A bird? A plane? It's Enfield's Superstar!

A rare Royal Enfield Superstar, up for auction.

 Few "special" Royal Enfield models get as many comments on my blog as the Bullet Superstar of the 1980s-1990s. 

There is just something special about finding an otherwise ordinary looking Royal Enfield Bullet with the attractions of a factory special. 

An instrument panel instead of a casquette! Fork gaiters! Shiny headlight bucket! And not much else. 

But there is no denying that, big deal or not, the Superstar was distinctive. 

Superstar console has no place for ignition key.

So I was surprised when a "1991 Royal Enfield Bullet 500" appeared in Car & Classic for auction in Leicestershire, United Kingdom. 

There was something unusual about it. It gradually dawned on me that I was looking at a Superstar, with its unusual instrument panel.

Car & Classic confirmed my guess that it is the rare model, but added no details.

The paint and bright work appear fresh. The ad includes images of paperwork for powder coating the frame and new tank badges.

So it is obvious that the motorcycle has been restored, perhaps so recently that some photos show the tail light assembly not yet mounted on the rear fender! I can't be sure how much we see is original.

Keyhole for ignition switch is on right side tool box, at left in photo.

The seller says it was used only for display, being started from time to time, and that the mileage shown is correct. Only 16,667.

The 500cc Superstar was available for at least part of the model's run, according to Roy Bacon's book "Royal Enfield, The Postwar Models" but others, perhaps most, would have been 350cc.

My previous blog items about the Superstar model have brought comments from those who want to find one to buy, and from those familiar with them who add information about the model.

One comment says the superstar was for export from India only, but some of the comments describe Superstars that are in India.

One comment was especially knowledgeable about that odd instrument panel:

"You may note that the instrument cluster of Superstar is same as that of 'Mini Bullet' aka Enfield 200 (200cc two-stroke) produced by Enfield India the late '80s. Not only cluster, but the head lamp assembly, steering triple clamp (top bridge), headlamp mounting bracket, instrument pod bracket etc. are all a direct lift from 200."

Well that's certainly in Royal Enfield's long tradition of mixing and matching parts to create unusual models. The suspicion exists that, at least in the days of production in Britain, models were created to use up supplies of oddball parts.

Whether or not that sort of scrounging is true of the Superstar, there's no denying that the result was a tasteful and attractive motorcycle.

Mini Bullet two-stroke provided the instrument panel.