"The Royal Enfield Bullet was originally an overhead valve single cylinder four-stroke motorcycle made by Royal Enfield in Redditch, Worcestershire. Now produced by Royal Enfield (India) at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, a company originally founded by Madras Motors to build Royal Enfield motorcycles under licence in India. It has the longest unchanged production run of any motorcycle having remained continuously in production since 1948. The Bullet marque is even older and has passed 75 years of continuous production. The Royal Enfield and Bullet names derive from the British company having been a subcontractor to Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, London. The 1955 model remained almost unchanged for years and Madras produced over 20,000 Bullets annually.
This is a very special Royal Enfield Bullet 350. Originally owned by Bryan Amos, one of the founding members of the REOC in the fifties and of the re-constituted club in the seventies.
It was bought in May 1955 in Redhill Surrey, as one of a pair of bikes, by two mates. These bikes had consecutive serial, engine and registration numbers. Special order in black and with the upgraded twin drum front brake, it even has the neutral finder on this model. It should be noted that this bike was fitted with a special hot cam sent down by Royal Enfield at one point. This bike has been on the road ever since and has never been restored just maintained regularly and kept in very good working order. It still has the original Burgess silencer and original rims and spokes. The seat on the bike is not the original, but it also comes with an additional seat for a pillion, it is a real survivor bike with loads of patina.
The first owner passed away in the early 1990's and his friend kept the bike but did not really use it therefore it has had quite light use since then. The original logbook, old tax discs dating back to 1955, receipt, warranty and various other documents plus other old photographs are included within the history file that accompanies the bike. The original owner kept a meticulous diary detailing every penny spent on the bike. He also won many road navigation trials on the Enfield with his wife as navigator and the trophies (around 80) come with the bike. The bike has featured in several magazines and was a 'Best of British' bike in MCN.
The bike is in good running order and starts easily and rides well. Not a damp 'barn find' but a genuine bike with an interesting history and in extremely original condition. Obviously, it is a matching numbers UK bike and one with a fascinating and enduring history which translates into a classic bike with the most endearing qualities. Also, this was built in the final year of production in England before all future Bullets were then built in India and this was possibly one of the very last.
"