Royal Enfield Thunderbird

The iconic motorcycle manufacturer, Royal Enfield is contemplating on bringing out a 2-cylinder motorcycle for the Indian market. Mr. Venki Padmanabhan, Chief Excecutive Officer of Royal Enfield India said that the twin cylinder engine design will not stray away from the company’s traditions and it will be an offshoot of the of the simple British design of the model of the 1950s and ’60s. What Royal Enfield intends to do is carryover the old iconic design and plonk into it the latest technologies of the company.

At present, Royal Enfield is conducting a survey to identify potential customers for the model after which the company intends to go ahead with its development. The new bike is intended to be fitted 600 cc to 1000 cc engine with push-rod engine system in line with the company’s current engine family. According to Royal Enfield, defines the character of the single cylinder unit construction engines in which cam gears are attached to the crankshaft for actuating the pushrods, which then operate the rocker arm and the inlet exhaust valves.

Sometime earlier, Royal Enfield had plans to introduce diesel bikes in the Indian market. Mr. Padmanabhan also commented on this saying that the diesel development was just an exploratory exercise by the company and doesn’t have a plan to commercialize it on a mass market basis. Earlier it used to sell bikes under the Taurus brand in 2001. These continue to exist in states of Gujarat and Chennai and customers leverage the diesel engines for water pumps as well.

Royal-Enfield-Cafe-Racer-Concept-1

Source – Autocar Pro