Oh man that is a beautiful machine. I do own a Royal Enfield continental GT 535 model from 2016 currently. But I must say that those 250cc model were absolutely beast man.
I was priviliged enough to own one of these as my first bike back in 1972...a 6 year old beast that I so loved. The rear sets and the headstock was a big appeal- years ahead of its time!. The cylinder head was held on by two internal bolts that you could never tighten enough to avoid oil leaks,,,so my lovely Royal Oilfield spectacularly spilled oil all over the crankcase, my legs and , interestingly, the back tyre. But the noise! And the 10.5 compression ratio....omg I loved that machine and so wish I had hung on to it. Its braking from the single leading shoe left for a few ringpiece clenching moments! Lol. The fourth gear on the 5 gear box was all but useless- it missed almost every time and a certain amount of juggling was needed to find it or get past it quick to 5th. In the end I did a home transplant for the GT250 4 speed box which solved it- but as it didnt have a return spring, needed some shuffling of the gear lever at every change . But then, when you are just 18 these things didnt matter, Being so into motor sport at the time I was tempted into into fitting a full red and white race fairing on it and it LOOKED spectacular! So much so that I was hunted down and someone offered me a daft price for it so I sold it to "move on" to a Yahama RD250. Bad move eh? Nice to have had the modern bike but omg in retrospect how I wish I had held onto the old beauty. HAP64D. Hopefully babe you are still with some loving owner...
What a great sound when the Conti is settled on the straight. Even though I'm nearly 73, I would love to own one of these machines. Perhaps one day I will hopefully, if I can find one before it's already sold. Fingers crossed.
If you appreciate the style of this lovely old British-made Conti 250, then you might do well to look into her modern Indian-made cousins. As you may already know, when India got its independence after the War, they ordered so many Royal Enfield Bullet singles for their military from the English company that they eventually went ahead and stuck a factory over there, where decade after decade they just kept making basically the same 1954 model 350cc and later 500cc singles long after the English company had gone out of business. The bikes quickly also caught on with the Indian public, where they're hugely popular, enjoying almost the same kind of "quasi-patriotic" appeal as Harleys in the USA. Well, about 2014, they began producing a cafe racer style 535cc model called the Continental GT using a newly-redesigned unit construction engine with electronic fuel injection, electric start, and other modern doodads as a sort of retro homage to the old British-made Continentals like Paul's been working on. These were basically a design intended to appeal to customers in their export markets like the USA, Europe and Australia. Thing is, in the past couple of years Royal Enfield has also come out with some other popular newer models like their Himalayan 441cc Adventure Bike and a 650 parallel twin that comes in two flavors, cafe or cruiser, very similar to and clearly meant to compete with Triumph's "retro" twins. These newer models have really stolen the thunder from their Conti model. This means that pretty great deals can be had on brand new 535cc Contis languishing on showroom floors. Factor in winter seasonality, and some pretty fantastic deals can be had, especially on Contis from previous years that have remained unsold. If you like this little 250 Continental, you might just like one of the newer thumpers. For more info on the breed, check out the 'Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum' at forum.classicmotorworks.com/,
It's no wonder kid's like me lusted over the GT's when they first came out, After being used to little Bantams, James and Fanny B's these little Firecrackers were a revelation! in looks as well as performance! No wonder so many different specials were built using the GT running gear, TriField was a popular one and I recently saw a RE GT ARROW! 250 Golden Arrow engine in a GT frame, looked and went very well. This one seems to have all the bugs ironed out, I just wish I was the lucky owner it was coming home to! Pure, green eyed jealousy!
You're right these were great bikes for the young 'Rocker' on his little Cafe Racer...factory built no less!. l owned an Ariel Arrow, stripped down with a tank seat combo plus the loudest expansion chambers you ever heard...A vortex of Castro R smoke following....It was great being a young teenager in the early, mid sixties, if a little expensive in excessive noise fines from the local constabulary...
@@brianperry I had an Arrow too but near enough standard. Mate had a FB with 2T engine he had proper race expansion chambers on too flat out it was great but at certain revs it was hard on the ears! Another of my mates raced a Velo 350, he visited two of the lads in hospital after a bus knocked them off, as he travelled down the town main street he had his right boot inside the short megaphone to try to quiet it down! Didn't work, just as well no plod about!!!
