AJS Regal Raptor DD100E

The spirit of the Seventies lives on, in the shape of this funkadelic little chopper from China, imported into the UK by AJS Motorcycles, down in Hampshire. If you’re a novice biker keen to make a bold statement, or want a fun paddock bike for your race team, the Regal Raptor could be the coolest thing on wheels.

Alastair Walker got his disco flares, medallion and chest wig on and invited random passers-by to rave on.

You only get drum brakes on this bike, which are OK, but felt spongy when applied at 60mph, although to be fair, the bike on test had just 30 miles on the clock and needed some further running in. The `dash’ is basic, with a single, white-faced clock, giving speed, mileage, and a few warning lights. Modern switchgear features indicators, headlamp flash, horn and an electric start button. Starting was good and the choke lever on the carb could be knocked off about 30 seconds after firing the engine.

The engine looks - and sounds - very similar to the early Honda C90 step-thru machines, with a buzziness at speed and no distinct power band. It simply chugs along, sipping fuel and gradually reaching whatever top speed it feels like achieving on a given section of tarmac. Could be 40mph uphill, could be 65mph down a long hill....it really doesn’t matter what the rider decides. AJS had fitted a different sprocket to give it slightly more top speed and less acceleration, but I thought it was OK in town traffic, which where any sane person would ride the Raptor, if only for the attention from strange women.

Let’s face it, it’s not every day you get the chance to ask random ladies in Andover if they feel like `A ride on my small chopper baby?’ which is all the excuse I need to commute on something like this.

It’s Just a Lurve Machine Baby

To be honest, there are a dozen other 100-125cc sized bikes which can commute better than this, even at about £1500 brand new, but that isn’t why you would buy this bike. I mean nobody, young or old, can resist reacting to it as you cruise by, or park up. People stare, whistle at you, or shake their head in disbelief at the sheer funky style of the thing.

The Regal Raptor is like a Harley-Davidson, it goes beyond being a simple motorcycle, a means of transport. Instead, it becomes a piece of lifestyle on wheels. You find yourself acting a role on a motorcycle like this, cracking jokes, looking at the world in a different light.

I haven’t had fun like this on a bike for ages, which was partly due to the unfeasibly warm weather, but also the way that strangers couldn’t help being stopped in their tracks, 4X4 drivers stopped to let me through and even the traffic wardens nodded approval when I parked illegally outside Andover’s town hall.

There’s no denying that this bike is a toy, to be used sparingly on high days and holidays, but then so is a Honda Fireblade, or a Yamaha Fazer to many an modern day biker in 2005, some of whom barely cover 1000 miles per year.

The bottom line is this; if you want something practical to ride to work then buy a Honda C90 and an anorak, but if you want to make the world take notice of a 100cc motorbike then nothing else comes close. The Regal Raptor is Magic FM in motion, a pair of snakeskin boots made metal, a chance to tell the world it’s taking itself way too seriously...and you don’t care.

Very groovy.

Test bike supplied by; AJS Motorcycles, Goodworth Clatford, Andover, Hamphsire. Tel; 01264 710 074

Get AJS motorbike insurance for the ajs regal raptor dd100e.

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