Why not a trailer for your Enfield Military?

Perfect for "liberated" congac, tent halves and C-rations, the motorcycle trailer has a time-honored place in the history of mechanized warfare.

Or, maybe not. The image above was created in Adobe PhotoShop. My thanks to Gavin Birch's book Images of War, Motorcycles at War, for the original picture. Here we see an M10 tank destroyer grinding through a motorcycle traffic control post in Percy, France, on Aug. 2, 1944.

Not in Liberated France on that day in 1944 was the Inder trailer sold by Classic Motorworks for Royal Enfield motorcycles. I added it to the picture.

I am probably not the first person who has thought what a wonderful addition the Inder would make to a Royal Enfield Military model. Paint it olive drab (using a broom for a brush), stencil on a white star or a British Army style C (for "Census") number, and you're all set.

The only question then is what you put in it. I had the opportunity to see an Inder trailer at Classic Motorworks recently and was impressed by how really small they are. Much less room than you get in the overhead compartment of any airline. This is not luggage for two, the way my wife packs, at least. The Inder I saw was red (above) but apparently they are being sold only in black, so far.

For comparison's sake, I took a close look at the luggage compartment of the Ural sidecars shown at the International Motorcycle Show in Minneapolis Feb. 14. They are maybe a bit roomier.

But, still, there is the question of what you put in there. The Ural was shown with an old-fashioned tire pump, the perfect thing for a military motorcycle in my opinion. Of course, the Ural also can come with a spare tire mounted on the sidecar -- a bit obsessive about punctures, I'd say, but a great look. Hey, wouldn't the Inder look great with a sidemounted spare for its little wheel?

Surprise! Inder trailer holds a LOT of stuff

It looks like a magic act. In fact, these pictures illustrate how much you can pack into the one-wheeled Inder trailer, offered for Royal Enfield motorcycles.

Royal Enfield Club shot these pictures in response to my question about how much fits. Even Kevin Mahoney, Classic Motorworks president, was surprised.

According to Classic, the little trailer holds "nearly two cubic feet" of stuff, and they proved it!

The cute trailers are on sale right now at Classic for $999 plus $150 for shipping. Regular price is $1,299. The price includes attachment hardware for Royal Enfield motorcycles and a fold-down stand to keep the trailer upright when it's not attached to your motorcycle.

Classic is the sole distributor of the Inder trailers for North America. Here's some background on Inder, provided by Mahoney:

"They are in the Punjab region of India (north). They were large LML dealers, which is the company in India that makes the Stella (a license-built Vespa scooter). Because of that they were very familiar with the Stella colors. They are not familiar with Royal Enfield colors, which is why I didn't get any in Royal Enfield colors. He could do Stella colors so I bought a few.

"Fortunately the vendor has a real paint booth and uses DuPont paint so the next step is to try some Royal Enfield colors. This is not as easy as it sounds. OEM paint systems are different than what is used in the field for repair work. For example Royal Enfield paint is baked on and the trailer paint isn't. It will take some experimenting to get it right."

The Inder trailer has a bunch of lights, from the big taillight to the little bullet lights on the sides and big round fixtures on side stalks. I asked Mahoney what they're for.

"The orange ones that are on stalks are reflectors. They are like your appendix: an appendage from another time. The middle light is the brake light and the two other lights are turn signals. Inside the trailer are the wires from each component. There is no wiring harness. It is up to the customer to decide what they want to use it with and how they want to wire it. For example, do they want to use a trailer loom like a boat trailer, or some other arrangement."

Attaching the trailer itself is easy, Mahoney said. On the Royal Enfield "it is a bolt-on deal."

The single wheel is pneumatic and turns on real wheel bearings. There is a suspension system: the wheel moves on a swing arm cushioned by a rubber bumper. The stand provided is to hold the trailer up when it is disconnected from the bike. You don't need it when the trailer is attached to the motorcycle.

The Inder trailer is truly a vintage item. It is modeled after PAv trailers made in Czechoslovakia during the 1960s and '70s for Jawa motorcycles. Comparing those early PAv trailers to the Inder it is hard to tell the difference. The prototype for the PAv was aluminum, but production models were steel, like the Inder. Early Czech trailers had lift-off lids without hinges and you sometimes see pictures of them with a cute little rack mounted on top. How much storage room do you need?

"One other thing to note is that because the trailer has one wheel it leans with the bike and you hardly know it is there,"

Royal Enfield diesel and trailer a nice combo

Royal Enfield diesel and trailer a nice combo

The Royal Enfield diesel motorcycle shown on this blog recently must have struck Helmut Forsbach as a bit of a coincidence. He emailed me these pictures of his own 1999 diesel-powered Royal Enfield.

Helmut even has a PAV 40 single-wheeled trailer, like the Sommer motorcycle Dirk, from Germany, showed us, below.

Helmut is in Germany, too, but his motorcycle is the original Taurus diesel powered model from India, which featured a 325cc Greaves motor. Seven horsepower!

Helmut is pictured next to his motorcycle. At "68 years old (young)," he looks like a serious traveler. That cute little trailer must come in handy!

The PAV trailers were made in Czechoslovakia during the 1960s and '70s for Jawa motorcycles. Here in the U.S. we can get the Inder trailers, inspired by the PAV but made in India. They are available from Classic Motorworks.

How does Inder trailer compare to the PAV original?

It's difficult to make a direct comparison between the original PAV 40 trailers of the 1960s and '70s and the modern day Inder trailer sold for Royal Enfield motorcycles.

