BIG-HEAD BULLETS

Last year (back in RC173) I related my experiences with the Royal Enfield Fury Scrambler, a machine based on the 500 big-head Bullet and a competitor for BSA’s Gold Star. This time I am looking at the ‘ordinary’, roadgoing 500 Bullet of the same time. It was also fitted with the bighead for the last couple of years of production. The Bullet version used the same valves as the Fury, as well as those huge rockers which look like something from the Caterpillar Tractor Co, but with a much smaller inlet port and an Amal 389 Monobloc rather than the huge 1½” GP carb on the competition machine. The Bullet’s power was only a couple of horses up on the earlier, ‘ordinary’ head at 27bhp over 25, but there was plenty of potential built in for those who wished to exploit it...

The big-head Bullets I’ve worked on and ridden recently were both in standard condition and state of tune, although the two ‘identical’ machines were quite different in their details. One was a rebuilt bike but the first was an original, unrestored example in fair cosmetic condition – how I like my machines. It came to me with reported mechanical noises, misfiring and starting difficulties, especially when hot. This turned out to be a loose, factory-fitted connector on the live wire going into the ignition switch. The fault took some tracking down as it looked fine and was only eventually found