Great to see one of these again. I bought one in 1965; cost me 250 quid new. Sadly had to get rid of it in 1974. Big mistake doing that as was not buying a Gold Star a few years later; if only..........
I had one of these in 1977 lot of fun could never get 5 gear for long it was all to do with selector adjustment it just wouldn’t stay put a lot of fiddling around it would be ok for 20 miles then you have to start again but l loved it great sound sold it for £50 and bought a Honda silly man l still ride a Norton single now l watch with great interest Paul keep up the good work Colin rashleigh cornwall
Hi Paul. Thanks for taking me along . I understand that RE is coming out with a new 350 single called the Meteor. It will have a 6 speed gearbox. Sales will start in the Indian market. Honda will compete with its new CB 350 single. The Honda will have a 5 speed and be more expensive. Thanks again
great series of video's Paul. Notice the 5 speed box on the test run and the slick gear change. Any chance you can do a vid of the setting up of the gear change mech. I have a 4 speed and about 6 neutrals. Cheers.
Hi Paul and thanks, you must be psychic! I am just in the process of adding a video I made today, discussing some of the 'issues' which can be found when setting up these gearboxes, and it may not go into great detail, but may be of some use to you. Watch this space, as they say!
@@paulhenshaw4514 cheers Paul. I would never have got around to extending the slot. Just got the head on now so sorting gearbox setting tomorrow. Wish me luck. Cheers
I would like to know, are you impressed with these royal Enfield machines because they really perform, they’ve caught up to the Japanese? or are you just celebrating the continuation of the name living on? Tradition?. history? I haven’t written one, but what I have been reading seems like, welcome to a little bit better than what was available in the 1970s now that they may or may not have fuel injection, better ignition systems, and they don’t have Lucas electric anymore. or are you excited because they are still living breathing things with the badge that says royal Enfield. I can dig it. I don’t know personally, but I think I would be very surprised if they were even equal to a 1980 CM 400 Honda twin in performance in power and handling and stopping and cornering, I would be surprised if they were even on the same lap after half an hour with an old RD 400 from the 70s.. we have the same fanatical following of Harley Davidson by the old timers. Since the tariff of the mid-1980s, new generations have just not been flocking to Harley Davidson, and as the old timers expire, Harleys loyal following is kicking the bucket had a pretty good clip.. I bet Harley regrets talking the president into imposing that 45% tariff on motorcycles back in the mid 80s, because the effects of that tariff are being realized today because. That shut a lot of new comers out of the market. For generations now. And a lot of those people would have been moving up to a Harley Davidson when they got older. I admit not all of them would be moving over to Harley., probably only a few hundred thousand of them…
That is easy for me to answer - and very quickly. I have no interest in modern machines, even RE machines for that matter. My business, Performance Classics, has a cut off date of 1980 to avoid all the stuff I have no interest in, although I have tuned some more recent RE singles. I am not a fan of the current RE machines, any more than I am a fan of the current Triumph offerings. I already own the bikes I want and have owned them for a long time. I don't want or need ABS, traction control, fuel injection etc, etc and pretty much every current machine just doesn't look 'right' to me. My money is safe as far as modern machines are concerned. The RE 250 seen in this video is not a recent one, coming from the mid to late 1960's.
![Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 [2023], czyli jedna z ciekawszych ofert w segmencie modern classic](/img/n.gif)
This is the best looking bike, ever. I remember when they were new! That dates me. If only RE India made a similar model.
Oh man that is a beautiful machine. I do own a Royal Enfield continental GT 535 model from 2016 currently. But I must say that those 250cc model were absolutely beast man.
Thank you!
I was priviliged enough to own one of these as my first bike back in 1972...a 6 year old beast that I so loved. The rear sets and the headstock was a big appeal- years ahead of its time!.
The cylinder head was held on by two internal bolts that you could never tighten enough to avoid oil leaks,,,so my lovely Royal Oilfield spectacularly spilled oil all over the crankcase, my legs and , interestingly, the back tyre. But the noise! And the 10.5 compression ratio....omg I loved that machine and so wish I had hung on to it.
