Royal Enfield has been since decades, even before the automotive industry flourished in India. It has existed even before there was any passion for motor vehicles and before biking turned into a religion.
We have always trusted Royal Enfield for its comfort on long tours and its ruggedness because of its build quality. And as the years pass by, their bikes are getting modern and refined with the technological advancements. But here’s the thing, not many know the fascinating history of the Royal Enfield back in the day. We take you back in history and tell you why this big bull deserves every ounce of respect!
10 Interesting facts even an enthusiast wouldn’t know about Royal Enfield.
1.Company used the tag line ‘Made like a gun’ was originally meant for the lawn mowers Enfield built before stepping into the production of motorcycles.
2.Before Royal Enfield built motorcycle for the British, they were on a contract with the RussianGovernment to provide them with motorcycles for war.
3.Royal Enfield produced their own engines in the year 1921 which were of some shocking specification. 976cc V-Twin and a 350 cc single cylinder 4 stroke engine.
4.During the time of 2nd World War, Royal Enfield developed a bike for the British army which was designed to be dropped with the airborne troops with the help of a parachute in an active war zone. Weighing just 60kgs, bike had only 125 cc 2 stroke engine producing only 3.5 bhp, bike was named ‘FLYING FLEA‘.
5.In the year 1947 Royal Enfield came up with motorcycles named ‘Super Meteor‘ and ‘Constellation‘ which had a parallel twin 700cc and were available at a very affordable price. These became to be known as first super bikes from Royal Enfield stable.
6.Royal Enfield motorcycles were branded as ‘Enfield Indian’ and were sold in the American market from 1955 to 1959, disguising them as ‘INDIAN’ bikes.
7.At the same time Royal Enfield collaborated with Madras Motors in Chennai, Tamilnadu to manufacture bikes in India. From the year 1955 to 1962 Royal Enfield bikes were CKD and were just assembled here.
8.By the year 1962, Royal Enfield came up with a successor to the ‘Super Meteor‘ and ‘Constellation‘, a bike called ‘Interceptor’ which had a parallel twin 740cc motor and was the fastest bike in the day to do a quarter mile under 13 seconds. This was also the last ever English made bike from Royal Enfield.
9.Continental GT 535, A bike introduced to us a couple of years ago is in fact a remake and a re-engineered product of a 1965 motor cycle ‘Enfield Continental GT’ which had 250cc and a 5 speed gear box churning out 21 bhp. It was yet a dedicated café racer back then.
10.In the year 2014, Royal Enfield surpassed the sales of Harley Davidson motorcycle manufacturing company on a global scale. Royal Enfield sold 3 lakh units where as Harley Davidson could sell only 2.67 lakh. Where the rise in the sales of Harley Davidson is just 3%, Royal Enfield raised the bar by 70%.
Every Royal Enfield enthusiast may not be a biker, but every biker is a Royal Enfield enthusiast atleast at some point in their lives, and now you have an even better reason to be!
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