Royal
Enfield was the brand of the Enfield
Cycle Company, an English engineering company. Most
famous for producing motorcycles, they also produced,
amongst other things, bicycles, lawnmowers, stationary
engines, and even rifle parts for the Royal Small
Arms Factory in Enfield. This legacy of weapons manufacture
is reflected in the logo, a cannon, and their motto
"built like a gun, goes like a bullet".
It also enabled the use of the brand name Royal Enfield
from 1890. In 1955 Enfield of India started assembling
Bullet motorcycles under licence from UK components,
and by 1962 were manufacturing complete bikes. The
original Redditch, Worcestershire - based company
dissolved in 1970, but Enfield of India, based in
Chennai, continued, and bought the rights to the Royal
Enfield name in 1995. Royal Enfield production continues.
History
In the early 1890s Albert Eadie and R.W Smith formed
The Eadie manufacturing company in Hunt End, near
Redditch. In 1893 the Enfield Manufacturing Co.Ltd.
was registered to sell the Enfield bicycle, built
by the Eadie Company. In 1896 The New Enfield Cycle
Co.Ltd. was formed to take over all bicycle activities.
In 1897 that became the Enfield Cycle Co.Ltd. Eadie
Manufacturing Co. then moved to other premises, and
the whole of the Redditch works became the premises
of the Enfield Cycle Company.
The first automotive vehicles with the Royal Enfield
name were produced in 1898 - a quadricycle with a
De Dion-Bouton 2.75 hp engine. In 1901 came the Motor
Bicycle with a 150 cc 1.5 hp engine above the front
wheel. In 1902 a similar contraption appeared with
an Enfield engine of 239 cc 2.75 hp.
In 1910 came the first of the famous Enfield V-twins,
first with Motosacoche 344 cc 2.75 hp engines, later
with Enfields own engine. Until World War I the big
twins with 770 cc six hp J.A.P. engines and after
WWI 976 cc eight hp Vickers-Wolseley engines. In 1915
came the first of the small two stroke 225 cc engines,
starting with model 200.
The company merged with Alldays & Onions in 1907
and produced cars called Enfield-Allday until 1925.
Inter-war years
During the 1920s a mid range of Enfields left the
Redditch factory: model 350 (350 cc SV), 351 (350
cc OHV) and 352 (350 cc twinport sports).
In the 1930s there was a large variety of models
from small two strokes to large side valves, from
A-Z. A 225 cc two stroke, B 225 cc sv, BO 250 cc ohv
Bullet, C 350 cc sv, CO 350 cc ohv, G 350 cc ohv Bullet,
H 488 cc sv, J 488 cc ohv, J2 488 cc two port ohv,
K 976 cc sv v-twin, L 570 cc sv, T 148 cc ohv, Z (Cycar)
148 cc two stroke and many more variants.
The first J model appeared in 1930. In 1938 the two
valve J model rockers were enclosed, and the engine
became upright.
In 1932, the first Bullet 500 cc single, with exposed
4 valve rocker gear and inclined engine, was introduced.
In 1935 this changed to three valves. These engines
had their integral oil tank in front of the crankshaft,
while post-war Bullet oil tanks were behind the crank.
They were dry sump, the integral tank being separate
from the crankshaft space.
Royal Enfield entered a 500 cc Four valve-Racing
model for the Senior TT 1935. This was the last TT
Royal Enfield entered.[5] Despite having entered in
the TT from 1911, the factory never managed a first
place.
The 1938 Model K sidevalve V-twin had grown to 1140
cc and was then called KX.
World War Two
During World War II, production changed to motorcycles
for the war machine. The models produced for the military
were the WD/C 350 cc sidevalve, WD/CO 350 cc OHV,
WD/D 250 cc SV, WD/G 350 cc OHV, WD/L 570 cc SV and
the "Flying Flea" - a 125 cc lightweight
motorcycle that was could be dropped (in a parachute
fitted tube cage) from aeroplanes.
Post-war
After the war the Enfield Cycle Company came back
with the last G and J pre-war models, and the "Flea".
In 1947 the Royal Enfield 500 cc Model J was back
in production, but was now fitted with telescopic
forks with two-way hydraulic damping instead of the
old pre-war girder forks. The front axle mountings
were offset forward of the fork legs.
In 1948 the J2 model, with 'twin exhaust ports' and
pipes, was released initially for export only. The
J2 exhaust port split into two after the exhaust valve,
so the difference was more for appearance.
The post-war J models had a rigid rear frame, and
a four-speed Albion gearbox with an extra lever that
the rider could press to find neutral. This was a
simple, solid 499 cc push-rod single with 84 mm bore
x 90 mm stroke and a compression ratio of 5.5 to 1.
