The news went a little unnoticed, but the recent 2012 India Auto Expo saw the unveiling of a quite interesting new motorcycle, the Continental GT, by historic brand Royal Enfield.
Basically it is the first new motorcycle to come out with a Royal Enfield badge on the tank in over 40 years.
The model is a concept cafe racer that recalls the lines of the original ‘British’ Continental GT – a model that was quite popular in Europe in the late 60s – and it also shares the same 500 cc engine with its illustrious ancestor, but it has never been less ‘British’ than this.
With the exception of its 500 cc single-cylinder unit, this new Continental GT is their first bike ever to have been completely designed in India, with no parts lifted from the historic English models of the past.
However, Royal Enfield has become a fully-fledged Indian manufacturer by now.
In case you missed the last episodes, back in 1949 the ‘old’ Royal Enfield opened a satellite operation in Madras, India, and in 1955 the Indian government chose their 350cc Bullet model as bike of choice for both police and army, making an enormous order for it.
The English manufacturer shut doors in 1967, but the Indian plant just became independent and kept on producing the Bullet 350 and 500cc for years and years.
And they are still doing it today: Royal Enfield of India now holds the rights on the name and sells several variants of the Bullet – some of which under a different name – in over twenty countries across the globe.
Even though the Continental GT is loyal to the classic old school ‘British’ design, the model represents a huge step forward for the company, the first real attempt at something different than the usual Bullet-based product.
Unfortunately, no information has been released yet about production, performance and technical specs of the new Continental GT, but the work done so far by the Indian engineers is actually pretty interesting and worthy of attention.
We will be waiting for more news on the subject.