Remember those days of innocence, back in February of 2020, before the pandemic was more than a nagging worry?
At that time, I was more worried about the death of RE's biggest single, the 500 UCE. RE had just announced that the model's production would end with the production of the "Classic 500, Tribute Black", in classic glossy black paint, with gold tank striping hand painted by those brothers of the steady hand, the Kumar brothers. It was anticipated to be a collectors item, and orders were only to be taken online, between 2 and 5 pm on February the 10th of that year. Here's a report announcing the big event:
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/auto/royal-enfield-classic-500-tribute-specifications-price-launch/storyNow, a year and four months later, I see similar news reports, announcing that "the LAST 240 units of Classic 500 Tribute Black are to be shipped to Australia and New Zealand.
https://www.zigwheels.com/news-features/news/royal-enfield-classic-500-tribute-black-launched-in-australia-and-new-zealand/42417/ These, also hand painted by the brothers Kumar, are to be "the last of the last", but presumably were NOT preordered online between 2 and 5 pm on 2/10/2020. At the equivalent of about $7600, they are priced considerably higher than Classic 500s were selling for, back in the day when they were the premium export RE motorcycle, and more than a lot of folks have paid for their RE 650 twins.
So, what is going on? Rushlane continues to report ongoing sales of RE 500 UCE machines in the export market:
194 units in January of 2021
https://www.rushlane.com/royal-enfield-sales-jan-2021-exports-12394424.html 275 in February 2021
https://www.rushlane.com/royal-enfield-sales-exports-feb-2021-breakup-12397080.html 692 in March 2021
https://www.rushlane.com/royal-enfield-sales-exports-breakup-mar-2021-12400472.htmlMarch is the last month I've found export sales breakdowns for. That's 1,161 units, in the first 3 months of 2021? That's pretty good for a dead man!
Perhaps the actual situation is just as was stated by the down-under RE distributor, back in 2/2020, when it was reported, "that the Euro IV specification 500cc single cylinder motorcycle range will continue to remain available in all international markets".
https://advrider.com/reports-of-royal-enfield-500-singles-death-have-been-greatly-exaggerated/Or as my employer classifies our products, DISCONTINUED*
* Unless somebody orders it.