end speeds dramatically.
Allofwhich (atlast!) brings usto the Royal
Enfield yousee here. ForWW2,Royal Enfield
produced the WD/C 350ccSV, WD/CO350cc
OHV,WD/D250ccSV, WD/G 350ccOHV and
WD/L 570ccSV, as well as the morewell
know WD/RE,orF lyingFlea, alightweight
125ccmotor cycle designedto be droppedby
parachutewith airborne troops.
This particular Enfield belongsto my good
friend Graham, local bikecollectorand WD
aficionado,and the bike is even morenotable
forits rare use ofaBurman gearbox. Graham
hasbeentold by several‘experts’thatit’sthe
wrong gearbox, but itreflects anexpedient
solutionfordifficult times;RoyalEnfield did
make around 3000 machines with Burman
boxes. Which would have beenfine for
heavybooted squaddies,but the ponderous
gear changes arenot sogreatfor racing.
Militarydespatchrecords showthatframe
number 15580waspartofabatchof3000
WD/C 350ccSVmodels from 15501-18500
(originally with matching engine numbers).
15580 would have been assigned WD serial
number 4437589, theContract Numberwas
C8732, and itwasmadebetween September
and November 1940 and deliveredto either
Chilwell orFeltham (1500to each).
Whether this machinewasactually
ever race dinforcesspeedway we may
neverknow.Certainly somewherealong
the waythe oldsidevalvemotor was
replaced with this ohvversion.What we
do know is it turned upafew years agoat
Garstang autojumble,looking like ithad
satunmolestedformanyalong year,and
seemingly in speedway or grass track trim.It
wasmissingits petrol tank,all therear brake
mechanism and the left-hand footrest,and
both mudguards apartfromthe shortened
remains of the back one.
Furtherclues came in the shape of that
ancientMichelinGoldenArrowfront tyre,
with its primitiveblock tread which must date
backaconsiderable number ofyears,and theold,off-roadtyre on therear.The bike also
hadawideset of speedway style handlebars,
and waspaintedinwhatlookedto be original
RAFblue. Grahammakesnoclaim it’s an
original Bar-None orforces spee dway bike,
but it seemsareasonable betto me.
Thebikehas changed little sincethen, the
addition of an oldWassell peanut tank,a
useablerear tyre andafewback brake parts,
along withamoresensible seatand amore
pleasingly alignedexhaust pipe.AsGraham
says,‘I’ve no idea if theRAFracers painted
their bikes in blue,it’shardtotell from all
the old black and whitephotos.But it ’s how
the bike cameto me,soI ’vejust repainted
it ac cordingly.Itg oes surprisinglywell too,
there’snoweightand the motor punches far
better thanyou’dexpect.’
Have the internals been breathed onby
some long lost REME tuner?Whoknows,it’s
all just partoft he bike’s unknown history.
Wherever the bike came from and howitgot
there, itsdestinyturne dout to be ending upWarzoneSpeedway56 I AUGUST 2019 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk