Real Royal Enfield Constellation in painting still exists

Ian Cater's painting of a Royal Enfield Constellation.

My recent blog post about artist Ian Cater's new painting of a Royal Enfield Constellation speeding into the evening light brought instant recollection for reader Julien Audor of Austria.

He believes he owns the motorcycle shown in the painting!

Cater had told me he based his painting on a photo he'd seen of "a guy belting a Constellation along... I just tried to give it as much impression of movement and speed as I could."

Audor not only has the motorcycle, he also got hold of photos of it as it looked in a magazine story. He emailed them to me, writing:

Royal Enfield Constellation
on 1998 CBG cover.

"I am the present owner of the bike painted by Ian Cater. I bought it in England four years ago and one of the former owners told me that it had been featured in a magazine (Classic Bike Guide, Issue No. 85, May 1998). The front picture is the one used by the artist as basis for his painting. The same pictures are also shown in a book 'The History of British Bikes' by Roland Brown in 1999...

"This Connie was dispatched in May, 1960 to Walton & Coombes of Altrincham and it still has matching engine and frame. Registration shows 1964 which is mysterious..."

Audor would like to know more about his Constellation. Its registration number back in the day was LKE274B .

"In case someone can help tracking the bike's history I would be delighted!" You can write him at julien.audor@gmail.com

Julien Audor's Royal Enfield Constellation as it looks today.

The Royal Enfield Constellation is still undergoing restoration.

As for the original photograph on Page 63 of "The History of British Bikes," it's credited in the book to "Phil Masters/Roland Brown." The book has several similar shots of this same rider posing aboard different British motorcycles.

I wrote to both men at addresses I found online, hoping to ask for more information about the photo shoot that day and the motorcycle, but there has been no reply.