Royal Enfield ad raises more questions than it answers

A Royal Enfield museum piece?

This blog lists used Royal Enfields for sale in the United States but it doesn't list them all.

I can't bring myself to list Royal Enfields that strike me as possibly incorrectly described by their sellers.

Now, I have no connection to any of the sellers, and can not vouch for any of them. But if you peruse the ads listed here you'll soon come to a realization that motorcycles that look as described and are priced as might be expected suggest that what you read is what you'll get.

On the other hand, a Royal Enfield Bullet that is described as vintage — as "one of the last English produced Enfields," for instance — raises suspicions when it carries a seat typical of Royal Enfields made in India.

My eyes open wider when the ad swears that this motorcycle has had "no restoration of any kind but it looks near new." This is especially true when one of the reasons it looks near new is that the paint appears fresh, shiny, and possibly not a factory color. No restoration of any kind?

Suspicions might increase further when that same "1968" Royal Enfield is described as having only "300 original miles!"

What has it been doing for the last 46 years? The ad helpfully explains: "This bike was in a climate controlled museum since new."

Why would a museum — any museum in the world — have added a then brand new motorcycle to its collection? Sure, it's possible, but is it likely? New speedometers with zero-mile odometer settings are easily fitted, a much more likely possibility.

Perhaps this seller is truthfully relating what he was told when he himself purchased the motorcycle. Perhaps he doesn't himself realize that the story seems unlikely.

Almost always the case with ads of this nature is that the asking price ($6,500 for this one) will be high — sometimes twice the asking price you see in other ads for Royal Enfields of the same engine capacity.

Royal Enfield Bullets are, after all, mass produced motorcycles, still in production. They shouldn't naturally become more valuable just because they are aging.

These extreme claims and high prices place a real burden of proof on these sellers. It is up to them to create ads that convince rather than raise questions.