The oldest motorcycle company makes changes after five decades – and plugs some leaks!
Royal Enfield (RE), India’s oldest motorcycle company, makers of the legendary Bullet motorcycle, starting 60 years ago did not change any model or make any significant technological upgrade for 55 years. It was selling approximately 30,000 of its bolted gearbox model bikes per year. It used to have four gears, with the foot-operated gear shift lever (GSL) on the right hand side (RHS) and foot-brake pedal (fbp) on the left. Yet all other bikes (except Bullet and Jawa/Yezdi) had fbp on the right hand side and GSL on the left. For people who wanted to upgrade from small Indo-Japanese bikes like Bajaj Pulsar & Hero Honda to Bullet, this was a problem because of the fbp and GSL being on opposite sides.
Royal Enfield (RE) commissioned AVL of Austria to change this configuration: change to fbp on RHS and GSL on LHS. In addition, instead of four gears, have five gears, which gives a much better torque spread and improves mileage.
In addition, RE also incorporated the gearbox inside the crankcase like the Japanese bikes and the result is the Unit Construction Engine (UCE), and the bolted gearbox disappeared.
The biggest drawback of the old Bullets was engine oil leak from the crankcase. Apart from poor machining and poor quality gasket, the number of bolts holding the cover to the crankcase was just not enough to hold it tight enough to prevent oil leaks.
Now the crankcase shape has changed, the gasket has improved and the number of bolts holding the cover to the crankcase has more than doubled. This has stopped oil leaks.
With the above changes and improvement in the quality of machining, gaskets and tolerances, the overall quality and efficiency of RE Bullets has improved tremendously and it has become dearer.
There are totally 11 models and variants of this two-wheeler (Bullet), and come in three engine sizes. The largest is the 535 cc Bullet Continental GT having a single spark plug, which produces 29.1 bhp at 5100 rpm. All other Bullets have twin spark plugs. Next is the 500 cc twin spark plug engine which produces 27.2 bhp at 5250 rpm and the third is the 350 cc twin spark plug engine which produces 19.8 bhp at 5250 rpm.
Technically the best Bullet is the model Bullet500, which, though having twin spark plugs and same engine size as the other 500 cc engines, produces 26.1 bhp (1.1 bhp less than the other 500 cc engines), but at a lower rpm of 5100 rpm which is the same rpm as the Continental GT. Bullet500 produces its maximum torque at a low 3800 rpm, which is the slowest revving engine in the whole country and probably in the whole world.
Bullet500 gives the most distinct thump (99.9 percent people buy Bullet for the thump) among all Bullets. Not only that, it also has the highest Engine Life Factor
Bullet500 gives the most distinct thump (99.9 percent people buy Bullet for the thump) among all Bullets. Not only that, it also has the highest Engine Life Factor of 2.307 which is again the highest in the whole world.
The Royal Enfield Bullet was originally a British overhead valve single cylinder fourstroke motorcycle made by Royal Enfield in Redditch, West Midlands, but now produced by Royal Enfield Motors, the successor to the British company, at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Royal Enfield Bullet has the longest production run of any motorcycle having remained continuously in production since 1948. The Bullet marque is even older, and has passed 75 years of continuous production. The Royal Enfield and Bullet names derive from the company’s links with the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, London.
By Dilip Bam
