It was a long time since I rode a 500 cc motorcycle but some of us stay young at heart at any age. Most machines unfortunately age and become obsolete. I was therefore a bit sceptical when invited to ride Royal Enfield’s latest bikes near the deserts of Jaisalmer. This venerable brand had been the warhorse of British armies and has been soldiering on for the military, police and some civilians since it was made in India from 1955. I knew it as a big, heavy and rather sluggish classic looking bike that had a great presence but could not compete with the quick and nimble Japanese machines.
The kick starter is now rarely used as there is a convenient electric self starter and five gears instead of four. It now also has electronic fuel injection for better fuel efficiency and performance. Long stroke gas pressure shock absorbers make the ride much more comfortable and disc brakes make it much safer. There is also no oil leaks as in the bad old days. Though the old 350 cc 18 HP bike is the mainstay the demand has been shifting towards the quite peppy 500 cc 27 HP models. The paint, chrome finish and instrumentation compares with any modern bike and one is now world standard.
The main architect of all these changes, Vikram Lal, explained that there had also been huge changes in the plant to replace old production machines with the latest CNC and other innovations so that the bikes are now being successfully exported to Europe, Britain and USA. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the sales that had been a miserable 2,000 a month for many years have now gone up to 7,000 and that the demand now exceeds supply.
We tried out the new shiny Classic Chrome and the olive green Desert Storm. In the saddle they accelerated effortlessly with a typical throaty dhug, dhug, dhug sound that has fortunately remained unaltered. The Rajasthan roads were good so we could enjoy banking at good speeds though we had to be careful of sand blown onto the tarmac that could be very skiddy. The beauty of a bike is that they can give you an unsurpassed sense of speed even at safe speeds as the wind tears wildly at ones clothes. The Royal Enfield range costs between `1 and `1.2 Lakhs that is far less than the prices of the super bikes from Harley, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha on which some rich and spoiled brats endanger their lives.
The writer is an automotive expert and the former editor of a national magazine