Forum

[spence]

When o when are enfield going to wake up,go right back to their roots and start making a v twin?Enfield have invested a lot of time and money in the continental cafe racer,which is,in my opinion a lovely bike to look at and from reading road tests a lot of fun to ride.However couldnt that money been invested a little more wisely in the development of a brand new V twin engine.What would be great would be a range of small capacity v twins along the lines of the moto-morini V twins with styling to match.(i always lusted after a morini but could never afford one,beautiful engine design ).Any opinions please on where royal enfield go next?cos as we all know a company that doesent innovate especially after such major investment will fail.
Now ive said my tuppence worth il sit back and take the flak :- )
Regards chris

[Mr h]

Hi spence I agree if not a v twin perhaps a parallel twin of 700 cc to give the the power for moterway. Work now that harley have produced a 500/ 700 twin mad in India !

[Alan (Lancashire)]

a 700 twin is not required in enfields home market , when triumph start production , next yr of there Indian built 250 and possibly 350 multi cyl bikes that have far more power than a bullet , enfields time is up.

there is a saving grace , its obvious that the new harris designed frame used in the continental GT was built for a larger engine , perhaps enfield are going to "think modern" and design something with a cam or two that sits above the piston?

[Alan R]

Hi guys------ Haven't we been down this "road" not so long back ?.........Like any other major manufacturer worth their salt RE aren't going to invest in design time, tooling, plant and equipment unless there's a proven, viable financial "model" that the main customer base will buy into....OK, having said all that "flowery" fiscal stuff, maybe a quick-sell idea could be either a replacement 500 twin ( Of their own design) for the Continental GT offered as a "Factory Replacement" kit OR]--- a variety of "Modification" kits to enable fitting of existing engines eg}---Triumph 500 twin etc....................However there could be one more approach and that would be to buy-out the Carberry Design entirely OR, help market it as a niche product ??..........Perhaps they need each other now ??

[spence]

Hi,as ive already stated enfield need to think innovation and while i agree that it would be an incredible risk to design a totally new engine (and bike)i fail to see where they can go from now without radical thinking.Opinions seem to agree that they have to move forward in some way and i would agree that there may be a clue in the frame of the continental.I suppose we will have to wait and see,i have had tremendous enjoyment and fraustration out of their products and long may that continue but i would like to see them continue well into this century or as long as the fuel holds out anyway.
regards chris

[apparently lucky eddie]

There are lots of pictures of the new 250 Triumph single on the interweb now - what a hideous looking item it is too. Just one more jaggy edged, crazy angled, "I wanna be a stealth fighter" lookalike. The car and bike designers really need to go back to basics, the new RE Conti might already be dated mechanically but it looks so much better than all the "street fighter" shite that is being spewed out by the major manufacturers. Now if Triumph were to produce a 250/350 single that looked like the RE Conti I might be in the market for one. Likewise if RE were to produce a decent small (350/500/700cc) V-twin I'd be interested. Meanwhile my 50 years old Tiger 90 will continue to get all the spares and attention she needs cos there is absolutely bugger all available to be bought new right now that does it for me.

[Midge]

There was lots of talk quite recently that Enfield are indeed designing what is likely to be a parallel twin of around 750cc – ready, probably in around 2015.

Read more: http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-new ... z2ogiHAYze

[Norm]

With the price tag they have put on the new GT out here I'd be surprised if they will sell then if the brought out a twin they would obviously jack the price of that up so why would anybody buy an Indian built twin when you can get good old Jap reliability in the W800 that is the same price here as the GT. If I was to buy another new bike it would never be another RE

[Alan R]

Yes NORM...And that's EXACTLY the problem they face.............Like Hinkley Triumph, when they first set-up shop they admitted that they could not take-on the Big Boys in Japan----so they catered for the then emerging "Retro-Look" market in the developed countries............Now, much further down the line things are different for them......Similarly RE cannot, DARE NOT take on the the big guys but should concentrate on niche markets that they know....Fortunately they can have 2 bites of the cherry ie]--- a blossoming commuter "Home Market" on their very doorstep ( so a cheapish 125 single 4-speed, 4-stroke (or electric) commuter maybe ?? ) AND}--- the continuing "Retro Market" in the rest of the world by linking-up with the likes of Caberry etc. to "Partner-in" an customer asked-for machine......Bearing in mind fuel and Insurance I think the 750 market is ideal for such a venture ( Guzzi V7 etc).......If RE were to support Carberry or Musket by co-producing a V-twin 750 at around £5,000, ( even as a "loss-leader" for a limited time) would you buy one ???

[apparently lucky eddie]

Yes, I'd go for one, so long as it stayed well clear of the HardlyDavison type bike. A nice sporty Ducati lookalike or sensible retro styled bike would do it for me.