Cw First Ride 2014 Royal Enfield Continental Gt

CW FIRST RIDE 2014 ROYAL ENFIELD CONTINENTAL GT

Back to the Ace café via chennai (the Detroit of India)

John Burns

IS IT ALL ABOUT HERITAGE? Royal Enfield’s roots date back to the 19th century and its Bullet— whose engine the new Continental GT is based upon—was first produced in 1933. That makes the Bullet the oldest motorcycle in the world in continuous production.

In 1967, RE shuttered its plant in Redditch, England. But by then, its subsidiary in India had already been stamping out Bullets for years. In India, where millions of tiny tiddlers provide transportation

for 1.2 billion inhabitants, the Bullet in 350 and 500CC sizes is an aspirational motorcycle.

With the rise of the Indian middle class driving demand through the roof, it seemed like a good time to build a big new factory and come out with a truly new Royal Enfield, carrying forward no parts from the original Bullet. The new EFI unit-construction powerplant debuted in 2007 and now sees duty in the Continental GT’s engine bay, punched out to 535CC (87 x 90mm). A steel frame designed by Harris Performance carries beautiful new bodywork courtesy of Xenophya Design (both UK companies), brakes from Brembo, alloy Excel rims with fat spokes, Paioli shocks, 41mm fork tubes, and all the right “café racer” design elements. The red paint, thanks to the new paint shop in the new factory, looks very nice, too.

What better place to introduce your new Indian-built British classic than London? Hit the starter (or kick the kickstarter) and the air-cooled, fuel-injected thumper mumbles to life more than rumbles, even with the louder accessory exhaust our testbike is wearing. Injection mapping isn’t great; there’s a dead spot off idle that requires a few revs to bypass when leaving from a stop (sometimes it flames out anyway), but once rolling, there’s good torque down around 2,000 to 3,000 rpm. RE claims 32 foot-pounds at 4,000 rpm. Horsepower maxes out at 29.1 at 5,100 rpm according to RE’s specs, and past that, the tachometer needle is in no hurry to get to the cutout at 5,500 rpm. Throbbing around London at 40 or 50 mph is no problem, but on the motorway toward Brighton, a bit over 80 mph indicated is top whack—modern proof why The Ton was such a big deal. A sedate 65 has you in the meat of the clipon bars’ vibration zone.

A Honda CBR250R would give the Conti a real run for its money. Then again, the CBR’s just another plastic motorcycle, and everybody in London’s eyeballing the Continental GT. For sure, this bike’s not about horsepower. The GT could probably rule a tight downhill set of curves on its Pirelli Demons, but from a purely functional standpoint, compared to the 337-pound, 68-hp KTM 690 Duke, it’s a lovable antique.

Eureka! Reliable modern bikes that look like antiques are just what many doctors are ordering lately—to be transported to a happy, simpler time without the need to bring tools. Hats off to Royal Enfield for producing a bike like the Continetal GT that will appeal to that crowd while still being affordable enough, at around $5,995, to get the attention of hipsters. cw

SPECS

ROYAL ENFIELD

CONTINENTAL GT

PRICE:

$5,995

ENGINE: sohc single DISPLACEMENT: 535cc SEAT HEIGHT: 31.5 in. FUEL CAPACITY: 3.6 gal. CLAIMED WET WEIGHT: 412 lb.