Traffic consists of trucks, camel or bullock drawn carts, elephants, cows wandering where they please, Indian built; Vespas, 125 Hondas, Yamahas etc., Morris Oxford copies with diesel engines, called Ambassadors, mostly used as taxis, 3 wheeled Vespa taxis, 3 wheeled Rickshaw ( peddle powered ) and pushies - all congest any town you come to. Whoever has the loudest horn and biggest vehicle gets right of way. The general rule is to drive on left side of road but going down one of the few 2 lane divided roads into Delhi, it was not uncommon to find someone going the wrong way on your side of the road.

India is a Third World Country. The more substantial houses are made of stone. We saw many old forts, temples - all intricately carved stone, marble. Most of the Maharajas forts have been turned into hotels, but still have perimeter stone walls and moats.

The standard of Indian wiring is amazing - no such thing as Earths. Plugs are rare - just poke a couple of wires into the power point - or better still attach to the live side of incoming mains before the fuses (cause they keep blowing).

BEER - this is one thing they do well in India. There are untold different brands - Bullet, Lightening, 5000, Thunderbolt etc. etc. Standard is 3-5%, Super is 8-15% alcohol. All taste good and are cheap @ 40-50 Rupees a 660 m. bottle (1 Aussie $ = 25 Rps.) However, a night on Super does leave one with a bit of a Headache in the morning! Speaking of beverages - another Indian drink is called a LASSIE - consists of yoghurt, banana, sugar, etc. - sort of a milkshake. At a restaurant in Pushkar (Holy City , therefore, no booze) there was on the menu a ‘SPECIAL LASSIE’ . The special ingredient was a certain ‘green herb’ - 20 minutes after drinking, I was FACED for about 12 hours! I was still stoned the next day till about lunchtime. This was the only time that riding the Enfield was enjoyable.

Fireworks can be purchased cheaply anywhere. So with a crate of beer and a crate of fireworks we had World War Three on a couple of occasions.

So what all this got to do with Easter next year? Well it just so happens that in Delhi there is this place that has about an acre of pre ’56 bikes - mostly English, some Harleys, even a 1500cc 4 cylinder Indian. Plus a warehouse full of new genuine and repro spares. If they haven’t got a second hand part, then they will have a new one either already made or will copy anything you want - they export all over the world including Australia. I have a catalogue - unfortunately without prices - but if anyone wants anything - when I get a bit of a list together I will fax them for prices. They have a lot of W.L.A., Norton, B.S.A., Matchless, Royal Enfield, Triumph ;

Engine spares, Tinware, Electrical - lights - generator armatures etc., stands, cables, rubbers, sprockets, clutch plates.

Unfortunately, I was limited by the amount of weight I could take on the plane but purchased a few things for my Triumph. Eg.; Set of clutch plates (new) $10,

Rear stand (original) $30, Rear number plate bracket and tail light (new) $15,

Throttle suit 1" Triumph handle bars (original) $15, Front number plate $2, Full set rubbers - footrest, pillion, gear, kick start $8. They did not have any mufflers worth getting. However, I could have bought 2 new Enfield mufflers for about $25 each, but thought better of it as size was probably wrong. If anyone has any suggestions for a pair of mufflers suit ’54 Rigid Triumph 1.75" dia. Header pipes let me know .

Otherwise, I think I have most parts I need to put the Triumph together. The only part I am having difficulty getting is a Round Tuit, and I suspect a few of you may also be looking for one of these - I hope we all can find one in time for Easter.