Its braking from the single leading shoe left for a few ringpiece clenching moments! Lol. The fourth gear on the 5 gear box was all but useless- it missed almost every time and a certain amount of juggling was needed to find it or get past it quick to 5th. In the end I did a home transplant for the GT250 4 speed box which solved it- but as it didnt have a return spring, needed some shuffling of the gear lever at every change . But then, when you are just 18 these things didnt matter,
Being so into motor sport at the time I was tempted into into fitting a full red and white race fairing on it and it LOOKED spectacular! So much so that I was hunted down and someone offered me a daft price for it so I sold it to "move on" to a Yahama RD250. Bad move eh? Nice to have had the modern bike but omg in retrospect how I wish I had held onto the old beauty. HAP64D. Hopefully babe you are still with some loving owner...
What a great sound when the Conti is settled on the straight. Even though I'm nearly 73, I would love to own one of these machines. Perhaps one day I will hopefully, if I can find one before it's already sold. Fingers crossed.
If you appreciate the style of this lovely old British-made Conti 250, then you might do well to look into her modern Indian-made cousins. As you may already know, when India got its independence after the War, they ordered so many Royal Enfield Bullet singles for their military from the English company that they eventually went ahead and stuck a factory over there, where decade after decade they just kept making basically the same 1954 model 350cc and later 500cc singles long after the English company had gone out of business. The bikes quickly also caught on with the Indian public, where they're hugely popular, enjoying almost the same kind of "quasi-patriotic" appeal as Harleys in the USA. Well, about 2014, they began producing a cafe racer style 535cc model called the Continental GT using a newly-redesigned unit construction engine with electronic fuel injection, electric start, and other modern doodads as a sort of retro homage to the old British-made Continentals like Paul's been working on. These were basically a design intended to appeal to customers in their export markets like the USA, Europe and Australia. Thing is, in the past couple of years Royal Enfield has also come out with some other popular newer models like their Himalayan 441cc Adventure Bike and a 650 parallel twin that comes in two flavors, cafe or cruiser, very similar to and clearly meant to compete with Triumph's "retro" twins. These newer models have really stolen the thunder from their Conti model. This means that pretty great deals can be had on brand new 535cc Contis languishing on showroom floors. Factor in winter seasonality, and some pretty fantastic deals can be had, especially on Contis from previous years that have remained unsold. If you like this little 250 Continental, you might just like one of the newer thumpers. For more info on the breed, check out the 'Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum' at forum.classicmotorworks.com/,
It's no wonder kid's like me lusted over the GT's when they first came out, After being used to little Bantams, James and Fanny B's these little Firecrackers were a revelation! in looks as well as performance! No wonder so many different specials were built using the GT running gear, TriField was a popular one and I recently saw a RE GT ARROW! 250 Golden Arrow engine in a GT frame, looked and went very well. This one seems to have all the bugs ironed out, I just wish I was the lucky owner it was coming home to! Pure, green eyed jealousy!
You're right these were great bikes for the young 'Rocker' on his little Cafe Racer...factory built no less!. l owned an Ariel Arrow, stripped down with a tank seat combo plus the loudest expansion chambers you ever heard...A vortex of Castro R smoke following....It was great being a young teenager in the early, mid sixties, if a little expensive in excessive noise fines from the local constabulary...
@@brianperry I had an Arrow too but near enough standard. Mate had a FB with 2T engine he had proper race expansion chambers on too flat out it was great but at certain revs it was hard on the ears! Another of my mates raced a Velo 350, he visited two of the lads in hospital after a bus knocked them off, as he travelled down the town main street he had his right boot inside the short megaphone to try to quiet it down! Didn't work, just as well no plod about!!!
Great to see one of these again. I bought one in 1965; cost me 250 quid new. Sadly had to get rid of it in 1974. Big mistake doing that as was not buying a Gold Star a few years later; if only..........
God father of gt series
I had one of these in 1977 lot of fun could never get 5 gear for long it was all to do with selector adjustment it just wouldn’t stay put a lot of fiddling around it would be ok for 20 miles then you have to start again but l loved it great sound sold it for £50 and bought a Honda silly man l still ride a Norton single now l watch with great interest Paul keep up the good work Colin rashleigh cornwall
Thanks Colin. Funnily enough, I have some videos of a 5 speeder GT I restored a few years ago.
I'm an old man now but I remember when these bikes were the dogs bollocks
Excellent, well done in finding what the fault was, the bike sounds really good and another nice ride.
