Royal Enfield was a brand name under which The Enfield Cycle Company Limited of Redditch, Worcestershire sold motorcycles, bicycles, lawnmowers and stationary engines which they had manufactured. Enfield Cycle Company also used the brand name Enfield without Royal.
The first Royal Enfield motorcycle was built in 1901. The Enfield Cycle Company is responsible for the design and original production of the Royal Enfield Bullet, the longest-lived motorcycle design in history.
Enfield's remaining motorcycle business became part of Norton Villiers in 1967 and that business closed in 1978. A former subsidiary continues to manufacture Royal Enfield motorcycles in India.
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History
George Townsend set up a business in 1851 in Redditch making sewing needles. In 1882 his son, also named George, started making components for cycle manufacturers including saddles and forks. By 1886 complete bicycles were being sold under the names Townsend and Ecossais. This business suffered a financial collapse in 1891. Albert Eadie, sales manager of Birmingham's Perry & Co Ltd, pen makers who had begun to supply components for cycles, and Robert Walker Smith, an engineer from D. Rudge & Co, were chosen by Townsend's bankers to run the business. Then, in 1892, the firm was re-incorporated and named Eadie Manufacturing Company Limited; it was based in Snow Hill, Birmingham. Later, in 1907, after serious losses from their newly floated Enfield Autocar business, Eadie Manufacturing and its pedal-cycle component business was absorbed by Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA). Years later, the BSA chairman was to tell shareholders that the acquisition had "done wonders for the cycle department". Eadie still retained a separate identity when Raleigh bought BSA's cycle interests in 1957.
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Eadie had won contracts to supply precision parts for fire arms to the government's long-established Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, Middlesex, now the London Borough of Enfield with its offshoot in Sparkbrook and had assumed the brand name Royal Enfield. In 1896 they also incorporated a new subsidiary company, The New Enfield Cycle Company Limited, to handle much of the cycle work and in 1897 Enfield making complete cycles as well parts for other assemblers took all the cycle assembly work from Eadie.
Enfield diversified into motor cycles, 1901 and motor cars, 1902. The motor department was put into a separate subsidiary, Enfield Autocar Company Limited incorporated in 1906 and established in new works at Hunt End, Redditch. However Enfield Autocar after just 19 months reported a substantial loss and, aside from Eadie himself, shareholders were unwilling to provide more capital so in early 1907 Eadie sold his control of Eadie Manufacturing to BSA. Albert Eadie and Robert Walker Smith had been appointed directors of BSA before the proposed sale ha been put to shareholders. The new combined BSA and Eadie business manufactured "military and sporting rifles, (pedal) cycle and cycle components, motor-cars etc." "BSA and Eadie cycle specialities". But there were still minority Eadie shareholders alongside BSA in 1957.
The business of Enfield Autocar, that is to say the plant and stock, was sold to Birmingham's Alldays & Onions Pneumatic Engineering. Enfield Cycle Company took over the Hunt End premises.
In 1955, Enfield Cycle Company partnered with Madras Motors in India in forming Enfield of India, based in Chennai, and started assembling the 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle in Madras. The first machines were assembled from components imported from England. Starting in 1957, Enfield of India acquired the machines necessary to build components in India, and by 1962 all components were made in India.
Frank Walker Smith (1888-1962), eldest son of Robert Walker Smith, joined Enfield Cycle Company in 1909. Appointed joint (with his father) managing director in 1914 he took over the full responsibility when his father died in 1933. After his death Enfield was bought by investors E & H P Smith who sold Enfield for £82,500 to Norton Villiers in 1967. While Norton Villiers acquired 33 per cent of Enfield India the assets of Enfield's diesel engine division and pedal cycle and spares divisions were not picked up.
Royal Enfield produced bicycles at its Redditch factory until it closed in early 1967. The company's last new bicycle was the 'Revelation' small wheeler, released in 1965. Production of motorcycles ceased in 1970 and the original Redditch, Worcestershire-based company was dissolved in 1971.
