Scram

More specifically, Royal Enfield’s Scram 411. A derivative of their popular Himalayan adventure bike, the Scram is designed for more urban riding and is pitched at the younger rider, but appears also to be appealing to older riders like me who might be looking for something a bit smaller and lighter..

Royal Enfield as a brand was never on my radar. For the past three decades, I’ve been riding BMW twins pretty much exclusively. The big boxers suited my needs and the RT version was ideal for both my work travelling about the country along with the luggage I needed to carry, as well as for long distance two-up trips with the late Mrs L.

Following her death and my retirement from railway work, the riding I do has changed. Over the past four years, I’ve been experimenting, starting with the Kawasaki Z900RS and subsequently a Yamaha MT09 Tracer and and Indian FTR1200. But I still had the R1250RT. This summer, it came to the end of the finance agreement. I had – well, have – plans to trade it for one of the new Moto Guzzi V100 Mandellos. The Guzzi being a bit lighter and slightly more sporty, so ideal as a crossover between leisure riding and the occasional longer distance haul. However, Guzzi have been somewhat tardy getting this to market and I doubt we will see it in showrooms much before next spring. I decided to sell the BMW anyway as I wanted to catch as much of its residual value as I could, but also as mentioned, I just wasn’t using it.

Then Enfield released the Scram 411. And I noticed. As petrol prices started going through the roof, a small low capacity machine that does 80+mpg, suddenly had some appeal. What if I sold the RT, bought one of these and later on sell the Kawasaki and the F900XR, so I end up with enough to finance the Guzzi when it finally arrives? In the meantime, I’ll have a small hack bike for training and local running about in the Scram.

I’m not surprised that it has had such good reviews – and it has. Okay, the odd criticism about its power output and the front brake being weak, but otherwise, pretty much consistent rave reviews. Royal Enfield upped their game this past few years and the Himalayan, which is what this machine is derived from has been a popular bike. So I decided to trade the BMW for this – coming away with a chunk of money in my pocket. How Enfield produce a bike of this quality for under five grand with a three year warranty is baffling when compared to the competition. Certainly the fit and finish is at least on a par with the Yamaha Tracer, while not being in quite the same league as the BMWs. But given the price point, bloody good.

I spent several hours waiting for the tracker to be successfully fitted and it niggled me a bit that this hadn’t been done during the week or so that the dealer had the bike prior to me picking it up. Had I not needed to do so, I’d have been home well before it started to rain. As it was, I caught it big time. But… There I was pootling down the A38 with a big grin on my face despite the inclement weather. On paper this bike  is nothing much. An air cooled single that puts out 24bhp. I’d just handed over a bike that puts out 136bhp. Yet… yet… this thing is seriously fun to ride. Despite running in, I was able to make reasonable progress and it got up to legal speeds pretty briskly while making that chuff, chuff, noise that only an air-cooled single can make. It reminded me of things long past – my old Ariel Red Hunter of my youth. Maybe that’s why I wanted one.

I spent the rest of the afternoon fitting the pannier frames – moderately easy – and the heated handlebar grips. Less easy. The originals had been welded on, so getting them off without destroying them was a non starter. Putting the new ones on was so, so, but they went on. Eventually. I put everything back together and the bike wouldn’t start and the battery light was flashing, but everything else checked out, so I spent several frustrating minutes checking my wiring. I had checked it once before taking the tank off and fitting the grips and it was all working. I took the tank off again and couldn’t find anything. That’s when I noticed the kill switch…

Since then, I’ve fitted the OEM touring mirrors. The originals work well enough, but I don’t like the position. I prefer them lower down. I have also ordered a set of adjustable levers. The clutch is a bit of a stretch. On all of my other bikes I can get the first knuckle joint fully over the lever before the pull. On this one, it’s only the pads of my fingertips. As Hitchcocks provide adjustable ones for a reasonable price, I’ve placed an order. Forty quid and ten minutes to fit, so worth it for the comfort factor.

All in all, five days later, I’m loving it. You can have a lot of fun at legal speeds and when training with the big bikes, it will stay with them easily enough. So, no, not underpowered and the front brake works just fine, so no complaints there, either.