Thanks, Fergus!
Hi Paul. Thanks for taking me along . I understand that RE is coming out with a new 350 single called the Meteor. It will have a 6 speed gearbox. Sales will start in the Indian market. Honda will compete with its new CB 350 single. The Honda will have a 5 speed and be more expensive. Thanks again
Thanks for the info, Herman!
great series of video's Paul. Notice the 5 speed box on the test run and the slick gear change. Any chance you can do a vid of the setting up of the gear change mech. I have a 4 speed and about 6 neutrals. Cheers.
Hi Paul and thanks, you must be psychic! I am just in the process of adding a video I made today, discussing some of the 'issues' which can be found when setting up these gearboxes, and it may not go into great detail, but may be of some use to you. Watch this space, as they say!
@@paulhenshaw4514 cheers Paul. I would never have got around to extending the slot. Just got the head on now so sorting gearbox setting tomorrow. Wish me luck. Cheers
Good luck!
Lovely ❤️
Good job mate. Cheers.
Thanks, Shane!
I would like to know, are you impressed with these royal Enfield machines because they really perform, they’ve caught up to the Japanese? or are you just celebrating the continuation of the name living on? Tradition?. history?
I haven’t written one, but what I have been reading seems like, welcome to a little bit better than what was available in the 1970s now that they may or may not have fuel injection, better ignition systems, and they don’t have Lucas electric anymore.
or are you excited because they are still living breathing things with the badge that says royal Enfield. I can dig it.
I don’t know personally, but I think I would be very surprised if they were even equal to a 1980 CM 400 Honda twin in performance in power and handling and stopping and cornering, I would be surprised if they were even on the same lap after half an hour with an old RD 400 from the 70s..
we have the same fanatical following of Harley Davidson by the old timers. Since the tariff of the mid-1980s, new generations have just not been flocking to Harley Davidson, and as the old timers expire, Harleys loyal following is kicking the bucket had a pretty good clip.. I bet Harley regrets talking the president into imposing that 45% tariff on motorcycles back in the mid 80s, because the effects of that tariff are being realized today because. That shut a lot of new comers out of the market. For generations now. And a lot of those people would have been moving up to a Harley Davidson when they got older. I admit not all of them would be moving over to Harley., probably only a few hundred thousand of them…
That is easy for me to answer - and very quickly. I have no interest in modern machines, even RE machines for that matter. My business, Performance Classics, has a cut off date of 1980 to avoid all the stuff I have no interest in, although I have tuned some more recent RE singles. I am not a fan of the current RE machines, any more than I am a fan of the current Triumph offerings. I already own the bikes I want and have owned them for a long time. I don't want or need ABS, traction control, fuel injection etc, etc and pretty much every current machine just doesn't look 'right' to me. My money is safe as far as modern machines are concerned. The RE 250 seen in this video is not a recent one, coming from the mid to late 1960's.
Great ride, runs like a rabbit!
Thanks!
Why the 4 speed conversion? Boy, it sure sounds good.
Thanks, Charlie. Regarding the 4 speeder, the simple answer is - that's what the owner wanted, although the 5 speeders can be troublesome.
Nice
Not only did i have one but you live in my back yard
you de man
Thanks!
No break in before going that fast ?
No need to crawl and potter when running in - just keep the loads light and vary the engine speeds, making sure to never labour the engine.
Is this GT 250 Enfield is what kind of engine. Is this two stroke or four stroke.
Obviously it's a four stroke, cast iron engine.
Based on push-rod mechanism..
Fantastic British bike.
This is the original one of the 70's!
Please add english subtitles in your videos.
I think you can select subtitles as a viewer?
@@paulhenshaw4514 please put English subtitles in your videos i can't understand your voice. Please improve your voice quality.
@@rajwilliams3768open your ears
which country ...uk?
Yes, Wales, UK.
It's four stroke or two stroke bike 🏍️?
4 stroke.
How many km mileage per litre ⛽?
Approx 70 mpg.
@@paulhenshaw4514 i don't know this measure so tell how many Kilometre mileage per litre ⛽?
@@rajwilliams3768 I don't know those measurements, sorry.
@@paulhenshaw4514 ok
i had one of those and it used to rattle and loose bolts etc horrible worst bike ever
Can't have been put together or set up very well, then.
Binod