How does Inder trailer compare to the PAV original?

It's difficult to make a direct comparison between the original PAV 40 trailers of the 1960s and '70s and the modern day Inder trailer sold for Royal Enfield motorcycles.

Why even bother comparing them, when you would have to look long and hard to find a PAV for sale in the United States, and even then you might have a restoration project on your hands?

In contrast, just have your credit card ready when you order an Inder trailer from Royal Enfield USA, and it comes complete with the hardware you need to attach it to your Royal Enfield Bullet.

Why compare them? You may as well ask why blogs exist. To make you crazy, of course! Look, at least this isn't a blog about the World Series history of the Chicago Cubs.

The manufacturer's production plate shown here is from the excellent website SingleWheel.com

PAV 41 production plate.

Translated from Czech, it includes this information:

Establishment of local industry Kovozavody
Made in Semily, Czechoslovakia
Type: PAV 41
Useful Load: 30 kg 
Max. Speed: 70 kmph 
Max. Weight: 49 kg 
Production Year: 1972

A chart containing the PAV specifications I was able to find around the Internet raises questions about how the measuring was done (or, perhaps, it raises questions about how accurate were my conversions from Metric to 'Merican). The figures here for the Inder trailer were provided by Er.Jatinder Singh of Inder Exports.

	PAV 40	Inder
Total length	47.7 inches	52 inches
Total width	24.4 inches	28 inches
Total height	23.6 inches	31 inches
Curb weight	44 pounds	77 pounds
Useful load	66 pounds	Not given
Total weight	110 pounds	Not given
Load space	3.8 cubic feet	3.6 cubic feet
Max. speed	43.5 mph	Not given

 Obviously, the total height and curb weights indicated here are probably apples-to-oranges somehow.

The trailers are substantially the same otherwise. Note that the load volume figures are essentially the same. Royal Enfield USA only advertises "nearly two cubic feet" of space for the Inder trailer, but Inder itself claims a PAV-like three-and-a-half.

Trolling for information I came across some interesting tidbits, many from the well done Swedish website for the PAV. For instance:

1. The PAV motorcycle trailer arose to meet the needs of holiday travelers in a Communist country in which private cars were out of reach for most people. Small capacity motorcycles and scooters were easier to obtain, but would have been overburdened with heavy luggage.

2. From 1959 to 1968 there were two adjustable springs on the bottom of the trailer, providing suspension. From 1969 they were replaced with two rubber cushions (the Inder trailer seems to use a single large rubber cushion).

3. Early lids were loose. They were got a hinge in about 1969. It's fairly simple to add hinges to the old lids.

4. PAV is correctly "PAv" but the lowercase "v" is hardly ever used in discussing the trailers. PAV is pronounced "paff."

5. Trailers were made in the mid-to-late '50s in Czechoslovakia that predated the PAV 40 design. The PAV 40 debuted in 1958 or '59. At some point the PAV 41 replaced the PAV 40 and production continued into the 1970s.

6. The PAV is not the only way to build a motorcycle trailer, maybe not even the best. This Czech language site has many fascinating pictures of old single and double-wheeled motorcycle trailers, some with elaborate swinging arm suspensions.