27/04/2015
NEPAL - INDIA - BHUTAN
The Royal Enfield has a long and interesting history that makes it a bike of a different class altogether. It was a company incorporated in 1891 by supplying parts to Royal Small Arms Company Enfield, UK. The company started manufacturing bicycles and the first mechanical tricycle and Quadra cycle powered by a De-Dim 1.5 HP engine was manufactured in 1899. Enfield Limited was established in India in 1955 as a public limited company and started assembling work with CKD Kits imported from UK. Enfield India then became the company’s first four-stroke motorcycle manufacturer. In 1994, The Eicher Group Acquired Enfield India Ltd. and renamed it Royal Enfield Motors Limited.
The name ‘Royal’ came from the company Royal Small Arms with the trademark ‘Made like a Gun’ and ‘Enfield’ is the name of a place in UK. The most famous motorcycle of Royal Enfield was launched in 1931 with a four valve, single-cylinder motorcycle and was christened ‘Bullet’ in 1932. The sale of the ‘Bullet” is approximately 40,000 units per year and is made in Chennai, India, and exported throughout the world.
The popularity of this band is evident by the number of Royal Enfielder’s Clubs worldwide From USA, UK to India and Nepal, there are more than 1,000 active members across all clubs for Royal Enfield lovers.
The Royal Enfield ‘Bullets’ is still manufactured in India with change in the original 1949-55 design. Despite its primitive looks and very basic mechanical construction, the charm of this bike lies in its low-tech gas-guzzling four-stroke engine. Tune it on, and the air around you reverberates with a low frequency rhythmic rumble. This is the classic heavy-bike-sound of the fifties and sixties, no longer found in today’s hi-tech machines. At a gross dry-weight of 165 kilograms (or more) with engines available either in the 350 cc., or the 500 cc. mould, the Enfield is the only locally manufactured touring bike readily available in South Asia.
Though many other brands boast of equal popularity, The Royal Enfield has a certain segment of customers who have extreme ardour for this particular bike. With the noise it makes and the way it looks, The Royal Enfield Motorcycle can certainly be vouched for as the “kings of the roads”. It is different and has a class of its own; making it stand out everywhere it goes.