaching out a bunch of fingers ( I save the all-four deal for old bikes , so assumed ...) I was pleasantly met by a smooth and light clutch . Ah , I ’ m getting the
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