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ROYAL ENFIELD BITE THE BULLET FOR GREEN TRANSPORT Recently there has been considerable interest in diesel-powered motorcycles, with various prototype machines claiming impressive fuel consumption figures, often around 30-50% better than an equivalent performance petrol engine. However, there is a motorcycle that has been in production for over half a century that can repay owners with over 100mpg thanks to a new lean burn petrol engine. The Royal Enfield Bullet harks back to the time when a motorcycle was cheap and economical transport; following the Second World War much of Western Europe was mobilised on bikes. All that changed in the 1960’s with the advent of cheap cars like the Morris Minor and Mini. For the past two decades high power sports motorcycles have dominated UK sales, tempting riders with their performance rather than their economy. The UK’s top three selling motorcycles of 2006 are all supersports machines. At first glance the Bullet Electra is unchanged from the classic British bike of the mid-1950''s, however its new all-alloy 499cc engine was designed and developed in conjunction with the internationally respected Austrian power-train systems company, AVL. It had to retain the traditional appearance, simplicity, and sound of the British ‘single’ but with greater inherent reliability and performance coupled with better fuel consumption and the ability meet anticipated emissions legislation around the Globe. Numerous independent road tests of the Royal Enfield Bullet Electra-X all report astonishing frugality. Freelance journalist Jim Reynolds achieved a remarkable 106.7mpg over 189 miles on UK country roads, while Timandra Harkness wrote in the Daily Telegraph of 81.86mpg on a touring holiday in the Spanish mountains. Prices start at just over £3,500 on the road and insurance is some of the lowest on the market, making the Bullet Electra as affordable to buy as it is to run. Details from Watsonian-Squire on 01386 700907Notes Although production ceased in the UK in 1970, Royal Enfield motorcycles have been built in India since 1955. The factory currently produces 30,000 motorcycles per annum. The UK is their biggest export market.
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