Royal Enfield

If carving up terrains was your idea of motorcycling, adventure motorcycles are a bipartisan look at how to tackle paved roads and dirt. With long travel suspensions, and a higher riding position, these machines can take your motorcycling learning curve through a multitude of terrains, teaching you some of the biggest lessons travelling on two wheels can.

With having a lot to carry around to fight a multitude of terrains, they are usually an expensive affair (easily 14 grand or more for the latest top-spec models). Luckily, manufacturers have been recognizing this and have been tweaking things around to offer more affordable options to give not so fortunate riders and the young guns to experience the thrill of finding our way through the unknown on two-wheels.

Being the closest thing to flying without leaving the ground, Cruisers have been the incarnation of the ‘30s to ‘60s American lifestyles. And if this is the way you want to get into the world of motorcycles, I guess you have taken the first step in the right direction. Feeling the wind in the air, the smell of cut grass on the countryside, the constant changes in the temperatures, cruisers can show you all these feelings and more at the twist of the throttle.

These six machines are our top pick come with plenty of low-end torque, forward set footpegs, and a laid-back reclined riding position defining any modern-day cruisers. All of this without breaking our banks.

Classic retro machines come along with more elegant finishing touches, detailing and craftsmanship that gives the bikes a panache in their own way. The sculpted flowing lines incorporate key heritage styling cues of the ’60s with beautifully styled minimalism. Classic motorcycle with modern technology and sophisticated craftsmanship pays homage to the yesteryears.

These Six machines in 2020 bring in a beautiful blend of classic style with an infusion of modern engineering, all under $ 10,000. Recalling the past glories, these neo-classic motorcycles have still managed to retain the charm and posterity of minimalistic elegance along with providing modern day mechanicals and the bits. They run on efficient high output engines that are both reliable and powerful and are equipped with state of the art suspension and brake setups that will bring the bike to a halt not far from their point of application, unlike the yesteryears.

The beginning of this century saw the world views changing gradually towards climate change and the need to preserve the environment. This, along with stringent policies, has forced the manufacturers to develop motorcycles that can run cleaner fuel and extract the maximum economy from it, sometimes even at the cost of performance.

Bad news for people who seek the element of thrill, but a pretty good one for someone living in urban jungles where folks prefer commuting on a motorcycle rather thank a car for its practicality and frugal fuel-efficiency. Then there are us few who love the idea of putting serious miles on two-wheels and living the adventure.

We here have compiled a list to give you the best available tools for such situations and save some money on gas while at it.

Timeless designs that take you back to the pre-’60s era, heightened feeling of riding free-spirited machines and the sense of freedom. This is what a modern-day classic motorcycle offers without that knuckle bending fixes and ghastly scenes of oil dripping everywhere. Here are our top ten standard/classic motorcycles of 2018 that take us back to the time from the ’60s.

Recalling the past glories, these neo-classic motorcycles have still managed to retain the charm and posterity of minimalistic elegance along with providing modern day mechanicals and the bits. They run on efficient high output engines that are both reliable and powerful and are equipped with state of the art suspension and brake setups that will bring the bike to a halt not far from their point of application unlike the yesteryears.

Racing on bikes from café to café before a song could finish was the most therapeutic thing to have happened for motorcyclists in the ‘70s. Inspired by this culture, people and manufacturers started building motorcycles with minimal components to take them the distance in the shortest time. It embodied the classic café-racer cues taking us back in time with modern design bits and sophisticated packaging.

Here is our list of the best ten motorcycles of 2018 that remind us of that ‘70s. Round headlights, debonair half-shell fairing, humped seat, rear seat cowl, extended wheelbase, and the low-slung handlebar, it’s all in each one of these machines:

Conceived as a tribute to the birth of the Royal Enfield WD/RE series of motorcycles and Royal Enfield’s military heritage, Royal Enfield launched a special limited run version of the Classic 500 called the “Pegasus” edition back in August this year. Not even a month later, the Indian brand launched another machine highlighting its association with the military.

Called the “Classic Signals”, this special edition motorcycles is based on the brand’s Classic 350 and pays homage to its close association and partnership with the Indian Armed Forces. It gets new colors and cosmetic updates and is also Royal Enfield’s first offering to get ABS in the Indian market where the Signals edition will be launched for.

