Royal Enfield is an Indian

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

manufacturer, headquartered and manufactured in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Royal Enfield Royal Enfield is an Indian motorcycle manufacturer, headquartered and manufactured in Chennai, India. Royal Enfield (England), Royal Enfield is the oldest motorcycle manufacturer in continuous production.Can the oldest global motorcycle brand become sexy & cool to draw in a younger audience?
Economic Times, 23 December 2017. The first Royal Enfield motorcycle was built in 1901 by The Enfield Cycle Company of

Redditch Redditch is a town and non-metropolitan district with borough status in Worcestershire, England. It is located south of Birmingham, east of Bromsgrove, north-west of Alcester and north-east of Worcester. In 2021, the town had a population of ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, England, the company was responsible for the design and original production of the Royal Enfield Bullet, the longest-lived motorcycle design in history. Licensed from the original English

Royal Enfield Royal Enfield is an Indian motorcycle manufacturer, headquartered and manufactured in Chennai, India. Royal Enfield (England), Royal Enfield is the oldest motorcycle manufacturer in continuous production.Eicher Motors Eicher Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive company that manufactures motorcycles and commercial vehicles, headquartered in New Delhi. Eicher is the parent company of Royal Enfield, a manufacturer of middleweight motorcycles. ...

, an Indian automaker. The company makes classic-looking motorcycles including the

Royal Enfield Bullet The Royal Enfield Bullet is an overhead valve, single-cylinder, four-stroke motorcycle initially made by Royal Enfield in Redditch, Worcestershire England. It is now produced by Royal Enfield at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, a company originally ...

, Classic 350,

Royal Enfield Thunderbird The Royal Enfield Thunderbird was a Cruiser (motorcycle), cruiser style motorcycle produced by Royal Enfield (India), Royal Enfield Motors in India from 2002 to 2020. The Royal Enfield Thunderbird is known as Royal Enfield Rumbler in export mark ...

, Meteor 350, Classic 500, Interceptor 650, Continental, Hunter 350 and many more. Royal Enfield also makes adventurous and offroading motorcycles like the Royal Enfield Himalayan. Their motorcycles are equipped with

single-cylinder A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, motorized bicycles, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, power tools an ...

and twin-cylinder engines.

History

After India gained independence in 1947, her government looked for a suitable motorcycle for the army patrolling the borders. In 1952 they chose the

, in 1954 ordering 800 units of the 350 cc model. In 1955, the

company partnered with ''Madras Motors'' in India to form 'Enfield India' to assemble, under

licence A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

, the 350 cc Royal Enfield ''Bullet'' motorcycle in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

(now Chennai), including the factory tooling, sold to Enfield India. By 1962, all components were made in India. Enfield India used the 1960 engine (with metric bearing sizes); Royal Enfield still makes essentially the same bike in 350 cc and 500 cc models, and now different models for other market segments. In the year 1990, Royal Enfield collaborated with the Eicher Group, an automotive company in India, and merged with it in 1994. Apart from bikes, Eicher Group is involved in the production and sales of commercial vehicles and automotive gears. Although Royal Enfield experienced difficulties in the 1990s, and ceased motorcycle production at their

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

factory in 2002, by 2013 the company opened a new primary factory in the Chennai suburb of Oragadam on the strength of increased demand for its motorcycles. This was followed in 2017 by the inauguration of another new factory of a similar size to the facility at Oragadam (capacity 600,000 vehicles per year) at Vallam Vadagal. The original factory at Tiruvottiyur became secondary, and continues to produce some limited-run motorcycle models.

Flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...

