The iconic motorcycle brand, Royal Enfield, known for its rugged and tough looking motorcycles is now going to expand business operations to Philippines. Originally started as a British company around in 1893 setup primarily to cater to the transportation and ammunition needs of the British soldiers during the World Wars, it continues the legacy till date with the same charm. Though the company doesn’t enjoy a very huge market share in the Indian market, thanks to the advent of cheaper and more convenient motorcycles of today yet it enjoys its own share of market.

“Marketing-wise, we’re looking to fully establish and maintain the Royal Enfield marque in the country. This is a long-awaited moment for motorcycle riders, as its reasonable pricing and storied history make it stand out in the market. But we don’t want to just reach out to the hardcore enthusiast; we also want to touch base with newcomers to the riding community, particularly the 23- to 30-year-old riders,” Jimmy Barinaga, president and CEO, Royal Enfield Philippines, said.

In Philippines, the company made its debut at the Roadhouse Manila Bay where it showcased four 500cc touring motorcycles. The four motorcycles the Philippines crowd got to drool on are the Classic 500, the Bullet in Battle Green colour, the Classic Chrome and the Bullet Electra Deluxe. All the four motorcycles sported Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI), a toolbox on the right hand side and gas filled shock absorbers. Most of the components in the Royal Enfield motorcycles like the aluminum castings, side panels and chrome gas tank are handcrafted and also hand painted. With the signature thumping exhaust note coming out of the tailpipe, the on lookers surely would have enjoyed every bit of the display.

The iconic Indian motorcycle manufacturer, Royal Enfield showcased its new product, the Thunderbird 500 at the 2012 Auto Expo that was held in Delhi. The bike was just showcases at the event and not officially launched with no disclosure of its prices. The new Thunderbird is powered by the 500cc engine that has been carried over from the Classic 500. It is a single cylinder, 4-stroke, twinspark , air cooled engine that produces a maximum power of 27.2 BHP at 5250 RPM and a hefty torque of 41.3 Nm at 4000 RPM. The engine is mated to a 5 speed constant mesh gearbox via a wet multiplate clutch. The bike is expected to be launched by the company by mid-2012. It will be available in 3 colours – midnight black, matte metallic black and arctic winter black.

It’s a well known fact how good Enfield engineers are at designing the bike for the correct feel of ride comfort. The Enfield Thunderbird gets telescopic 41 mm forks at the front with a 130 mm stroke while at the rear; it gets twin gas charged shock absorbers with 80mm stroke. They are complemented with 90/90-19” spec tires at the front and 12080-18” tires at the rear. Stopping power of this bike is obtained from the 280mm twin piston calliper disc at the front and a single 240 mm single piston calliper disc at the rear. The Enfield Thunderbird 500 weighs about 195 kgs and has a wheelbase of 1350 mm. The overall length stands at 2060 mm, width 895mm and a height of 1300 mm. The fuel tank can now hold 20-liters of fuel, which gives it an increased range. A 55 watt projector headlamp ensures visibility on the highways at night. The Thunderbird is a cruiser and the pillion seat can be removed to accommodate luggage.

Currently, Royal Enfield sells the 350cc version of the Thunderbird and the company is expected to position this motorcycle right in between the Thunderbird 350 and the Classic 500. Overall, the design elements of the Thunderbird 350 has been exactly retained in the 500cc version of the motorcycle with the addition of the super smooth, super responsive 500 cc engine from the Classic 500. This makes it a good package which the Indian motorcycling enthusiasts are surely going to love. Since we have already tested the Classic 500 and were mighty impressed with its performance, it just needs to be found out how it fairs our test ride. So, stay tuned!

Royal Enfield also displayed the Cafe Racer Concept, Bullet 350 and Classic 500 Desert Storm at the 2012 Auto Expo.

Royal Enfield has just now announced the availability of riding gear. The company says that the quality is one of the best and has been made very thoughtfully for customers. The company also unveiled the Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500cc, which is powered by a 499cc fuel injected engine, producing 27.2 BHP of power and 41.3 Nm of torque.It is the very same engine that does duty on the Classic 500, but is powder coated black. The handlebar is now flatte while the front footpegs have been moved further ahead to ensure the Thunderbird remains of the best cuisers around. The 55W projecter headlight is all new, while a LED tail light and turn indicator are also a first for the Thunderbird. Royal Enfield has also added a rear disk brake to the Thunderbird 500 and the motorcycle will only be available in three version of black colour namely Arctic, Pirate and Matt.

The seats are now split and a new grab rail debuts on the Thunderbird. The telescopic forks at the front are now fatter at 41mm. The instrument cluster has been redesigned and now incorporates two digital tripmeters. Royal Enfield will launch the Thunderbird 500 in the later half of 2012 and it is expected to slot right below the Classic 500 in RE’s range.

A few months ago, we reported on the plans of Royal Enfield to launch exclusive lifestyle gear for Bulleters. Now the company will reveal these accessories for the first time officially at the upcoming Auto Expo, which takes place in New Delhi early next month. The company will also showcase its entire range of motorcycles along with a few concepts. The Royal Enfield Gear (as it will be known), will be available across all RE Brand Stores across the country. The branded gear is not only made for replicating Harley Davidson, but has been carefully designed to help riders on their motorcycles. The accessories have been carefully engineered to be comfortable while riding your bike.

