Royal Enfield

Prototype Royal Enfield 750 set for 2027 release. A 750 is classified as a middle-weight bike these days, but back in the late sixties, with the notable exception of the HD Sportsters and big twins, 750 was as big as they came. All the "big" British bikes came as either 650 or 750 models. By the mid-seventies, they were all pretty much gone, as were the Italians, and the Japanese had taken over the market. Triumph has come back strong, as did Ducati.

BSA is supposed to be in production again, but I don't how well that's going. They have a new Goldstar model - 650cc single. It's a good-looking bike. If you follow the link it'll take you to their web page with a short history of BSA. Surly and I inherited my brother's BSA. That's the next bike on the list as soon as the trials bike is complete. At a minimum, I plan on taking it for a ride on my next birthday, like the Sportster this past birthday. Just need to stay healthy and focused. Lots of other things need to be done as well. 

Flat tracker based on Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 that I came across at Bike EXIF. Lots of one-off parts, most notably the swingarm. It's brazed together like the Rickman frames were back in the day. The welds look every bit as good as the ones the Rickman brothers turned out. My buddy used to campaign a Formula Ford made by Renard that was brazed together. 

Typically, the filler metal is not your normal low fuming bronze, but a different alloy depending on the alloy of the steel being joined. 4130 has an annealed tensile of around 80,000 psi so the brazing alloy doesn't need to be super strong, especially since all the joints are going to be fillet welds which will spread the load over a relatively large area. And done properly, the weld joints look really nice like on the swing arm on the Enfield flat tracker.

Colder than a well digger's ass in the Klondike yesterday - about zero when I woke up. Spent the day feeding the fireplace and doing household chores. Even if it was warm, I'd be taking it easy due to the lump in my groin. I'll be seeing the doctor in a couple of days. I'm anxious to get back to work and finish the tractor job, the trials bike and work on the milling machine. I've got a power feed and digital readouts to install but don't want to jeopardize my health fooling around with heavy things.