An Ode to the Enfield of India by Gregory David Roberts in 'Shantaram'

Gregory David Roberts, author of the international bestseller 'Shantaram', has in this book written a beautiful tribute to the Enfield Bullet.

As a loyal Bullet afficiando, it is my proud privilege and honour to reproduce the relevant portion here. 

The Enfield of India 350cc Bullet was a single-cylinder, four stroke motorcycle, constructed to the plans of the original 1950s' model of the British Royal Enfield. Renowned for its idiosyncratic handling as much as for its reliability and durability, the Bullet was a bike that demanded a relationship with its rider. That relationship involved tolerance, patience, and understanding on the part of the rider. In exchange, the Bullet provided the kind of soaring, celestial, wind-weaving pleasure that birds must know, punctuated by not infrequent near-death experiences. 

 This paragraph can be found on page 501 of the book and very simply and succinctly sums up the Bullet and it's rider. 


This blog, incidentally, started as a result of the new Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark that I purchased last year. Prior to the Thunderbird, I had a 1979 Standard Enfield 350cc. Read my blog posts about the bikes and also how I trained my Labrador to ride on the older Bullet.

[Note: The snap has been taken from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Royal_Enfield_Bullet.JPG]