1958 Royal Enfield Zephyr

[Tony Raynor]

Just finished restoring this little gem. All original apart from the new brake cables, inner tubes and tyres. Only bad point was the broken end on the rear mudguard.

 

[roadrash]

now THAT IS NICE....

 

[raleighnut]

Really nice job Tony, whats the saddle? a severely chopped B17n with a cross rivet? It has the look of a Swallow but I don't think they ever came with saddlebag mounts and they didn't have a central rivet they had a plate holding the sides together ( If all the blurb surrounding the limited edition re-issue Swallow I paid for is to be believed, but then they went and made another 999 black ones 2yrs later and now they are back in the line-up. Still, I have one of the first numbered/certificated ones and it gets ridden) BTW, the Swallow was based on the B17 and its closest relative is the narrow version in terms of feel/width .

 

[Tony Raynor]

I think it is a lycette swallow, but I'd need to check and the bike.

Checking the 1958 catalogue then yes it's a L15 swallow

http://veterancycleclublibrary.org.uk/ncl/pics/Royal Enfield catalogue 1958 (V-CC Library).pdf

Oh and it is extremely comfortable. Still need to do a little work on the saddle buts it's come up nice compared to what it was.

 

[raleighnut]

Different to my 2005 Limited Edition one which has a plate underneath that joins the sides together and is skived away then stitched along the bottom edge.
This was allegedly (according to Brooks) a "faithful reproduction" of the original Swallow from the 30s so it seems that they changed the construction quite a bit as John the Canuck also has a vintage B15 from the 50s that is totally different in construction to either of ours.
Mind you they now make standard/stock versions of the Swallow with either Steel or Titanium rails but still have a few of the 2007 black LE versions listed at FIVE HUNDRED AND NINETY Euros on their own website. (you do get a certificate of authenticity that links via a serial No with them though)
BTW I took a very deep breath and paid just over £200 for mine thinking it would be the Swallows last incarnation.

 

[Keith Oates]

That is a restoration to be proud of, one of the best ones I,'ve seen.

 

[slowmotion]

Lovely bike. Well done.

 

[dan_bo]

Fantastic. How does it ride?

 

[Tony Raynor]

I'm not a great cyclist so I'll wait to report when my son has given it a ride around (I'm just the grease monkey).

 

[John the Canuck]

very nice indeed

is that saddle comfortable ..?
here's my B15 that Ian refers to.............currently undergoing reproofing
off a 1950s Carlton i'm told