When I first got the bug to get back into riding a motorcycle, I figured I’d go the “familiar” route for us old folks who are, in motorcycling terms, “Born Again.” I planned to find a Japanese bike, most likely a Honda or a Yamaha, as those brands are what I rode as a kid, a mid-size, between 500 or 750 cc’s. I figured I’d start with a used machine, between three and five years old, see how I liked it, and then start thinking about buying a new one. Then, way back in 2019, a guy I work with was talking about Royal Enfield, and that he’d heard about a new motorcycle they were due to release in a couple of months. He didn’t know a lot about them, but he told me it sounded like they were practically “giving them away.”
I’d actually heard of Royal Enfield motorcycles. I’d also never heard anything good about them. I knew they were a British bike, they were around in the ’60’s, and that, not unlike BSA and Norton, were temperamental as in hard to start and harder to keep running. They also let you know where they’d been by the stains they left behind where they’d been parked– “Royal Oilfield”– and that they were essentially crap. I thought they’d gone out of business about the same time BSA and Norton had. I was right, in the U.S. anyway. Royal Enfield in the United States went of out business in 1970, BSA disappeared in 1972. Norton flopped around under various owners and configurations and, to be honest, I had no idea when they weren’t sold in the U.S. any more.
Not English, but still in business!
Intrigued by what I’d heard from my friend, I did some research. Suprise! Royal Enfield may have been bankrupt in Blighty, but had been alive and well, thanks to the Brits building a factory in India in 1955, which were still producing bikes after the business in the U.K went under. What I also learned is there have been motorcycles in continuous production with the Enfield name since 1901. Take that Harley Davidson! While not yet convinced they weren’t crap, a tradition like that merited more investigation.
Thump, thump, thump…
While RE had produced some bikes that were considered “big” for the times, the Constellation, Meteor and Super Meteor in the fifties, all 700cc, and the Interceptor, introduced in 1961 as a 700cc, and later bumped up to 750 until the brand disappeared in the American market. These machines were all parallel twin cylinders. India was a different story. The factory in India was built in 1955 and produced bikes in the 250 to 500cc range– all single cylinder. The common term for these bikes is “thumper,” a single piston machine known for the vibration that permeates the entire bike– and its rider– from idle to max revs. While RE’s “superbikes” of the sixties had a reputation of being among the fastest production bikes sold in the U.S., the bikes made in India carried no such reputation.
Motorcycles in the US are essentially toys. Sure, some folks use them to get back and forth to work, and even fewer have them as a sole means of motorized transportation, but to the vast majority they are a luxury. In India, they are essential both for transportation, and as working vehicles. Any vehicle that can get you from point A to point B economically is valuable, and being the hometown ride, RE is a very popular brand, but luxury is not a prime consideration. Cost is. While a motorcycle built in fifties or sixties has its place in the United States, it’s more novelty than anything else. It’s something that will get a lot of attention, start some great conversations and certainly be fun to tool around on, it’s not what people here consider an everyday ride. In India it is, and if a bike relies on mid-twentieth century technology to get you around, few people are going to complain. While Americans were not only enjoying stuff like ABS, traction control, fuel injection, onboard GPS, and every other doo-dad you could hang on two wheels, they were demanding it as well. In India, if your bike starts you’ve already got a leg up on your day. Speed also plays a factor in the U S of A. In the sub-continent? Not so much. Which brings me back to thumpers. If your fillings are at risk going thirty miles an hour, imagine how you’re going to feel at fifty… sixty? If, by the grace of God, you can get your single cylinder five hundred up to seventy, how’s your ride going to be if you swallowed your dental work at 6o mph and now your teeth are loosening up? Not to mention you may find your bike shedding parts as well. You’re not going to be putting on stretches of one hundred fifty miles in one leg of a trip, either. If I attempted such a trip as that at my age, I’d be in the market for a scooter before long– the kind you plug in at night before going to bed. However, this was all news to me when I first starting researching whether a Royal Enfield was in my future, though a thumper wasn’t going to be considered no matter who built it. But, if you’ll allow me to be a bit grandiose, RE saw me coming, and had made plans years before I’d started looking for a bike.
A change for the better.
While RE’s have been available in the U.S. since, the first American distributorship was opened in Milwaukee in 2015. They’ve been available, but I’d never seen one on the street or in a parking lot. They’ve enjoyed a cult status, presumably owned by people with excellent dental plans or those who enjoy riding a massive sex toy to the convenience store. But RE underwent a management change, and their sights were now set on an international market, and the United States and Europe were in their crosshairs.
The first offering was a funky 411 cc adventure bike called the Himalayan. It debuted in 2016 and was the first RE built from scratch since, well, whenever. All other RE thumpers have the same frame, with no updates in over fifty years, regardless of engine size. The Himalayan is also single cylinder, but was equipped with fuel injection, a newly designed frame, and excellent off-road suspension, though it also handles quite well on pavement. It had a rough start the first couple of years, but management learned from its critics and now enjoys a great reputation. Another thing to consider is its price point, $4749 off the showroom floor. That’s a helluva lot of fun for less than five grand. It also received a massive boost from a young Dutch lady, known as “Itchy Boots” on YouTube, whose worldwide adventures no doubt helped sales, as she was viral as viral gets, when in comes to women on motorcycles traveling in risky places.
All of this leads up to why I decided on a Royal Enfield as my re-introduction to motorcycling. I’ve used up a lot of words, and a lot of space, but I won’t just leave you hanging until mid-week. I’ve put a picture of what I decided on as a means of risking life and limb. And a picture saves a thousand words, as they say:
Wednesday I’ll tell you why I bought it… as if the pic doesn’t say enough.