Royal Enfield recalls some reflectors

Royal Enfield INT 650 tail light with reflector at center. It may or may not be included in recall.

 Reflectors, those little lenses that glow when the headlights of other vehicles strike them, intrigue me. 

So it was interesting to read that Royal Enfield is recalling motorcycles it made from November 2022 to March 2023 to bring their legally required reflectors up to worldwide standards. 

The recall will be rolled out in India, Brazil, Latin America, Europe, the UK, South Korea, Canada and the U.S. 

Fortunately, for owners of affected motorcycles, they're looking at an easy, free fix that might take only 15 minutes at a dealership. 

What really interests me is not what the reflectors do, but how they look. These little ruby lenses have always struck me as part of the "jewelry" on motorcycles, and I like to see how manufacturers through the ages have found places to position them. 

I've blogged about the different solutions I noticed at a motorcycle show.

Accessory reflector on a vintage Royal Enfield. Nice touch.

It's not necessarily easy to find a spot on a motorcycle to put a reflector.

I know: because my then-new 1999 Royal Enfield Bullet came with its five stick-on reflectors unapplied. I had to experiment for some time to find where they were meant to go. It just didn't seem to have enough flat surfaces!

A small matter, you might say. But ways of providing reflection for safety were the subject of experimentation in the early days of motorcycling.

In Britain the lower part of the rear fender was painted white on the motorcycles of "learners" as the mandatory red "L" must be displayed on a white background.

In 1935, it was Royal Enfield's policy to paint a small white triangle on the rear fender of its bicycles to add reflectance.

Tiny white triangle was a safety measure in 1935.

I'm unsure what U.S. regulations Royal Enfield's modern reflectors may have violated. The Code of Federal Regulations Standard 108 is lengthy and complex on the subject of lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment.

Motorcycles in the U.S. are required to have three red and two amber "reflex reflectors." One red is to be used facing to the rear, one red on each side at the rear of the motorcycle, and one amber on each side at the front of the motorcycle.

Reflective, adhesive-backed tape may be used, if it meets standards. Here's a sample of those standards:

"Each red reflex reflector shall also provide, at an observation angle of 0.2 degree, not less than 300 millicandelas/lux at any light entrance angle between 30 degrees left and 30 degrees right, including an entrance angle of 0 degree, and not less than 75 millicandelas/lux at any light entrance angle between 45 degrees left and 45 degrees right.

"Each reflex reflector must be designed to conform to the performance requirements of the vibration test, moisture test, dust test, and corrosion test, and the color test and plastic optical material test.

"The exposed surface of each reflex reflector shall be marked with the letters DOT-C which constitutes a certification that the reflector conforms to all applicable requirements... The certification shall be not less than 3mm high, and permanently stamped, etched, molded or printed in indelible ink."

All well and good, but how much good do reflectors really do? Compared to the elaborate lighting systems on motor vehicles today, perhaps not much, practically speaking.

But I think they can be attractive cosmetically. When I speak of reflectors as motorcycle "jewelry," I am thinking of the Lucas style round reflectors, like those available from Hitchcocks Motorcycles.

Hitchcocks listing for vintage rear reflector.

Dating a very old Royal Enfield bicycle

This was one smart looking bicycle.

 An attractive and interesting looking Royal Enfield bicycle, obviously old, was recently identified by an archivist at the Royal Enfield Owners Club (UK). 

The bicycle's buyer, João, found it in Portugal, but he didn't seem to know a lot about it. 

He knew it was English, and thought it might be from the 1940s. But the maker's badge on the headstock had worn off. 

He certainly realized the bicycle was a Royal Enfield product because of the chainwheel's artillery-piece motif. It's the unmistakable visual expression of Royal Enfield's longtime motto, "Made Like a Gun." 

Royal Enfield produced bicycles in Redditch, England, long before it made motorcycles. The first "Enfield" bicycles appeared in 1892 and "proved an instant success," according to Peter Miller's book "Royal Enfield, The Early History." 

The "Enfield" name was inspired by the fact that the factory had completed a contract supplying firearm components to the Royal Small Arms factory in Enfield, England.

The company quickly plucked the "Royal" name as well, and its bicycles became "Royal Enfields."

João emailed me asking for information about his bicycle.

His Royal Enfield looked to me to resemble a Royal Enfield bicycle of the 1930s. The intriguing "can" on the front hub was a drum brake, I thought, although this seemed odd as there was a front caliper brake as well.

Only the outlines of the head badge remained.

