[Kevin Mahoney]

I they can transfer the stuff from this great tech. center to the factory floor it be part of making RE great in the export markets. It may very well be one of the best decisions yet. http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/business/profile-inside-royal-enfields-new-1099020

[AmBraCol]

I'm definitely watching RE, curious as to where they're going.  My fear is that they'll price themselves out of the bracket they're in right now here in Coffee Country.  Triumph came in with a roar - and died without a whimper.  Too high priced for the market here.  Sure hope they keep a section in production for us "little guys".

[Carlsberg Wordsworth]

Not sure if anyone subscribes possibly to the UK magazine 'BIKE' but I noticed in the Feb issue that they have a small piece on the four UK factories of Royal Enfield, Triumph, Norton and CCM.

RE factory looks pretty good. By all accounts, the official tool supplier is King Dick as that company is still Brit owned. Personally, I liked the bike ramps that were sunken into the floor.

Is the advertising starting for the upcoming Twin release starting already I wonder.

[Guaire]

Very nice to see this progress taking place in England.
  Triumph’s come back bikes were so different from the Meriden machines. I never really felt a connection. Maybe because the Indian Royal Enfields stayed so long in the original design framework, this feels so much more a real comeback from the oblivion of 1967 - 1972. Very cool.

[Carlsberg Wordsworth]

I've just realised I said factory. I'd meant to say R&D centre.

I think you all knew what I meant though

[Rattlebattle]

Yes,I read the Bike article a while ago. Current (UK) MCN also has an article on what RE is doing - a friend showed it to me today. They do not intend the 650 series to compete with the Triumph Bonneville series. They wanted to do an update of the original Interceptor, but also to make it accessible to new(ish) riders. That is why it only produces 47bhp - to be close to the original and not to be intimidating. The R&D Centre is headed by two key ex-Triumph staff ( one of them former head of product development at Triumph). They mean business - my guess is that the new twins will be much better quality than anything designed in India, including the Himalayan. There are, apparently, some 15 bikes in the developing pipeline, based on the three existing platforms ie old singles, Himalayan and 650 twin. Although I’ll certainly test ride a twin I’m inclined to wait a little while to see what other juicy variants are forthcoming. If they develop them at the speed at which Triumph turns out different versions of the same basic bike eg Bobber and America from T120 Bonneville series (and why shouldn’t they with the facilities and location they now have?) it won’t be long before they are available. Me, I favour a more traditional twin in the mould of a cooking version. It was the softer twins that were always better in the real world. One with proper mudguards and exhausts parallel to the ground so that panniers can be fitted would be a good start. Exciting times ahead methinks.

[Richard230]

I always thought the weak link was the factory assembly process. It looks like the basic design of Royal Enfields are just fine, but when they get assembled at the factory that is when problems can occur. 

[Rattlebattle]

It’s both really; it depends what models one is talking about. There are certainly issues with the design of the iron barrelled bikes - piston, oil pump drive etc and, to a lesser extent with the UCE models (rear brake, primary chain auto-tensioner etc). When I bought my C5 in 2015 I got a pile of RE literature on the various models. In each case the leaflets banged on about how each bike, being largely hand built, was unique. We all know that in practice this meant bits of shop rag in the engine, loose or bad connectors etc. But I believe (hope) those days are gone. Alan Cathcart wrote an article about his visit to one of the new RE production lines. In it he stated that he had never seen a better, more modern setup and that included the quality control. It is my belief that more current design and construction methods (gear primary drive, spin-on oil filter, mainstream EFI, disc brakes, ABS, clutch assist etc designed in England and produced in state-of-the-art production lines will
finally rid RE of its poor reputation for shoddy build quality. The downside is likely to be a more mainstream pricing structure.

[Richard230]

I am looking forward to seeing a Royal Enfield factory video showing a modern assembly line like other large motorcycle manufacturers have, instead of a factory with hundreds of young men in blue uniforms wandering around in circles occupying space and looking confused. 

Here is a video of the BMW factory building their C-Evolution electric scooter.  Note the lack of hundreds of young men wandering around in circles occupying space and looking confused:      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrE2Q4culaU

[Rattlebattle]

Well, yes. Of course BMW bikes are so reliable these days and the faults they get are only minor aren’t they? I had Beemers for years, when high quality and premium price went hand in hand. TBH Japan and South Korea produce the most reliable stuff these days. Triumph are not trouble free.

[Bilgemaster]

I am looking forward to seeing a Royal Enfield factory video showing a modern assembly line like other large motorcycle manufacturers have, instead of a factory with hundreds of young men in blue uniforms wandering around in circles occupying space and looking confused. 

