There’s been a slight ‘situation’ in our long-term test garage (okay, it’s not a real place, but you get what I mean) ever since the new Royal Enfield Classic 350 arrived. It’s lived briefly in each of our homes and, somehow, we’ve all barely ridden it. No, it’s not as if we aren’t fans of the J-series engine, or of its sublime mannerisms; we hogged our last J-engined Classic for, erm, three years, just so you know!
The problem is, none of us can bear to dirty it. The new Classic, you see, comes with so much and such impeccable chrome, I can’t bear to see it looking anything less than brand-new. Okay, so it has been on a couple of our Sunday morning breakfast runs and, at some point, it’s inevitable that it will take me and my worldly belongings to Goa, but I’m just not rushing it.
Also, I am a little tempted to take off the pillion paraphernalia (seat, grab rail, pegs), bolt on the ape hangers from the Goan and then park it permanently in my living room. With no luggage carrying capacity left, it’ll immediately be ruled out of all long-distance ride plans. And my living room will look significantly better as a result, at least for the next three years, right?