Entering the 650cc twins into the market, Royal Enfield has fulfilled a long-standing purpose of enchanting world customers with its cafe-racer Continental GT 650 and the classic-retro Interceptor which were launched at the 2017 EICMA.

Although late to the party, the bikes are yet to reach showroom floors and will be happening after the EICMA show of Milan in November. After having gathered many eye-balls, Royal Enfield has given us yet another convincing with its stunt of registering a land speed record with the Continental GT ridden by an 18-year-old pretty face during the Bonneville Speed Week.

During the World War II, Royal Enfield (“The Enfield Cycle Company Limited” then) was called upon by the British authorities to develop and manufacture military motorcycles. That was the birth of the Royal Enfield WD/RE series of motorcycles, also known as the "Flying Flea".

Conceived as a tribute this “Flying Flea” and Royal Enfield’s military heritage, Royal Enfield today launched a special limited run version of the Classic 500 called the “Pegasus” edition. With only 1000 units to be sold worldwide, the online bookings were opened for 250 of them last week in India and each one of them got sold out in under 3 minutes.

Entering the 650cc twins into the market, Royal Enfield has fulfilled a long-standing purpose of enchanting world customers with its cafe-racer Continental GT 650 and the classic-retro Interceptor which were launched at the 2017 EICMA.

The bikes are yet to reach showroom floors and people have already started imagining them in a different genre. An Italian artist who goes by the name Oberdan Bezzi, also famously called as OBIBOI, has sketched an impressive looking concept which might be expected from the Royal Enfield stable in the future. And it’s got a fancy name to it - Royal Enfield Fury 650.

Royal Enfield has become one of the world’s fastest growing motorcycle brand coming from the subcontinent India. Famously called the “Bullet Maker”, it has made great strides ever since Eicher took over the self-attested “oldest motorcycle company in continuous production in the world” has been making bold moves to be heard the world over.

The most recent one of those is to shelve its first ever Café-Racer model, the Continental GT 535. It was their current flagship model that gave the post-British brand the needed visibility in the markets other than its home, and is soon going to be replaced with the Continental GT 650 twin-cylinder brother.

The self-attested “oldest motorcycle company in continuous production in the world” has been making the right moves to be heard the world over. And their recent project seems to have gained a lot of traction ever since the last EICMA show where they showcased the 650cc retro twins running on brand new twin-cylinder engines.

In a bid to create a niche market for themselves, the Bullet maker decided to step up their game both in the number of cylinders and capacity. Christened as the Continental GT 650, it heralds a new chapter for Royal Enfield, a company that until now made only 350cc-535cc single barrel machines.

As people are maturing, so is the adventure-bike segment. Call it a trend or being sensible, manufacturers are contesting even in lower-displacement machines. This renewed interest is bringing all the positives to the manufacturer into cultivating young riders to brand loyalty.

After dominating back home in India, the post-British brand has been relentlessly expanding for half a decade and have increased exports to 93% this year compared to last year. And for 2018, they have no plans for slowing down. Their dual-sport enduro is making its way to our shores.

Called the "Himalayan", an adage to the mighty mountain range, it brings a lot of new things to the table – an all-new engine, all-new chassis, all-new design language, and most importantly, all new functionality of performing on both on and off-road terrains with equal ease.

Breaking motorcycle stunt records is nothing new for the Border Security Force (BSF) of the Indian army. Apart from being the country’s first line of defense, they also indulge in some motorcycle trick riding that started way back in 1990. BSF’s ’Janbaz’ was created in 1990, and they are famous for displaying their gravity-defying stunts and breaking their own previous records.

In the month of April 2018 alone, the Janbaz troop set four motorcycle stunt records, all of which were performed on their darling 350 CC Royal Enfield motorcycles-the face of stunt riding for the BSF. The stunts include longest riding on a ladder/pole, longest riding backward, longest riding while standing and carrying troops.

Carberry Motorcycles has been the new kid on the block for the custom scene. The company was the brainchild of an Australian chap, Paul Carberry, started ‘Dream Engines and Modifications (DEM)’ and has now started production in 2016 at Bhilai, India, the backyard of the Royal Enfield.