Why even bother comparing them, when you would have to look long and hard to find a PAV for sale in the United States, and even then you might have a restoration project on your hands?

In contrast, just have your credit card ready when you order an Inder trailer from Royal Enfield USA, and it comes complete with the hardware you need to attach it to your Royal Enfield Bullet.

Why compare them? You may as well ask why blogs exist. To make you crazy, of course! Look, at least this isn't a blog about the World Series history of the Chicago Cubs.

The manufacturer's production plate shown here is from the excellent website SingleWheel.com

PAV 41 production plate.

Translated from Czech, it includes this information:

Establishment of local industry Kovozavody
Made in Semily, Czechoslovakia
Type: PAV 41
Useful Load: 30 kg 
Max. Speed: 70 kmph 
Max. Weight: 49 kg 
Production Year: 1972

A chart containing the PAV specifications I was able to find around the Internet raises questions about how the measuring was done (or, perhaps, it raises questions about how accurate were my conversions from Metric to 'Merican). The figures here for the Inder trailer were provided by Er.Jatinder Singh of Inder Exports.

	PAV 40	Inder
Total length	47.7 inches	52 inches
Total width	24.4 inches	28 inches
Total height	23.6 inches	31 inches
Curb weight	44 pounds	77 pounds
Useful load	66 pounds	Not given
Total weight	110 pounds	Not given
Load space	3.8 cubic feet	3.6 cubic feet
Max. speed	43.5 mph	Not given

 Obviously, the total height and curb weights indicated here are probably apples-to-oranges somehow.

The trailers are substantially the same otherwise. Note that the load volume figures are essentially the same. Royal Enfield USA only advertises "nearly two cubic feet" of space for the Inder trailer, but Inder itself claims a PAV-like three-and-a-half.

Trolling for information I came across some interesting tidbits, many from the well done Swedish website for the PAV. For instance:

1. The PAV motorcycle trailer arose to meet the needs of holiday travelers in a Communist country in which private cars were out of reach for most people. Small capacity motorcycles and scooters were easier to obtain, but would have been overburdened with heavy luggage.

2. From 1959 to 1968 there were two adjustable springs on the bottom of the trailer, providing suspension. From 1969 they were replaced with two rubber cushions (the Inder trailer seems to use a single large rubber cushion).

3. Early lids were loose. They were got a hinge in about 1969. It's fairly simple to add hinges to the old lids.

4. PAV is correctly "PAv" but the lowercase "v" is hardly ever used in discussing the trailers. PAV is pronounced "paff."

5. Trailers were made in the mid-to-late '50s in Czechoslovakia that predated the PAV 40 design. The PAV 40 debuted in 1958 or '59. At some point the PAV 41 replaced the PAV 40 and production continued into the 1970s.

6. The PAV is not the only way to build a motorcycle trailer, maybe not even the best. This Czech language site has many fascinating pictures of old single and double-wheeled motorcycle trailers, some with elaborate swinging arm suspensions.

Original PAV trailers inspired Inder trailers sold today for Royal Enfield motorcycles Ad for PAV 40 motorcycle trailer.

Original PAV trailers inspired Inder trailers
sold today for Royal Enfield motorcycles

PAV 40 advertisement translates from Czech as "semi-trailer truck for motorcycles and scooters."

The Inder trailers made in India and available in the U.S. for Royal Enfield motorcycles were inspired by the PAV 40 and 41 trailers, built for Jawa and other motorcycles in Czechoslovakia, starting in the 1950s.

Modern Inder trailer available from Royal Enfield USA.

While the resemblance is clear, right down to the cute little "antenna" side marker lights, the originals have unique appeal.

When I spotted one for sale in Portland recently I wrote to the seller, asking what makes them so special.

To my surprise, he replied with few words, but a vast collection of pictures.

A gathering of six PAV motorcycle trailers.

One picture showed a yard full of PAVs that he told me all went to one Swiss buyer.

Original PAV trailer design.

Another picture showed the first PAV model, from the early 1950s.

"Pardon the brief reply," the seller wrote. "I used to import these PAV 40 and PAV 41 trailers. I was a buyer in Europe, and have brought in around 40-plus of these over the years. They are now harder to find, but that is what happens when something gains popularity."


"Now, in Europe, they are to be found selling for close to $1,000 U.S. (or the comparable amount in Euro)," he wrote, "and they are being reproduced in Australia, as well as the ones that you know about from India. The proportions of the Indian ones are very different."

Indeed, to my eye the PAV trailers seem more rounded and sleek than the Inder version. Royal Enfield USA sells the Inder trailers for about $1,000, including the hardware needed to attach them to the Royal Enfield motorcycle

My correspondent said he was happy to provide the pictures, since "enthusiasts of these things are all over the place, and a new fan is born every click of the mouse, it seems."

As for the Inder copy, he appreciates the necessity: "seeing as the PAV are so rare now, how else are we going to enjoy the convenience of them?"

Although the man I wrote to didn't want his name used, he did send me a picture of his amazing tandem powered bicycle.

Bicycle built for two has a two-stroke motor.

"It is a 1952 Moto Narcisse Laguin Sport Tandem with 125cc two-stroke engine and three-speed gearbox — all the while, a three speed bicycle. I found it in a barn in Normandy, France. If this machine is mentioned in the blog, that is as good as my name. Just mention me as a collector, and your readers will know who I am. This machine is the only one in the U.S., and one of four known to exist worldwide. The PAV is attached to it now."

Tandem bicycle with trailer.

Now THAT is remarkable.

You can read more about the history of PAV trailers at this link.