At the moment, we’re seeing the rise of adventure bike enthusiasts all around the world. With more and more manufacturers getting into the trend to manufacturer affordable adventure bikes for the masses, Royal Enfield is planning to hop onto that freight train with the preview of their 2018 Royal Enfield Himalayan scrambler. (more…)
Most motorcycles are only built to accommodate to lovely bike enthusiasts. Sometimes it’s just one for those who enjoy the solo ride and some more with the assistance of a side car or even a wacky stretched out custom machine. So how is it possible that a large group of people are able to ride a single motorcycle without breaking it or themselves? (more…)
Spyshots of the Royal Enfield twin-cylinder motorcycles have been circulating around the internet for some time now, more or less confirming the manufacturer’s claim of working on a twin-cylinder engine, Autocar India reported.
It’s also obvious that Royal Enfield are also working on different models around that twin-cylinder engine, as evidenced by the photo above. The model in the foreground appears to be a cafe racer-styled model, while the one on the right looks to be a standard model.
The cafe racer has a rounded fuel tank with deep knee recesses, and a single seat. The standard model has a bench seat, which is offered as an option to the current Continental GT 535 buyers.
Apart from those features, both bikes are mechanically identical. The engines of bikes appear to be the same air- and oil-cooled parallel-Twin. The suspension and brake components looked to be identical, too.
Building many different models based on one engine or chassis platform saves development and production cost, while customers enjoy lower maintenance costs as most parts are shared amongst a few models.
Although widely speculated as 750cc, Royal Enfield has not officially confirmed it to be so. But, the mule has been testing extensively in Europe before being tested in India. Royal Enfield sold 651,107 bikes in India alone, compared to 15,383 exported last year. However, the current 500cc and 535cc variants made up less than 10% of the domestic number; the bulk of the sales were the 350cc models.
That has lent fuel to the speculation that the new bikes may even feature a capacity higher than 750cc, possibly even going above 800cc to rival Triumph’s best-selling 900cc Bonneville Street Twin lineup.
These new parallel-twin motorcycles are to make their international debut at the EICMA show in Milan this November, with an India launch slated for early 2018.
One of the biggest brands in the history of motorcycling has sparked the interest of one Indian company, Royal Enfield. Ever since news broke out that the Volkswagen Group is planning to let go of the giant Italian bike brand, it is rumoured that Royal Enfield was one of the entities approached for the next company in line to take over the giant red Italian brand. (more…)
The Royal Enfield Himalayan is a new model from the Indian motorcycle maker that marks its departure from the old classic designs and into more modern adventure bikes.
It is powered by a 411cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled, four-stroke SOHC engine that produces 24.5bhp and 32Nm of torque. Combined to a traditional five-speed constant mesh gearbox, the fuel supply system is also a traditional carburettor with a throttle position sensor.
The Himalayan is being hailed as a proper Adventure bike, one that can be repaired nearly anywhere in the world thanks to its old school technology.
So, while India celebrated the arrival of the highly anticipated Royal Enfield Himalayan, the joy was short lived by the fact that the Indian government banned the sales of Royal Enfield’s first adventure bike in New Delhi.
Indian motoring website Motorbeam.com reported that the new motorcycle will not be sold in the capital of India because it does not meet the Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) emissions standards, which is based on but differs from the European Emission Standards.
Though the new emissions standard only takes effect on the 1st of April 2016, the state government of New Delhi has decided to not allow the sale of new two-wheelers which do not comply with the BS-IV emissions standard. The Royal Enfield Himalayan is only BS-III compliant.
However, though the new bike will not be sold in Royal Enfield showrooms in Delhi, fans will still be able to use the bike in the capital city, they just can’t register the bike there.
Buyers will not be able to get a ‘DL’ (number plate for vehicles from Delhi), but rather will be able to get a ‘HR 26’ registration (given to vehicles from Gurgaon near Delhi), ‘HR 5’ (Faridabad, also close to Delhi) and ‘UP 16’ (Noida) registration numbers.
As for the emissions standards, the Indian government has declared that all two-wheelers that are launched till 31st March 2016 need to be BS-IV compliant by 1st April 2017.
What is Bharat Stage IV standard?
It is based on the European Emission Standards but with some differences to suit Indian conditions, and the Stage IV standards were introduced back in 2010. The Indian government recently announced that it will be skipping the introduction of the Stage V norms altogether and jump straight to the Stage VI standards by 2020.
The Bharat Stage IV standard is in effect in 13 major cities across India, and New Delhi is one of them.