Their first product was christened as the ‘Double Barrel’, an engine that gets the long 90mm stroke engine inherited from RE and uses the cylinders, heads, and choice of 4 or 5-speed gearbox from RE. The company has just launched this new engine for enthusiasts around the world for ₹ 4.96 lakh ($7,600). But there is a small catch here; it’s just not yet available for everybody.

Royal Enfield is having colorful new entries into their 2018 lineup, and ironically, they look even the more retro and chic. Called the Thunderbird “X” series, the Chennai based firm has added vibrant new colors to their Thunderbird models which made its debut back in 2000.

Although it never crossed the pond to North America, the Thunderbirds (both 350cc and 500cc) are very popular with the millennials back home in India. Now, Royal Enfield wants to entice the same breed of customers with splashes of colors and never before seen features on the thumper.

When Eicher took over affairs of Royal Enfield into their strides, they basically revived the dying fire of the cult motorcycle manufacturer. Since then RE has been at the top of the game releasing products that got every motorcycle aphrodisiac’s blood racing. Right from the Classic 500 till the very recent 650cc Twins. These motorbikes spoke for themselves and the sales figures are the proof of this.

Now, the company is stepping into unknown territories. Following every other automaker in the world, Royal Enfield has also been investing its resources into the newfound electric powertrain technology for the Indian market. Although it will be quite some time before we could see an electric Enfield, the thought of not having a thumper under the hood might shake the loyalists.

The Continental GT 650 is Royal Enfield‘s way of making the most powerful and the lightest modern day cafe racer which blends retro style with modern appeal perfectly. Powered by a 650cc, parallel-twin, air-oil-cooled engine which generates more power than any other Royal Enfield motorcycle till date. Since its launch in 2010, the Continental looks and feel very much in the 60s’ and 70’s and is unique. Not anymore though.

A Thailand based motorcycle manufacturer called Centaur recently launched a Continental GT lookalike and named it as the Stallion Centaur Siam 150cc. When I say lookalike, I mean a carbon copy. They have basically taken all the retro elements including the body panels off the GT and fixed on a smaller chassis and a smaller 150cc engine.

Carberry Motorcycles has been the new kid on the block for the custom scene in the country. The company that was the brainchild of an Australian chap, Paul Carberry, started ‘Dream Engines and Modifications (DEM)’ which started production in 2016 at Bhilai, Chattisgarh. These guys have something special for all of your Royal Enfield lovers out there apart from their first production bike.

A custom made ‘vibration reduction plate’ designed to support and stabilize the right-hand side of the crankshaft. The plate fits in all Royal Enfield machines having a UCE construction. This plate will reduce vibrations usually found on all Enfields at speeds of 35 – 55 mph. It is available for just ₹ 3,000 ($ 45) and is easy to install.

Check out how to install the product in the video below:

Royal Enfield, has been the spoilt choice for many custom bikers and builders around the globe. They are mental, and they are a gold find for its simplistic construction and the liberty for customization. You can chop it up and put them together, and they will carry a whole new charm.

With the soul of ’go anywhere, do anything’ taking up a new meaning every time it goes under the axe, folks from KR Customs in Chennai (the same place Enfields are made these days) have couped up a retro bobber out of the bullet maker’s best-selling model, the Classic 500.

Royal Enfield hit the 2018 model year running with an all-new, 650 Twin engine that comes with a brand-new Interceptor wrapped around it. All new from the ground up, the Interceptor 650 has improved handling and agility that its single-cylinder predecessors just couldn’t match. It’s a hot-hot release in its homeland, but will the U.S. market receive it with as much enthusiasm?

Continue reading for my first look at the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650.

India-based Royal Enfield has been busy expanding its footprint as of late. The newly-minted U.S. dealerships will be scampering for a piece of the action with a bike that is sure to appeal to the increasingly-important Millennial buyers— the cafe’-tastic Continental GT. Built with an unmistakeable retro flavor and powered by a 535 cc, 29.1-horsepower engine, the GT brings a relatively authentic cafe’ experience to the table. Maybe even a little too authentic in some ways, perhaps? We’ll find out. The factory established a foothold on U.S. soil just a few years ago and it has introduced its very first engine to be designed in-house, but the GT is more of a reflection of the company’s deep roots than a product of its more progressive agenda.

Continue reading for my review of the Royal Enfield Continental GT.