Royal Enfield

[philuk 3,146]

They are to expensive!

The Rumbler 500 (aka Thunderbird 500) is more expensive than a Kawasaki NINJA 650.

 

yea but the enfield will be built like a brick shithouse.

will still be going strong years after the ninja is dead and gone

[Dragonladies.org 1,628]

They were being sold in the US for a while, recently, and they look cool, but they are pretty antiquated, and underpowered.

 

I'm not sure 'quality' ever was associated with the Indian made bikes, but they're somewhat durable if you are used to working on 50's era bikes, and can live with a 400 pound, 500cc bike that puts out maybe 20 real HP on a dyno.

 

They're kind of a novelty bike, unless you  live in the third world.

 

[AB2000 416]

My friend's dad got one recently (in the US), he loves it.

 

Edited September 5, 2013 by AB2000

[hyaku 2,805]

I still like Triumph

[Sonny 3,568]

The only Enfield I ever saw was back in the 60's and it was the fastest bike in town.  I think it was around 700 cc's or so.

[hyaku 2,805]

The only Enfield I ever saw was back in the 60's and it was the fastest bike in town. I think it was around 700 cc's or so.

My Vincent was quick, so was the Sunbeam shaft drive. Coudnt hold the Vinny up. I put a sidecar wheel on it. I lived near Mallory Park and someone sold me an ex track Ducati. Just touched the throttle and the damn thing went into a wheelie.

[Sonny 3,568]

My Vincent was quick, so was the Sunbeam shaft drive. Coudnt hold the Vinny up. I put a sidecar wheel on it. I lived near Mallory Park and someone sold me an ex track Ducati. Just touched the throttle and the damn thing went into a wheelie.

 

 

Wow, you owned a Vincent ?  Was it a Shadow or a Lightning ?  Two of my dream bikes that unfortunately I never owned____An Arial square four and a Vincent Black Lightning.

[Open_Ended 36]

Since then, the Indian company, Enfield of India has actually bought the rights to use the Royal Enfield name. The bikes now being sold in the Philippines are almost certainly being manufactured in India (much like the Kawasaki Rouser which is a rebadged Bajaj Pulsar made in India and assembled in the Philippines)

 

Sounds close to reality and this cloning \ re-badging of motorcycles to capture the BILs of potential customers living in these 'emerging markets' is on-gong very well today ...bwm, ktm are just a couple more big players in this game of 'emerging markets' ...

 

You can probably take any design from an older bike that is no longer produced, up-date the materials used along with some better suspension quality items and have a very good running bike ... Probably be heavy (maybe underpowered?) but as long as a person can get their feet on the ground for balance, most can and will ride it, if affordable ...

 

--

The ktm group is on a mission to out-sell all the Japan made bikes ... Might just work as they have won about every race possible in todays' off-road racing ... Japan just does not seem too interested in bikes as they did in the 70s-80s when they took over the market ... The players today are using a page from the 70s book ... Hire all the best riders and you win races ,,, It's just about the simple if you can pay top dollars for the best riders..

Edited September 6, 2013 by Open_Ended

[thebob 18,260]

It's a pity that they are so expensive. I'd like an Enfield.

[Tinbum 964]

I had up until arriving here a '39 proper Royal Enfield, 350. See pics in my gallery. Although the Indian Enfields are keeping the name alive, i feel the "soul" factor to be lost somewhat. As a silly aside, Royal Enfield actually produced a V twin with a  side mounted hand crank starter and a glass oil tank. The oil tank was not just a sight glass or similiar but held 2-3 pints of engine oil.

Riding old bikes was a passion until moving here forced them to be sold.

At one stage i had left foot gear change, up for 1st, left foot down for 1st, right foot up for 1st, right foot down for 1st, foot clutch and hand shifter on tank, twist throttles with no return springs (made great cruise control feature), throttles that were a lever, engines that needed an auxillary hand oil pump used if you went over 30mph, manual advance and retard ignition levers.........

They were all great fun and put a smile on your face!!!! 

[Alan S 4,607]

The 700cc RE was the Constellation, (the tuned version) or the Meteor, (the basic version, which was only produced for a limited period.)

The Meteor was intended for sidecar work, but the "Connie" was the more popular machine.

 

(They did a 500cc version called the "Meteor Minor".)

 

Another fast RE bike was the 250cc Crusader Sports.

 

 

I had a number of bikes as I used to buy, repair and sell them to my mates.

I did have a Vincent Black Shadow. In fact, two of them. One was canibalised and added to a Norton Featherbed frame to make an amazing machine,

Wish I had either of them now!

[panther 845]

only true royal enfields were built in britain .after the factory closed any bikes built since then are not true enfields but fakes .The name should have died along with the factory to perserve its prestige.as the old saying goes they don,t make them like that anymore.It is the same thing applies to anything that is made in uk that used to be known for its quality only now its  made in china ,it does,nt mean the same anymore just my 2 cents

[Topper 4,198]

Perhaps you are thinking of the Lee-Enfield which was manufactured by the Royal Small Arms Factory?  Never heard of a Royal Enfield so enlighten me.

You're right Simple Man. I was thinking of the Lee-Enfield, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity on making a joke. 

 

 

Never heard of a Royal Enfield so enlighten me.

Sure you did.  See post #3.  Geeeese!

[Knowdafish 1,772]

http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/motorcycles/royal-enfield-enters-philippines-500cc-models-55515/

 

 

 

 

http://autoesque.blogspot.com/2011/10/bullet-classic-desert-storm.html

 

 

The Desert Storm is powered by a 27 bhp (20 kW / 28 PS) single-cylinder, fuel-injected 499 cc engine that produces 41 Nm (30 lb/ft) of torque.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2013 by Knowdafish

[Open_Ended 36]

only true royal enfields were built in britain .after the factory closed any bikes built since then are not true enfields but fakes .The name should have died along with the factory to perserve its prestige.as the old saying goes they don,t make them like that anymore.It is the same thing applies to anything that is made in uk that used to be known for its quality only now its  made in china ,it does,nt mean the same anymore just my 2 cents

The owners can either license out the blueprints and that logo name or let it turn to dust and walk away from untold millions(?) generated from the emerging markets ... I hear your words on the history of the bikes and you would wanna preserve the heritage to some degree on the new bikes but letting it die off serves no real purpose ... Other brands are doing this ... Old design with new parts and a suspension that works. Brand it with a name that already has a following and half the work is done for you ...

 

This cloning of bikes and swapping brand names is very big in the bike industry apparently.....

 

--

Yep they don't make bikes like they used to for sure ... We are probably living in the peak performance of dirt bike machines, dual-sport machines, street bikes as a whole... These new 4t dirt machines are really cool and easy to ride fast or slow ...   But, there is a big push on air pollution that is hitting bikes coming into the states very hard ... CA seems to be the driving force on lots of the negative side ... I can't see bikes as we ride today being around another ~20 yrs or so ... Its got to go the ELEC power, like it or not ... Or least in the 1st world ...

 

PS -- Those china bikes here have come a long ways in the 3yrs I've been here ... honda better be watching these guys ...

Edited September 6, 2013 by Open_Ended