, produced by the heaviest rainfall in Chennai in over a century, caused Royal Enfield to cut production by 4,000 motorcycles in November 2015, followed by a shutdown of the plants in Thiruvottiyur and Oragadam on 1 December, as well as the company offices in Chennai. Production resumed at 50% capacity on 7 December and operations at both plants were back to normal on 14 December. Royal Enfield announced its first

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast to the acquisi ...

of another company in May 2015 with the purchase of a UK motorcycle design and manufacturing firm, Harris Performance Products, that had previously developed the chassis of the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cafe Racer. Harris work with the UK-based part of Royal Enfield's development team, who are based at the UK Technology Centre at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in Leicestershire. The team was established in January 2015, and moved into their new, purpose-built facility in May 2017. By the end of 2019, the team numbered 155 and carries out the full spectrum of design and development activities, from concept generation and clay design to engineering design, prototyping and validation. Royal Enfield currently sells motorcycles in more than 50 countries. Royal Enfield surpassed Harley-Davidson in global sales in 2015. Continental GT 535 2014

In August 2015, Royal Enfield Motors announced it is establishing its North American headquarters and a dealership in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with the intention to offer three bikes, the Bullet 500,

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

500 and Continental GT 535 Cafe Racer as they feel this engine size represents an under-served market. The dealership will be Royal Enfield's first company-owned store in the U.S., according to Rod Copes, president of Royal Enfield North America. The company wants to establish about 100 dealerships in American cities starting with Milwaukee. Later in August 2015, parent-business Eicher announced its entry in Indonesia as a part of its global strategy in the mid-sized (250–750 cc) motorcycle segment, initially starting retail operations from a dealership in Jakarta. From April to September, 2015, Royal Enfield's domestic sales were 50% higher than the previous year, despite a declining motorcycle market in India.

Motorcycles manufactured by Royal Enfield

Bullet

The

has the longest unchanged production run of any motorcycle, having remained continuously in production since 1948. The Bullet marque is even older and has passed 75 years of continuous production. The Royal Enfield and Bullet names were derived from the British company which had been a subcontractor to the

Royal Small Arms Factory The Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF), also known by the metonym ''Enfield'', was a UK government-owned rifle factory in Enfield, adjoining the Lee Navigation in the Lea Valley. Some parts were in Waltham Abbey. The factory produced British m ...

in Enfield, London. It has been long associated with the

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

and Armed forces in India and owning one is considered a privilege by most Indians and continues to remain ever popular in India. Although the Bullet 500 was discontinued due to poor sales, The Next Generation Bullet 350 was launched on September 1, 2023. It has a retro style and is priced at ₹1.74 lakh (US$2,090) in India. In January 2024 Royal Enfield Bullet 350 was launched in two new colors- Military Silver Black and Military Silver Red.

Classic

Royal Enfield Classic 350 and Classic 500 are models of Royal Enfield motorcycles which have been in production since 2009. The Classic series of Royal Enfield motorcycles are inspired by the Royal Enfield G2 350cc Bullet motorcycle, first produced in 1948. It has also been confused often with the

Bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constru ...

for their similar look in design as the Classic is a modernised version of the original Royal Enfield Bulle
Classic 350

Hunter

The Royal Enfield Hunter 350 is a roadster motorcycle launched by Royal Enfield in August 2022 in India. It is powered by 349cc BS6 engine that produces 20.2 bhp and 27 Nm of torque. The Hunter 350 is the most affordable motorcycle under the new J-platform, and the second least expensive bike after Royal Enfield Bullet 350. The motorcycle features a retro-style single-piece seat, a classic round headlamp, a flat handlebar and a sculpted fuel tank. Within a month of launch Hunter 350 becomes the second highest selling Royal Enfield motorcycl
Hunter 350

Shotgun

Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 is a 648cc, parallel-twin motor that pumps out 46.40bhp at 7,250rpm and a peak torque of 52.3Nm at 5,650rpm. The oil-cooled engine is paired to a six-speed gearbox, with a slipper clutch. The factory-custom bobber based on the same platform as the new Continental GT 650. A limited edition Shotgun was launched at the Motoverse 2023 with an attractive blue-and-black color scheme. Later on the production version was revealed which had the same specifications as the Motoverse edition except the color scheme
Shotgun 650

Scram

The Royal Enfield Scram is a minimalistic street scrambler which is a close cousin to the Himalayan 411, even saying "Himalayan Scram" on the side panels and has the same fuel tank as the 2015-2023 Himalayan. It is powered by a 411cc BS6-2.0 emissions standard air cooled engine which produces 24.3 bhp and 32nm torque. It was launched in March 2022 as Enfield's first ADV crossover. Royal Enfield unveiled a new Scram model called the "Scram 440", as a replacement for the Scram 411 based on the same engine platform in November 2024. The new update model features an updated engine which goes up in cubic capacity from 411cc to 443cc; Power and torque have climbed from 24.3hp at 6,500rpm and 32Nm at 4,250rpm to 25.4hp at 6,250rpm and 34Nm at 4,000rp
Scram 440

