I am sure Enfield Fury is a well known motorcycle among enthusiasts. But very few know the history behind its making. Before that we should know that Enfield India did nothing except assembling the bikes from CKD kits imported from Zundapp Germany after they closed down their factories in 1984.
Therefore, Enfield Fury is nothing but Zundapp Kardan Sport 175 ( KS175). Bikes post 1989 were built using certain parts sourced locally. Zundapp is a great name in Europe and is equally famous such as BMW. In fact, BMW was asked by the German govt during the 40’s and 50’s to manufacture bikes with license from Zundapp. This was after both the manufacturers were asked to build 800cc twins / fours military motorcycles with specifications provided by the govt. Later, in testing the govt found that Zundapp machines were far superior.
The Zundapp name has won more than 8000 medals in racing primarily in GPs and endurance races. During the 60’s it set 14 world records on 50cc machines reaching 162kmph for runs upto 1000kms. It dominated the ISDT (International Six Day Trials) and broke 650cc machines using 100cc bikes. The Fury’s engine is derived from these machines but detuned to a great extent. Imagine, 125cc engines produced 28bhp in the 70’s.
The KS 100/125/175 all share the same gearbox but in different capacities both air and liquid cooled. One great achievement to be noted is that the KS175(Enfield Fury) won the 1997 Iron B*** Rally (USA) being the smallest capacity and the only 2-stroke machine to enter the race. The others were all high capacity machines with 2,3 or 4 cylinders. The KS175 finished the race ahead of many high capacity machines. This race is open to all categories and should complete 17,000km in 11days. Amazingly, this race was finished on a 1973 KS175 by a German gentleman by the name Martin Hildebrandt without even a single stop caused by machine failure. Such is quality of the components on these bikes, typical German engineering.
Key features of the motorbike :
1. Mag wheels-The Originals made in Germany were far stronger and long lasting as compared to the Locally produced units in India which did duty on the GPX versions.
2. Disc brakes- a unheard on concept on bikes till the same was introduced.
3. Fairing- A mini fairing that provided more design than effective wind protection.
4. Electronic Ignition
5. Flasher Facility.
6. Induction Resonator-Used by all company learnt from the Fury-Some called it Powerbox etc..
It also introduced the Electronic Tachometer -which was also available with the RD350 i think in those days.
The gearbox was of the Pull-Cotter system very rarely used in the World. I think the Honda 50 cc from the 70’s were the only ones with it. It worked fine till you had to have the company mechanics tinker with it.
As i was located at Bangalore, i had the opportunity to meet a few good one’s and some really terrible guys who had no clue on the Gearbox. The lesson learnt was simple,Don’t try fixing it, until you find somone who really can. One mistake in aligning the Gear Rod and you could have a very expensive (RS 3000+in 1989)repair on your hands. Did take the company to task once and they did repair the same for free.
The electrical were of the 6V variety , though trouble free, the Battery charging unit was the only catch to an otherwise good system.A simple modification of using a car halogen-eg:12V-60/55 w on the headlamp unit provided much needed lighting for a fast bike.Also, truck drivers took heed , very quickly on the highways.
The Front Shock Absorbers were the best in the business, in those days they had the best damping and the longest Travel- i Doubt if they have been beaten till date..Poor quality on Oil seals in later models were a problem until you sourced similar size oil seals from other Bikes.
The Carburettor and the Induction resonator, were good, but the Bellows connection to the engine and to the Air filter were not really good. I managed to create a new manifold generated by bolting two 350 manifold in reverse and drilling a space for the Induction resonator pipe to resolve inlet manifold problems. Mounting the Metal plug for the resonator will araldite solved all issues.All this with help from my Mechanical friends at the garage.
If one went further, one could use the RD 350’s synthetic float against the fury’s Metal float and rid one of Punctured floats and fuel overflows faced by many.
One main reason for its failure in India was Enfield with its ill equipped staff and lack of proper after sales service. Parts were very expensive, for example the Fury’s tachometer(without speedo) which is digitally governed(first time in India) costed Rs.1800, the disc brake pads(Rs.600), the magneto coil from Bosch - Rs.3800 or the piston from Mahle - Rs.2000 (all in 1987).
Even today, even you cannot get the bike serviced at a roadside mechanic, it is totally different from Indo-Jap bikes. Unless, you know someone with a workshop manual, it is not advisable.
Even today, even you cannot get the bike serviced at a roadside mechanic, it is totally different from Indo-Jap bikes. Unless, you know someone with a workshop manual, it is not advisable.
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