What exactly have we here? It’s a Royal Enfield, but not as you know it. In the 1930s, the Redditch marque was one of Britain’s top motorcycle manufacturers, primarily building good, robust machines for the everyman. Its bikes were sensible and practical more than speed-oriented, and they tended not to appear prominently in competitions until the Royal Enfield Bullet proved its worth in the 1948 International Six Days Trial.

Engine-maker JAP, on the other hand, was known for its big, powerful singles and twins which were a favourite with racers, especially in the speedway and dirt-track disciplines, as well as in circuit-racing and sprints. For skilled amateur mechanics and competitive riders who couldn’t necessarily afford to buy a high-performance bike, sourcing an engine, frame and other parts separately was a common way of creating a bike which satisfied their exact requirements while saving money in the process. Lots of one-offs and specials were built along such lines in the ’30s, ’40s and ‘50s, and that seems to be what we have here.

Sadly, apart from the name of the first owner, who was presumably responsible for the special’s construction when new or in the early post-war years, we know nothing of its history, but the knobbly tyres and high exhaust pipe suggest an off-road purpose, probably trials. Remarkably, the first owner is said to have had the Royal Enfield until 2013, so he must have been a very young man when he bought it and become very attached to it.

Obviously, Mr. Paterson was an elderly man when the bike changed hands and hadn’t ridden the bike for a number of years. It has not been on the road since that sale, either, and remains virtually unknown in enthusiast circles.

Still in wonderful condition, this is a beautiful and unique bike with exceptional potential both for competitive trialling as well as for historical research. Wouldn’t it be nice to show it off and find out more?

Considering how this bike is shrouded in mystery, it doesn’t appear to have been through the customary phase of abandonment or neglect. We can only suppose that, for however long it may have spent off the road with Mr. Paterson, it was stored in a dry, well-ventilated environment, ensuring its preservation. Then again, since Mr. Paterson presumably assembled the bike himself, it is not inconceivable that he might have decided to sympathetically renovate it later in life.

In light of its excellent cosmetic condition and the fact it appears to have been built for trials, we do think it very likely that it has been restored or refurbished at some stage, possibly by one of the owners between 2013 and 2019.

That would account for the excellent condition of its paintwork, brightwork and everything else. There is some light patina and the odd small paint blemish, but that is surely to be expected – bikes like this were not put together for parading around a concours lawn. The saddle looks to be an older item with evidence of historic repairs, but the pillion seat looks virtually brand-new and may be a more recent addition.

Again, we think it’s likely that the engine has benefitted from some recent refurbishment. One would expect an untouched 85-year-old engine with a competitive past to be a little oily, to say the last, but this rather handsome JAP is looking very clean. What’s more the vendor confirms that it ran very healthily when he bought it in 2019, although we have not had the privilege of seeing it run ourselves.

As it has been on static display in a collection for four years, it would benefit from a general inspection and some light recommissioning, but we don’t think it can possibly need much. We observed only one minor fault as we wheeled the bike around, which is that the right-hand brake lever sticks on slightly, so that will require some attention.

For a mysterious and largely unknown special, this Royal Enfield-JAP is in exceptionally good condition and would attract lots of admirers were you to show it as it is. The big JAP single promises lively performance, too, so we’d seriously consider some competitive use if we were you. After putting in a bit of rewarding recommissioning work, there are limitless possibilities for having fun.

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