ROYAL ENFIELD CLIPPER BUYING GUIDE Worker’s playtime

NOT ALL MOTORCYCLES are glamorous. Some are just there to get the rider to their destination, cheaply and conveniently. Royal Enfield’s 250cc Clipper, launched in 1954, was purpose-built to fill that role. It used an old-fashioned engine with a cast iron barrel and cylinder head which was based heavily on RE’s rigid-framed 350cc Model G, which had decidedly prewar origins. To create the Clipper this engine was installed into a slightly smaller version of the first sprung Bullet frame introduced in 1949. The Clipper also used the gearbox from the Model G.

Using 1930s and wartime tech on the Clipper meant it would doggedly keep running, even when crudely maintained by backyard mechanics equipped with big hammers, military surplus spanners and a little skill.

The Clipper was extremely cheap, partly because RE were using up leftover and surplus Model G and Bullet parts. The Clipper got a coil and a points ignition set up, installed where the Lucas Magdyno used to fit on the Model G. A small Amal 276 carburettor contributed to impressive fuel economy, with the Clipper owner finding they could achieve 100mpg easily.

Compression was far from performance-enhancing, and Royal Enfield declined to say what it was in its publicity. It was estimated at 6.5:1, if that. The 250 also featured some modern attributes such as an air filter. An alternator was fitted