British Enduro

Did Triumph/BSA/ etc ever make an enduro that can be found over here for cheap?

Old or new?

In reply to EvanB:

Old. Like 80s or older.

BSA and Triumph both made scramblers but they usually aren't cheap in running condition. I haven't found any British bikes for cheap (<$2000).

What Evan said. They made'm, but you won't find one cheap.

Damn. That is about what I figured though.

The last offroad bikes from Triumph or BSA were built about 1973. BSA folded altogether at that time, and Triumph moved to making street bikes only.

A friend just bought a '72 or '73 BSA 441cc Victor off Craigslist for $400, it's missing a few parts but is definitely restorable. However, that's the exception to the rule, as mentioned they usually go for a lot more than that.

Were there any companies other then BSA or Triumph building enduros in England?

There were a number of them up through the 1960s - Royal Enfield, AJS, and Matchless made offroad bikes, and there were smaller companies that mostly sold two stroke dirt bikes like Dot, Cotton and Greeves. There were also firms like Rickman that sold frames and running gear that you could mate up with engines from Triumphs or one of the other major manufacturers.

Not from England but have you looked at Bultaco? I have found more cheap ones than BSA or Triumph.

Not really. What other European manufacturers had enduros? Bultaco, Montesa, Husqvarna, KTM...

93EXCivic wrote: What other European manufacturers had enduros?

At one time or another most of them built offroad bikes. Here's a list of motorcycle manufacturers around the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motorcycle_manufacturers

I don't know whether this is remotely helpful, but if it helps your search, the term you're probably looking for in this era of bikes is "scrambler" rather than "enduro".

OTOH, it's not like there are so many old bikes on eBay or CL that you're inundated and needing to filter...

EDIT: That's probably more true of the '60s-'70s British stuff; if you are expanding into the '80s then "enduro" does probably apply more often... Anyhow, I'm no expert on the topic.

I read about an enduro which used an italian made frame and triumph inline engine. Guess stuff like that is pretty costly. If you really want a british enduro I'd keep an eye out for parts and build your own.

I actually saw an old dude riding a funky old triumph the other day, you don't see many.

I would love something like this. Probably easier to buy a old triumph street bike and convert it to look like a scrambler.

did the motor have a different firing pattern like the modern bonnie and scramblers do?

I've been keeping my eye on this, it looks way cheap for such good condition. I'm sure it will shoot up at the end.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Bultaco-250-Alpina-/330931628038?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item4d0d0fe806

EvanB wrote: I've been keeping my eye on this, it looks way cheap for such good condition. I'm sure it will shoot up at the end. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Bultaco-250-Alpina-/330931628038?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item4d0d0fe806

It ended at $827.

If I had a way to get it home I would have definitely bought it and picked it up this weekend.

93EXCivic wrote:

EvanB wrote: I've been keeping my eye on this, it looks way cheap for such good condition. I'm sure it will shoot up at the end. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Bultaco-250-Alpina-/330931628038?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item4d0d0fe806

It ended at $827.

That was a great deal.

There were 250cc enduro types, but they didn't put out much HP. While the thought of a Brit bike is cool, pretty much any Jap bike will beat the socks off of it.

spitfirebill wrote: There were 250cc enduro types, but they didn't put out much HP. While the thought of a Brit bike is cool, pretty much any Jap bike will beat the socks off of it.

Yeah, but that can not be the point. You don't look at a 1980 or older brit bike for performance reasons when a $1500 beater XR400 will smoke it in any category.

New royal enfield?

In reply to Spinout007:

Also not cheap, you could get a decent BSA or Triumph for less.

Rusnak_322 wrote:

spitfirebill wrote: There were 250cc enduro types, but they didn't put out much HP. While the thought of a Brit bike is cool, pretty much any Jap bike will beat the socks off of it.

Yeah, but that can not be the point. You don't look at a 1980 or older brit bike for performance reasons when a $1500 beater XR400 will smoke it in any category.

Yeah. I just like those old bikes.

93EXCivic wrote:

Rusnak_322 wrote:

spitfirebill wrote: There were 250cc enduro types, but they didn't put out much HP. While the thought of a Brit bike is cool, pretty much any Jap bike will beat the socks off of it.

Yeah, but that can not be the point. You don't look at a 1980 or older brit bike for performance reasons when a $1500 beater XR400 will smoke it in any category.

Yeah. I just like those old bikes.

Misery loves company.

When I lived in AL in the early 80s, there was an old fellow in Opelika that ahd a bike shop that would sell me a rebuilt BSA or Triumph twin for $800, and he provided the bike. Now he didn't do any painting and let you know that up front and again. Just one more thing I did not do that I should have.