So what all can we expect from Royal Enfield? Well there are riding boots, gloves, jackets, helmets, raincoats, rackers, panniers, etc. Royal Enfield does not plan to charge a premium for these products and intends to make it affordable for people to buy them. Expect value for money pricing on these, which will help the Bullet craze go one notch higher. Ducati has been offering riding gear through its website successfully and we hope Royal Enfield does the same. This will make it easier for buyers to order the riding gear from the historic bike maker.

It is a very rare scenario to find women driving motorcycles in India and even rarer is to see any woman driving an iconic motorcycle brand on the likes of Royal Enfield. However, things are about to change very soon. Say Hello to ‘HopOnGurls’, a Bangalore based motorcycling club which aims to change all this forever. This motorcycle club however is one with a twist. This club encourages women to take on the 2 wheels but not just any 2 wheels, only the ones made by Royal Enfield.

Royal Enfield motorcycles have been one of the iconic brands in the history of motorcycling in India which defined the real men! So, by default they became heavy to handle motorcycles at around 180kg. Though you don’t feel the weight once you start riding it, yet the very impression of the weight scares even most men away till date. However, just like Enfield who always encourages people to try out their motorcycles and experience them, this bike club offers to teach women how to ride a Royal Enfield motorcycle. So, if you are reading this, passionate about motorcycles and a female then take your phone and dial +91-9972226887 or email them at hopongurls(at)gmail(dot)com and start experience motorcycling Enfield style!

Good news for the motorcycle enthusiasts! Royal Enfield which is undoubtedly the king when it comes to experience raw motorcycling is providing free test drives across all the models it manufactures. Currently, this facility has been made available only in India and the US. All you have to do is click here and you will be taken to the official Royal Enfield site where you will be asked few details for registering yourself for the test ride. Just fill in these details and voila! You are done. Their representative will contact you shortly to give you your RE experience. You can request for test rides for more than one motorcycle also.

If you are a Royal Enfield fan you will surely remember a very special type of Royal Enfield which was showcased at the 2010 Auto Expo which was the Café Racer model. This particular model has swept all the RE fans by their feet and from 2010 everybody wanted to own this retro looking sporty Enfield. Back then RE said that it was a single model made for the Expo. Good news is that you can now buy the Café Racer model powered by the UCE500  in Royal Enfield showrooms itself but after an eager wait of one and a half years. By 2013 this dream bike of many will turn into a solid thumping reality. Café Racer will be made at the new production facility being built on 50 acres of land in Chennai.

If you think the wait is too much you can customize your RE to make it look like the Café Racer by buying special kits sold by Watsonian Squire of the UK and Classic Motorcycles of USA or spend huge amounts of money to make it look similar to Café Racer. We would rather suggest to wait for some more time and pick the original UCE500 powered Café Racer.

Royal Enfield has opened registrations for the Tour of Rajasthan 2011. Only 30 people will be part of this event with registrations priced at Rs. 16,000/-. The Tour of Rajasthan is 10 day ride that will take you through the Aravali mountain range. The Tour of Rajasthan will commence from Jaipur and will go through Mahansar, Bikaner, the Sand dunes of Jamba, Jaisalmer, Sam, Jodhpur, Kumbalgarh, Ajmer/Pushkar and converging back to Jaipur. Riders will go through all kinds of terrain ranging from tarmac, gravel, off-road and sand.

Accommodation will be on twin sharing. The company will provide bed and breakfast to every rider throughout the trip. Camping will be done on the sand dunes in Jamba and Jodhpur and staying in a heritage castle in Mahansar. Pillions are not allowed on this ride and each rider will have to bring his own bike, the primary eligibility criteria being that you need to posses a Royal Enfield Motorcycle. The cost of Petrol and other meals will be borne by each rider. However in camps and smaller towns, dinner will also be taken care of. A small team of Mechanics with some Spares will provide service support on the tour. You can register here.

Royal Enfield is planning to make higher capacity machines than what they do today. The company has seen increasing demand for its 500cc models, making them believe that a higher capacity machine is the next best thing to do. Furthermore, the recent entrance of Harley Davidson in India has made Royal Enfield sit up and take notice. The company wants to compete with Triumph as well as Harley and are thus looking at developing higher capacity motorcycles for both Indian as well as export markets. These motorcycles are expected to be launched in early 2013.

The higher capacity motorcycles will be a 750cc and 1000cc machine. However there is no news if the company will opt for V-twins or parallel twins. Whether Royal Enfiled will themselves manufature the engine is yet unknown but possibilities of a technical collaboration are also possible. This is not the first time Royal Enfield will be manufacturing twin cylinder engines, they had it earlier on the Carberry Enfields and Royal Enfield Meteor.

Royal Enfield had recently announced a new colour for the Classic 500, the Classic Chrome. However the company plans to launch the desert storm colour as well on the Classic. The new desert storm colour is nothing but sandy beige with matte finish. The colour looks smashing to say the least. However, it still falls short of the presence offered by Military Olive Green. The Military Olive Green is on sale in export markets and Royal Enfield cannot launch it in India as the colour is reserved for the armed froces. Thus, to satisfy our crave for military green, the company plans to offer desert storm, which comes a close second on the hot looking Classic. Do you like the new colour?