Motorcycles - SURPRISE I changed my Mind!

Alright, so as you probably know (obviously) I was all set up in my head to buy a Dnepr Sidecar rig for about $4000 - or rather mom was going to buy it because it would replace my car for year round riding and the whole deal.



What occurred to me there is I have never had a Dnepr or a Ural, only that one BMW, and they are WONDERFUL bikes, but the more I look into it the more I find peoples signatures in Forums that say "Ural miles should be looked at in dog years" and the parts supply for these bikes - its there, but the sources seem to be switching around a lot.

I found...

See Mom has been thinking about going back to motorcycles so I was investigating bikes for her, I thought of Royal Enfield instantly because of how perfect they are in every way except upkeep for a beginner and someone who is unsure, but she'd want new, and new is $6000 and no longer the engine I know. Where as there is a retro Suzuki 250 that is BEAUTIFUL for $3700, Fuel Injection, 82mpg, 330 pounds curb weight, the whole deal.

But I'd remembered this 1995 Enfield 500 Bullet that was for sale in Ohio at one of my favorite parts suppliers. It is complete with 1500 miles on it, and they vouch for its goodness. So it occurred to me because they want $3500 for plus say $400 shipping to here unless I took 3 days and rode it home on B highways but that might kill me. So THIS is the bike:



Here is the OEM picture for that year:


And one from the other side of the same year bike:




So then I'd just get a Cozy Euro Sidecar for the Enfield:



See... I know these bikes. You can get cheep parts for them from the USA, England, and India. You can get knobby tires for them because people use them for scramblers, so thats winter taking care of. They get better gas than the Dnepr, the rig would be just over 100 pounds lighter than the Dnepr rig.

I HAVE an alloy barrel and an expensive European made Piston down here in the basement for THAT engine.

So instead of getting a BIG heavy Dnepr, why not get a light Enfield. With the one in Phoenix I fixed all the engine parts and left the body pretty much alone this time. So I know that I can run an Enfield year round, and I know that I can keep it up, and I know that this time I wont be dumb because I get progressively better about them.

So yeah.. thats the new plan. And I vow not to randomly paint or alter anything to make it look "older" or any of that shit. Just turn it into a sidecar rig, maybe over time get the proper shocks and springs, and just ride the thing year round as my primary.

If the Norton sells for what I hope it will then in 2 months I should have enough money (after the Norton sells) to just buy the Enfield outright, then I can change the fluids, sell the car, sell the XS400 - give that money to mom, and then save up for a sidecar, that would be about 6 months which would give me a month or two to learn the sidecar before the snow starts to fly.