For sure the strikes hurt their strategic timeline for rollout in the West, what with our inconveniently pronounced seasonality for motorcycle purchases over here. And even though the 650s were clearly designed and intended to make inroads on our faster-paced western roadways, I imagine Enfield must also have to do a balancing act with their just shy of a thousand domestic dealerships in India, who must be howling at the 4 month waiting times for the shiny new 650s yonder too. I read somewhere that Enfield is taking a page from the Triumph playbook and looking to put up a factory in Thailand. Maybe it's just to better service their growing Southeast Asian markets, maybe to get the upper whip hand over their "uppity" domestic workforce. Maybe both? Whatever the case, it may serve as a buffer against future supply glitches well down the road.
Remember that most people in the States, even "avid motorcyclists", have never yet even heard of Royal Enfield, and I'll bet that at least 4 out of 5 might guess it has something to do with cutlery or maybe teapots. That said, with interest such as it is focused on the new 650s, I reckon as Fall nears there will be fine deals to be had in the dealerships on the "old hat" Bullets and Conti singles--maybe even the Himalayans, if rumors continue among those at all knowledgeable of the breed who haven't already bought one about some larger-engined Himi in the wings. Then, if those 650s
do start rolling out of the containers in big numbers only as the leaves turn, there might be a window for modest winter bargains there, once those eager beaver waiting list folks are appeased.
I for one, look forward to spotting my first 650 in the wild in much the same way as a bird watcher or teenage boy might yearn to see a fine pair of dancing boobies. But if I ever do get my hands on one, it'll be long after the hoopla and "scarcity" (whether engineered or not) have backed off several notches. I think I'd also like to see the dealership price of their nothing special spin-on oil filters come down a bit from its present 50-something bucks and maybe real printed workshop manuals and parts catalogs made available to the owners. The dealerships' happiness and profitability is
not MY main concern, particularly if it comes at my expense.
How Dancing Boobies Might Appear