It also used a fully floating white metal big end,
similar to those found in radial aircraft engines,
with the usual felt oil seals, Amal carb, and Lucas
magneto ignition. The fully floating white metal big
end could be replaced with an aftermarket caged roller
bearing conversion. By 1950 the compression had been
raised to 5.75 to 1, with a claimed power output of
21 bhp at 4,750 rpm. These were essentially torquey
sidecar machines.
In 1949 the first new models were introduced: the
350 cc full sprung Bullet, and a 500 cc twin. The
sportier alloy head, swing arm frame 350 cc Bullet
was a sensation. It was the 1954 350 cc Bullet model
which was to be made in India until the present (read
further down). In 1953 the 500 cc model appeared,
using the same bottom end. After 1956 a new frame
was introduced in the British-made version of the
Bullet, making it different from the 1954 model still
being produced in India. The British made version
was manufactured until 1964. The Bullet 350 and 500
also used the fully floating big end design.
The new swingarm frame 500 cc twin of 1949 would
eventually evolve into the Interceptor. The 500's
big end had no bearing inserts, the machined con-rod
running directly on the crank pin. In the 1956 700
cc Super Meteor, a development of the 500, conventional
babbit bearings were fitted, and were used on all
subsequent vertical twins.
The 500 cc Bullet engine produced 25 bhp at 5,250
rpm while torque peaked at 29 ft·lbf @ 3,600
rpm, From 2,000 rpm onwards torque did not fall below
25 ft·lbf till beyond 5,300 rpm.
Later models like the 250 cc Crusader (1957) and
700 cc Meteor (1955), were followed by the 250 cc
Continental GT (1965), the 700 Constellation (1959),
available with Royal Enfield's "Airflow"
full fairing, and the 736 cc Interceptor (1963).
Royal Enfield Interceptor
During the onslaught of the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers
in the late sixties and early seventies, the English
factories made a final attempt with the 1962 - 1968,[8]
series I and Series II. Made largely for the US market,
it sported lots of chrome and an engine performance
with less than 14 seconds to the quarter mile at speeds
well above 175 km/h (105 mph). It became very popular
in the US, but the classic mistake of not being able
to supply this demand, added to the demise of this
last English made Royal Enfield.[9]
The Redditch factory ceased production in 1967 and
the Bradford-on-Avon factory closed in 1970, which
meant the end of the British Royal Enfield.
After the factory closed a little over 200 Series
II Interceptor engines were stranded at the dock in
1970, originally on their way to Floyd Clymer in the
US, but unfortunately he had just died, and his export
agents, Mitchell's of Birmingham, were left to dispose
of them. They approached the Rickman brothers for
a frame, and the Rickman brothers' main problem had
always been engine supplies, so a limited run of Rickman
Interceptors were promptly built.
As far as the motorcycle brand goes though, it would
appear that Royal Enfield is the only motorcycle brand
to span three centuries, and still going, with continuous
production. A few of the original Redditch factory
buildings remain (2006) and are part of the Enfield
Industrial Estate.
Enfield Indians
From 1955 to 1960 Royal Enfields were painted red,
and marketed in the USA as Indian Motorcycles by the
Brockhouse Corporation, who had acquired the rights
to the Indian name after it went under in 1953. Floyd
Clymer, of manual fame, was involved, but Americans
were not impressed by the badge engineering, and the
venture was unsuccessful. It was rather ironic that
Enfields went 'Indian' in two different ways. The
largest Enfield "Indian" was a 700 cc. The
marketing agreement expired in 1960 and from 1961
Royal Enfields were available in the US, still through
Clymer, but under their own name, up until Clymer's
death in 1970.
Enfield India
Royal Enfields had been sold in India from 1949.
In 1955, the Indian government looked for a suitable
motorcycle for its police and army, for use patrolling
the country's border. The Bullet was chosen as the
most suitable bike for the job. The Indian government
ordered 800 350 cc model Bullets, an enormous order
for the time.
In 1955 the Redditch company partnered Madras Motors
in India in forming 'Enfield India' to assemble, under
licence, the 350 cc Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle
in Madras (now called Chennai). In 1957 tooling equipment
was sold to Enfield India so that they could manufacture
components. The first machines were assembled entirely
from components shipped from England, but by 1962
all components were made in India. The Indian Enfield
uses the 1960 engine (with metric bearing sizes),
in the pre-56 design frame.
An independent manufacturer since the demise of Royal
Enfield in England, Enfield India still makes an essentially
similar bike in 350 cc and 500 cc forms today, along
with several different models for different market
segments.
This article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from
the Wikipedia article "Royal
Enfield".
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