Royal Enfield celebrates Indian heritage

13 years, 8 months ago - 14 March 2011

Royal Enfield has begun as English motorcycle builder way back in the late 1800s. The company worked on more or less well into the second half of the 20th Century in England, before finally closing up shop cause the financial problems.

The name, however, survived through Indian-built versions of their bikes. A factory in Indian began churning out Royal Enfield Bullets in 1956, using parts sourced from the factory in England. By 1962, nine years before the English shop closed down, Enfield of India was building bikes from scratch using the original English design.

The Indian brand continued working after Royal Enfield officially died, and, in 1995, bought the rights to use the Royal Enfield name. Royal Enfiled Bullet 350s and 500s are still produced en masse in India, making Royal Enfield the oldest motorcycle brand still in production. Now, the Indian bike maker offers fully modern machines that only add to the brand's desirability.

To celebrate its history and the perseverance of the Indian arm of the company, Royal Enfield released a video touting its Indian heritage.