Royal Enfeild - information required

Hi Everybody

Just recently I was able to re aquire a bike I owned several years ago which is a Royal Enfeild. When I discovered the bike it was painted gloss black and had been in a crash and the front forks were beyond use. So with some searching I finally found a set of 27" forks with a long enough steerer tube to fit and repainted the bike navy blue with off white lugs. The bike is currently in New Zealand and will be stripped of all parts and repainted gloss black and finished with water slide Royal Enfeild transfers avaiable from the UK.

Here is a few details on the bike

27" x 1 1/4 wheels, Benelux MK7 rear gear - 5 speed, Benelux cable control front changer circa 1962 ? Double chain ring front crank set with unique oval pattern - brand unknown , Brass Royal Enfeild head badge which says made in Redditch England.

If anybody can shed some light on what model this bike is e.g Bullet , Firefly etc that would be a great help in restoring it & I'm also on the lookout for the following parts - British made of course

Matching brakes
Chrome brake levers
Rat trap pedals as per above photo or similar pattern circa 1960s

If you can help please post a comment

Cheers Don

Vintage bicycle spotting

Just last Sunday my wife & I went for a drive to the resort town of Karuizawa which is located on the border of Nagano & Guma ken. It's full of trendy shops selling clothes, and souvenirs etc. But as we were walking along the street I spotted the bicycle pictured above which had a pressed steel rack fitted to the bars which I hadn't seen before. It looks like it was an old post office delivery bicycle that had been repainted for display, anyhow at least people get to see it rather than it rusting away behind someones shed

Restored Optimus 8R

In my last post I talked about the trad camping cooker I was given and today I put it back together after stripping & re painting it etc. I decided in the end not to add a clip on the lid for the spanner but I have added some tin foil to the base to protect the new paint once it's fired up as I read on another blog that it was a good idea to protect the new paint from getting damaged. I think the royal blue and polished brass looks quite nice together and as soon as I get the chance I hope to use it while out cycling for a brew up etc. 

Pictured above are two photos of the restored cooker

A new camp stove - Optimus 8R

For followers of this blog you may recall a long time ago I was looking at buying a camp stove , well I never ended up buying one at that time and just last Sunday I received from my good friend Minagawa san a fantastic optimus 8R gasoline stove . Today I pulled it apart and cleaned the brass fittings up and as I'm not to keen on the light blue paint , I've decided to repaint it a different color and add a clip to the lid for holding the Optimus spanner.  In Japan you can buy white gasoline from outdoor shops and large sporting goods stores so at a later date I'll purchase some and test it out. Also I think I may have also located a set of square alloy mess tins which would contain the stove inside it's metal box so as not to take up too much room in my saddle bag. Once restored the above cooker should be perfect for brew up while on a run in the countryside.