A Claim to the Crown
1901 royal enfield is the oldest motorcycle you can buy 1902 triumph gets rolling 1903 Harley makes a lot of noise that can’t prove they made jack until 1904 a fifth point the Indians were long gone by the time Polaris next badge so Enfield is the oldest and they’ve stayed [Music] true
A Quiet Survival
When Japanese innovation shuttered the British branch in 1970 well no one told royal enfield of India they quietly kept making the same ancient machines every day unworried and unhurried in their own local market largely unchallenged by the outside world.
Low Expectations
So I expect this Continental GT 650 cafe racer to be about the same as the Continental GT they made four original 1960s cafes all made like a gun ancestrally speaking the previous Continental 535 single has a frame that operates like a waterbed jiggly their bestseller the classic has a throttle that operates like a suggestion box twist your wrist look like we’ll think about going faster in fields first exports North America the bullet has an odometer that operates like a bomb timer its hallmark feature to reliably and suddenly fall to pieces on their latest export the Himalayan famously snaps off parts in its own promo video there slowly and deliberately burying their own brand.
A New Beginning
When someone unusual happens [Music] the prodigy gets busy in 2015 he acquires Paris performance the geniuses behind tubular steel chassis z’ that actually work reinforced into razor precision by hard mounted engines siddharta steels Japan’s fueled wizard lately of Suzuki to dial twin mike uni bodies with Bosch fuel injection then in 2017 he builds anar adi centre in leicestershire conveniently closer to the homes of triumph engineers and test riders and serving fresh vindaloo obviously and field wins over their allegiance and high standards little this ground work has never come together before until now.
Battling Reputation
Battles on against a bad reputation an Enfield knows it shouting about the 656 our one thousand seven point it’s inspection center in Texas its three-year warranty it feels like a marketing ploy offering triple the warranty of an undoubtedly better built Kawasaki W 800 I mean guaranteed piece of crap is still a piece of crap we needed to shine our own light see for ourselves if this penetrates end fields dark ages.
First Impressions & Build Quality
Aluminum engine covers their hands polished cookie cutter tank scenes and stickers hmm but the paintwork merits of builders pride and field1 ups to ups three ups the industry year where most bikes come in black and not black clip-ons look cafe racer right there cleverly up swooped four full handlebar comfort yet with enough slide room on the forks to drop into full tuck speed mmm mr. conscientious assisted slipper clutch. A clutch simplified one side goes to the engine another to the wheel pushed together each plate drives the other machine more carefully and our wheel can slit faster than the engines there’s no skidding hopping crashing or dying on poor downshifts machine even more intricately and the engine drive squeezes the clutch together so I can get away with lighter springs that’s finesse so is matching our ignition to the locks and the side panel conceals a seat release no doubt ooh and also a toolkit such manners even premium machines neglect and finally the raw horsepower 47 horses would have been competitive in the air-cooled parallel-twin segment 60 years ago still doesn’t feel like an old Nighthawk feels more like a nude though .
The Riding Experience
Royals first-ever 6-speed gearbox is a miracle delicate accurate it unseats the shifting kings in one shot the geometry 1398 mill wheelbase 24 degree rake could be stenciled off at GSXR clumsy to be 18 inch wheels couldn’t be but the tires fitted to him are so skinny so generously expensive it still turns sharp brakes are by bar em bow wired to bosch to channel abs and plunged by steel braided lines gratuitous luxury for a single disc bike then there’s the most enormous sixth gear she’ll do 140 of the Bulova idle which the underpowered bike can get away with because it makes 80 percent of its grunt below 3000 RPM ton up yes but forget miles per hour and feel just leapt ahead years.
The Future is Now
The oldest brand you can buy is what will be riding in the future if sparse dealerships and months delayed parts say anything it’s that Enfield is expanding faster than their own infrastructure and ten years ago royal made 50,000 bikes annually today a million no hyperbole how can you resist that India’s economy of scale is on another planet top shelf bikes now start at 5 grand $10,000 quality for a nickel so royal enfield bring on the half-price super sports and do sports cruisers and tours that’s the future and it’s yours.