Himalayan

The Royal Enfield Himalayan is an adventure touring motorcycle manufactured by Royal Enfield. It was revealed in February 2015 and launched in early 2016. Pierre Terblanche led the design team during Himalayan's development. It is specially designed for use on adventure trails. An entirely new Himalayan was launched on 24 November 2023, with a liquid cooled Sherpa 450 engine, switchable ABS as standard, and improved design and build quality. It is the first motorcycle in Royal Enfield's history to be powered by a liquid cooled engine. It was named the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450, and the old model was discontinued in November 202
Himalayan 450Sherpa 450

Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650

Royal Enfield unveiled a 650 cc twin-cylinder engine at their Technology Centre, Harris Performance Products, in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, England, in November 2017 to power a new generation of Royal Enfield motorcycles. It was showcased at the Milan Motorcycle Show on 7 November 2017 in Italy, where two motorcycles based on the engine, the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 were revealed. Both models were introduced to the US market in November 2018 to positive reviews. The Interceptor is marketed as the INT650 in the United States where Honda has a trademark on the "Interceptor" name. In 2020 to 2021, the 650cc twins were the best-selling motorcycles in Great Britain. The Royal Enfield Continental GT is a Neo-retro Café Racer .The first model to use the name, the Continental GT 250, was produced by Royal Enfield in 1960s Britain. The name was revived in the 2010s with the Continental GT 535 (now discontinued) and Continental GT 650.

Meteor 350/650

Royal Enfield launched a new lineup of cruiser motorcycles on 6 November 2020 named the Meteor. It replaced the Thunderbird 350 and 350X series which were discontinued earlier that year. It uses a 349 cc single cylinder engine featuring a single overhead camshaft system (SOHC), and a completely new engine with fewer moving parts than the 346 cc. A 648 cc, air cooled version of the bike has been revealed named the Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 which was released on January 16, 2023. It is the first Royal Enfield to offer the Tripper navigation systembr>Meteor 350

Guerrilla

The Royal Enfield Guerrilla is a new roadster unveiled on 17 July, 2024 by Royal Enfield. It is based on the 2023 Himalayan featuring the same chassis, 6-speed gearbox, and the 452cc liquid-cooled Sherpa Engine, with 39.47 bhp and 40 Nm of torque. The Guerrilla features a new rear sub-frame, 17 inch alloy wheels, and a 140mm telescopic fork front suspension, while reducing the stroke value of the rear suspension to 150mm. The bike features a minimalistic design with a smaller 11 litre fuel tank while retaining the round LED headlamp and flat-style handlebar, common amongst its three variants.

Bear 650

The Royal Enfield Interceptor Bear 650 was officially released on October 31, 2024. It has been described as "a stylish scrambler-styled standard based primarily on the brand's INT 650 model, though with some notable differences." On the Design and Styling front, Bear 650 comes with a scrambler seat, side panel number boards, and urban-off-road aesthetics. Full LED lights bring modern functionality. Derived from the Shotgun series this motorcycle uses Showa USD Forks, but optimized for scrambler duties with longer suspension travel. To complement its off-road credentials, the ride height has been raised. The Interceptor Bear 650 retains the Interceptor 650's brakes but upgrades the front disc size for added stopping power along with Dual-channel ABS with a switchable rear ABS. Equipped with a full-color TFT screen with integrated navigation brings modern tech to the classic platform. Powered by the 650cc parallel-twin engine delivering 47bhp and an increased torque of 57N-m (5N-m more than the Interceptor), while saving weight owing to two-into-one exhaust system.

Manufacturing plants

# Thiruvottiyur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India # Oragadam Industrial Corridor, Oragadam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India # SIPCOT Industrial Park, Vallam Vadagal, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

References

External links

* {{Authority control Royal Enfield Motors Motorcycle manufacturers of India Companies based in Chennai Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1955 Indian brands Indian companies established in 1955