We recently posted a spy pic of the pre-production version of the much publicized Royal Enfield Cafe Racer 535. It has now emerged that the upcoming flagship from Royal Enfield might be called as the Continental GT.
Before Bentley fans come and accuse RE of foul play, let us clarify that the Continental GT tag has been associated with Royal Enfield since about 5 decades. The Royal Enfield Continental GT250 was launched in 1965 and as the name suggests, was a 250cc four stroke motorcycle with Cafe Racer body work and 21 Bhp of max power. The Continental GT250 sported a fiber fuel tank and the motor was mated to a 5 speed manual gearbox.
The 2013 Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 aka Royal Enfield Cafe Racer 535 will be launched in mid-2013. The 2013 Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 has been spotted on several occasions within the last few days.
While the lead images shows the new bike being ridden by Eicher CEO Siddhartha Lal, the second image show the Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 being tested on the outskirts of Bangalore. Mr Siddharth Lal reportedly rode a pre production Continental GT 535 from Goa to Mangalore, through Gokarna on the NH17.
The upcoming bike will be powered by a single cylinder 535cc UCE engine which will have a bigger throttle body and a larger piston than the 500cc UCE motors. The 535cc mill will also have a remapped ECU and a lighter flywheel. The bike will ride on Pirelli tyres and will have a tubular steel constructed frame and swingarm with telescopic fork front suspension and a pair of Paioli gas-charged shock absorbers at the rear. The bike will have disc brakes on both the wheels and will be as much as 15 kilograms lighter than the Thunderbird 500.
I wish they take sufficient time to test/validate all parts (engine, chassis, fueling etc.) and performance (handling, exhaust-sound, reliability etc.) The ownership experience is extremely important for the buyer – especially if s/he is forking out more than Rs. 2 lakhs. This bike is too beautiful to be let down by such issues.
We all know that one of the prime essence of being a cafe racer in the golden years, is to strip the bike down of its heavier unwanted weight to be able to accomplish ‘The Ton’. So as per your expert opinion, do you think, the RE 535 Continental GT , with 180kgs and just 36bhp, will be able to achieve ‘The Ton’ ? And supposing it is not able to achieve this feat, will it still be entitled to call itself a ‘True’ Cafe Racer?
“…let us clarify that the Continental GT tag has been associated with Royal Enfield since about 65 decades. ”
A long time indeed! 🙂
Mid-2013
when can we expect the launch?