Royal Enfield Bullet 350 1977-1989 Service Manual

The Vintagent's own retelling captures the genuine oddity of this story: by the 1970s, Enfield of India had made almost no changes to the Bullet since the 1950s — same 350cc pushrod single, same separate four-speed gearbox, same drum brakes and six-volt electrics Royal Enfield had offered back in 1954. UK Laverda importer Slater Brothers spotted a business opportunity in that stubborn consistency and began importing Indian-built Bullets back into Britain in 1977, marketing them plainly as being "for the more mature type of rider" — a genuinely bold pitch in a market dominated by Kawasaki Z1000s and Honda CB900s.

Power comes from a 346cc air-cooled OHV single with a cast-iron barrel and cylinder head, run through a separate four-speed Albion gearbox with right-foot gear change and a neutral finder lever operable from second, third, and fourth gears — a genuinely archaic arrangement even by 1977 standards, since most contemporary motorcycles had long since integrated the gearbox into the engine casing. Genuine year-by-year refinements did happen across this run, if modestly: 1984 brought a four-plate rectifier replacing the older eight-plate unit and chrome-plated tappet chest covers; 1985 added trafficators (turn signals) working off the bike's 6-volt system; 1986 finally brought 12-volt electrics; and 1987 saw the Mikarb carburetor replace the older Bing unit, alongside a longer silencer shared with the export 500cc models.

1988 brought a genuinely significant addition: an export-only 500cc Bullet variant (very few built that year), before the 1989 500 arrived in earnest across Classic, Deluxe, and Superstar trims, sharing its chassis, four-speed gearbox, and cycle parts directly with the 350. The Bullet's old-fashioned separate gearbox design — while a genuine anachronism by the late '80s — had one practical upside noted by later enthusiasts: it made fitting alternate powerplants (including, eventually, a factory diesel variant in 1993) considerably easier than on bikes with integrated transmissions. Throughout this era, the Bullet retained its centre-spring girder-inspired rigid-look rear end and sprung solo seat, genuine mechanical simplicity that meant most owners could service the bike entirely themselves.