Here is a video of the BMW factory building their C-Evolution electric scooter.  Note the lack of hundreds of young men wandering around in circles occupying space and looking confused:      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrE2Q4culaU

I think I know just the Enfield factory video you're talking about, and yeah--not exactly single-minded Teutonic efficiency on display there. 

Still, even though the "sensible" part of me knows full well that I could fly back to my old home of Berlin, pick up one of those C-Evolution scooters at the factory there, and then drive it or any other current-day BMW motorcycle touring the length and breadth of Europe (presumably on a never-ending hunt for charging stations in the case of that C-Evolution all-electric scooter) without ever so much as glancing at the tool kit, the "sensitive" part of me would FAR rather do that trip on a well found mid-'60s R69S, or better yet, my old '57 Zündapp Bella R201 scooter, which has already gotten me over the Alps several times. There is perhaps NO better vehicle upon which to saunter into a small town Italian piazza than a Zündapp Bella.  Mine's maroon and black, but here's one in suitably "waspy trim" in deference to the predominant local scoot (Italian: "come una Vespa"):



Marvelous-handling rides, they are, with those big tires and leading-link suspension, and SO flawlessly engineered and constructed, and get this: "bullet-proof" reliable electric start...In the '50s!

So, all in all you see, I am more eager to take on the challenge of coaxing some living fossilized example of bygone technology happily down the road, my cast iron engined Enfield, than I am with embracing practical maintenance-free futurity. If that takes indulging that elderly dude in Chennai just wandering around with the broom wrong side up with that rather faraway glaze in his eyes, then so be it. Your mileage may vary.

[Richard230]

Well, I have to admit that they don't make them like that Zundapp Bella scooter anymore.     They used real steel in those days, instead of using plastic for everything that isn't under much stress. 

I am still upset about my 2005 Triumph Bonneville T-100 having plastic side covers - especially the one that covers the "tool kit", which consists of a single L-hex wrench that is used to remove the bike's seat.  Of course, you need a screwdriver to remove the "tool kit's" plastic side cover, which is not provided. 

[Rattlebattle]

Well, we Brits use a £2 coin, which is a perfect size to fit the slot in the fastener. That said, if you really think it's an issue (you don't,do you?) why not either just carry the Allen key in a pocket or buy a pair of the aftermarket extended seat retainers (and let anyone pinch your seat). FWIW the BMW F800GT only had an Allen key too (if you don't count the stupid and unnecessary plastic key thing used to turn the remote adjuster on the rear shock). Some owners didn't know it exists; it's hardly necessary as the adjuster easily turns by hand anyway. That said I never had any reason to have to remove the seats on either my F800GT or my Thruxton whilst out on the road..
Talking of interesting articles, in the current issue of Bike there's a mini test on the UK spec Himalayan, part of a feature about small GS type bikes. It scored 8/10, the same as the Honda 250cc something or other. They were quite impressed, especially at the price (some £1,000 cheaper than the Honda). Worth considering then, maybe.

[tooseevee]

Well, I have to admit that they don't make them like that Zundapp Bella scooter anymore.     They used real steel in those days, instead of using plastic for everything that isn't under much stress. 

               I was pretty impressed when I read that Bilgemaster owed (owns) a Bella.

                Back in the '50s when I was sending for every bike brochure I could find in Pop Mechanics and Mech Illustrated, the Zundapp Bella was one of those I would lay and bed and read about and stare at the pictures and lust after. It was an amazing looking thing for this kid in Cheyenne to be impressed by. I soon went totally harley however.

             There's a Bella on the cover of an Oasis album, BTW.

[Richard230]

               I was pretty impressed when I read that Bilgemaster owed (owns) a Bella.

                Back in the '50s when I was sending for every bike brochure I could find in Pop Mechanics and Mech Illustrated, the Zundapp Bella was one of those I would lay and bed and read about and stare at the pictures and lust after. It was an amazing looking thing for this kid in Cheyenne to be impressed by. I soon went totally harley however.

             There's a Bella on the cover of an Oasis album, BTW.

What I wanted was a Rabbit. I think it was made by a former WWII Japanese aircraft manufacturer.  It had hydraulic brakes, an automatic transmission and a bunch of other stuff that was completely over-kill for the early 1960's. Plus it was very expensive and not very reliable.  I think the company only made a few hundred of the scooters before they decided to move on to something else to keep their factory busy. I only saw one, going the other way on 19th Avenue in San Francisco.  But I was fascinated at the time by the claimed specifications and technology.