I ran through the Internet looking for vintage bicycle head badges that might resemble, in outline, the worn remains of the logo on the bicycle.

I could see the faint remains of a crown and shield, typical of Royal Enfield bicycles of the period, but found nothing that exactly matched images on the Internet.

Worse, I found that many English bicycle makers of the day used a crown motif as part of their badges.

This was even the case for Canterbury Cross bicycles, for a time a lower-priced sub brand of Royal Enfield. Some Canterbury Cross bicycles made by Royal Enfield had even used the distinctive cannon chainwheel design! Confusion.

Fortunately, some real experts were about to weigh in.

João sent photos of his bicycle to the historian at the National Cycle Museum in the UK. The response was helpful, but there was a problem:

"Royal Enfield  bicycles were made in Redditch in England for almost one hundred years and had a reputation for quality and solid reliability... Unfortunately, they also had a reputation for poor record keeping so it is always very difficult to find accurate information on dates, models of machines and so on. I have been unable to find a record of your frame number."

I decided to try sending the photos to the Royal Enfield Owner's Club. Its members mostly own Royal Enfield motorcycles today, but the club has taken Royal Enfield bicycles under its wing, too.

Club member, and bicycle and motorcycle enthusiast Richard Miller recently undertook collecting information about pedal powered Royal Enfields on the website Royal Enfield Bicycles.

Richard is the son of Peter Miller, the late author of "The Early History."

Thankfully Richard found a period catalog illustration that seems to show this  bicycle.

"I am the bicycle archivist for the Royal Enfield Owners Club in the UK," he wrote.

"Your cycle looks to be a nice find and is in good original condition. It is a Model E Deluxe; below is a picture from the 1938 catalogue. As far as I know this model was not produced after the War so it should date from the mid to late thirties."

I think we have a winner.

I was floored to see that the illustration even included the front drum brake, and the advertising copy boasted of "internal expanding brakes" as a selling point.

Richard's website is still a work in progress, and it asks for your help:

"If you have a picture of your Royal Enfield bicycle that you would be willing to submit and published in a gallery please do so via the contacts page.

"Your help with building up the serial number database would be very much appreciated – to assist please send in the serial number of your Royal Enfield bicycle along with (if known) the year of manufacture or model name or photo (or all three if you are feeling particularly helpful!). The contact details link is on the top navigation bar.

"Early Royal Enfield had their frame number on the lower front part of the steerer tube or in some cases on the right side rear drop out; after that it moved to the left hand top of the seat tube. Some sporting models have their frame number on the left hand rear drop out."

And, finally, it has one piece of advice many will appreciate:

"If you have a Royal Enfield fitted with its original three speed Sturmey Archer hub you are in luck – Sturmey hubs are normally stamped with a month and year code."

STOP praising motorcycles, OK?

"The Rider" is a new film with an old mission: Explain motorcycles. 

If motorcycle riding is so great, why do we need to keep saying so?

If motorcycles are so great, it ought to be self evident, right?

I'm as guilty as anybody. I love riding my old Royal Enfield, and everyone I know is tired of hearing me say it.

Maybe it's time to just let it go. It's getting a little old.

And yet, excruciatingly, there's now a NEW way of praising motorcycles:

Step One: Admit they're a terrible thing, and people are crazy to ride them.

Step Two: Argue that the fact people still adore them proves they are, despite all evidence, fantastic.

Gimmie a break.

What finally broke me down is encountering the short film "The Rider" on The Vintagent website.

You can watch it there.

The film opens with director Roberto Serrini musing that "motorcycles are the worst."

They're murderous.

"I can't think of another vehicle in which YOU are the fuselage," Serrini says.

"They're horrible, horrible machines. So...why?" he asks.

Why ride them? Why praise them?

The film's full title is "The Rider; Not WHO, but WHY?"

The film goes on to present testimony from adoring BMW riders about how superb riding is.

It's "presented by BMW," on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. The film tries to soft-pedal the brand message in favor of letting selected riders explain why they ride.

Other motorcycles are mentioned, but there is no doubt left that BMWs are special.

The specific reasons the featured riders give for riding motorcycles break little new ground. But "The Rider" is a fun, funny, gorgeously shot short film. You'll enjoy it.

One of the reasons you will enjoy it is that, having read this far, you obviously think motorcycles are marvelous.

OF COURSE they are.

"The Rider" doesn't cheat us. It answers the question "why" with one phrase: "Persuit of absolute perfection."

Yeah. It's spelled, on screen, as "persuit" instead of "pursuit." I don't know why.

Give it a watch.