Oct 12, 2006 02:49 PM
16719 Views
I have been watching this review page for a while now, and must say has been an inspiration of sorts for me to get my Enfield Fury restored and back to it's glory.
Like many Fury owners, my ownership of the bike also started with a lot of passion. I had been in love with the bike since I was in high school, after reading about it in "Car & Bike" magazine, which used to be the only decent auto publication in India at the time. In 1990, when I joined university, and got the much awaited go-ahead from my parents for a bike, I started a desperate hunt for the "Grand Prix". I had almost given up hope because the bike had already been out of production by then, and inspite of several pleading letters to Enfield and various Enfield dealers across South India, it seemed impossible to get one. Till one fateful day, I went along with a friend to buy a helmet to Coimbatore, and strolling along the streets, came across an Enfield dealership, and would you know it, a Blue/Gray Fury on display!!! I ran into the showroom, barged into the Manager's office, and paid an advance on the spot to book it. Didn't really need to, since the guy had been unsuccessfully trying to sell it for the last couple of months!
Inspite of all the typical problems the bike had with the gearbox, poor electricals, etc, I loved every minute of the bike. I had clocked just under 8,000 kms on it during the 8-9 months that I had it before I had to leave India and go to the US for my BS. The bike was put in the garage, and every holiday back I would longingly look at the bike, sitting in the corner under a tarp, hoping for the day when she would see sunlight again.
For 15 years she sat and waited, while I fought off requests and arguments of "Sell the damn thing", and "It's taking up space for nothing", etc, from near and dear. Till finally, this year, I have a work schedule that allowed me to devote some time to get her out of the garage, and start the restoration. I must say that I was very lucky in finding a talented and skillfull mechanic who did an excellent job. I had seen his work on a friend's RD350 and was impressed with the work.
The whole project took over 4 months, and is still a work in progress. Spares are non-existent, and it took me a whole day of searching through the junk market in Bangalore to find a spare engine/gearbox that I used to scavenge for parts. Tried to keep the bike as original looking as possible with no major body alterations. The only serious change was to scrap the 6V electrical system to a 12V system. Easier said than done. Took a lot of work, but managed to get a Suzuki Shogun coil and wiring system installed. Had to sacrifice original tachometer, but the Shogun tach does fit in the instrument pod without looking too bad. The often prone to breaking pushrod in the gearbox was replaced with a newly machined and hard chromed piece which makes the gears a little stickier than before, but way more durable. The gearshift linkages were also modified. The SNS suspension from Bajaj does a good job in the back, and the original front shocks are still going great. The Brembo caliper and disc were retained, thought the reservoir, levers and hose had to be changed.
I am posting some pictures of the bike. They are not the best pics, but I will try to do a better shoot once some of the little cosmetic tinkerings I am working on are done.
If any of you know of a place where I can get plastic chroming done, please guide me. The tank logo chroming has peeled and currently it's painted and stickered, but would really love to get the chrome back on.
Any suggestions or comments are welcome.
