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| Engine type: | ohv twin-port single four-stroke |
| Displacement: | 499cc |
| Bore x stroke: | 84mm x 90mm |
| Compression ratio: | 5.5:1 |
| Carburation: | 11⁄16in Amal |
| Claimed power: | 21bhp |
| Transmission: | four speed |
| Electrics: | 6v dynamo |
| Frame: | rigid |
| Suspension: | telescopic front, rear n/a |
| Brakes: | 6 x 1in front and rear |
| Tyres: | 3.25 x 19in front, 3.50 x 19in rear |
| Wheelbase: | 53.5in |
| Seat height: | 29in |
| Fuel capacity: | 23⁄4gal |
| Weight: | 358lb |
On April 10 2004 a colleague of mine put my attention to an internet ad for a Royal Enfield 500cc J of 1948. After a couple of e-mails this resulted in the acquiring of this splendid model on the 18th of April. The only thing I know by now is that the bike came from Argentina in 2003 with a load of antique motorcycles like Harley Davidsons, Indians and Nortons.
On the front mudguard is a sticker from an Argentinean classic bike club. No further information came from there.
The bike seems for most part original, but there are some things not good. Like the rear mudguard is shortened, the front brake plate is original but fits badly, the rear break plate has been welded, parts of the dynamo are missing and everything, the chromium and allu parts excluded, is in Argentinean fire engine red.
So again I am looking forward to lots of joyous spannering and perhaps spraying.
Dating by the Royal Enfield Owners Club resulted in it being a standard model J2 dispatched on December 31 1948 to Samportex of London. A connection in the ledgers connects Samportex with the Buenos Aires Royal Enfield importer of that periode Casa Iturrat. According to the ledgers owned by the Royal Enfield Owners Club a total of 706 J2's were dispatched to Samportex. My Argentinean connections confirm this and declare that in the years after the war there was a lot of immigration from European countries and there were a lot of Royal Enfield imported.
Any information on this bike or this model is welcome, including pictures. You will find pictures of my Red Argentina in the folder J2-Argentina.
In 2022 the red Argentinian J2 was sold back to England.
In May 2008 I bought another J2. This one was partly restored, but still needed a lot of work. The good news is that it has a Dutch registration. Since 2012 te bike is back on the road, although some things needed to be straitend out. Dating by the REOC learned that this was also a standard model J2 but dispatched on December 23 1948 to the Dutch Royal Enfield importer R.S. Stokvis of Rotterdam (the same one who just before the war arranged for Royal Enfield to copy the DKW RT98 and create the Royal Baby, which later became the Flying Flea.)
In 2013 I acquired a Canterbury sidecar frame with wheel. I constructed a wooden box with the British Milking Board in mind who used J's with box sidecars. A friend of mine mounted the sidecar frame to the J2 and together we bolted the box on the frame. I never rode a combination before and I can tell you, it's quit different than riding a solo bike. But fun, lots of fun.
See pictures of the Black Jay above.