Enfield of India continued producing the 'Bullet', and began branding its motorcycles 'Royal Enfield' in 1999. A lawsuit over the use of 'Royal', brought by trademark owner David Holder, was judged in favour of Enfield of India, who now produce motorcycles under the Royal Enfield name.
Products
By 1899, Royal Enfield were producing a quadricycle - a bicycle modified by adding a wrap-around four-wheeled frame, retaining a rear rider-saddle with handlebars - having a front-mounted passenger seat, driven by a rear-mounted De Dion engine.
After experimenting with a heavy bicycle frame fitted with a Minerva engine clamped to the front downtube, Enfield built their first motorcycle in 1901 with a 239 cc engine.
A light car was introduced in 1903 powered by either a French Ader V-twin or De Dion single cylinder engine. In 1906 car production was transferred to a new company, the Enfield Autocar Co Ltd with premises in Hunt End, Redditch. The independent company only lasted until 1908 when it was purchased by Alldays & Onions.
In 1907, Enfield merged with the Alldays & Onions Pneumatic Engineering Co. of Birmingham, and began manufacturing the Enfield-Allday automobile.
By 1910, Royal Enfield was using 344 cc Swiss Motosacoche V-Twin engines, or large-displacement JAP and Vickers-Wolseley engines.
In 1912, the Royal Enfield Model 180 sidecar combination was introduced with a 770 cc V-twin JAP engine which was raced successfully in the Isle of Man TT and at Brooklands.
First World War (1911-1921)
In 1914 Enfield supplied large numbers of motorcycles to the British War Department and also won a motorcycle contract for the Imperial Russian Government. Enfield used its own 225 cc two-stroke single and 425 cc V-twin engines. They also produced an 8 hp motorcycle sidecar model fitted with a Vickers machine gun.
Inter-war years (1921-1939)
In 1921, Enfield developed a new 976 cc twin, and in 1924 launched the first Enfield four-stroke 350 cc single using a Prestwich Industries engine. In 1928, Royal Enfield began using the bulbous 'saddle' tanks and centre-spring girder front forks, one of the first companies to do so. Even though it was trading at a loss in the depression years of the 1930s, the company was able to rely on reserves to keep going. In 1931, Albert Eddie, one of the founders of the company, died and his partner R.W. Smith died soon afterwards in 1933.
Second World War (1939-1945)
During World War II, The Enfield Cycle Company was called upon by the British authorities to develop and manufacture military motorcycles. 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 and WD/L 570 cc SV. One of the most well-known Enfields was the [ designed to be dropped by parachute with airborne troops.
In order to establish a facility not vulnerable to the wartime bombing of the Midlands, an underground factory was set up, starting in 1942, in a disused "Bath Stone" quarry at Westwood, near Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. Many staff were transferred from Redditch and an estate of "prefabs" was built in Westwood to house them.
As well as motorcycle manufacture, it built other equipment for the war effort such as mechanical "predictors" for anti-aircraft gunnery: the manufacture of such high precision equipment was helped by the constant temperature underground. After the war the factory continued, concentrating on engine manufacture and high precision machining. After production of Royal Enfield motorcycles ceased, the precision engineering activities continued until the final demise of the company.
Postwar Model G and Model J and ex-military C and CO (1946-1954)
Postwar, Royal Enfield resumed production of the single cylinder ohv 350cc model G and 500cc Model J, with rigid rear frame and telescopic front forks. These were ride-to-work basic models, in a world hungry for transport. A large number of factory reconditioned ex-military sv Model C and ohv Model CO singles were also offered for sale, as they were sold off as surplus by various military services.
In 1948, a groundbreaking development in the form of rear suspension springing was developed, initially for competition model "trials" models (modern enduro type machines), but this was soon offered on the roadgoing Model Bullet 350cc, a single cylinder OHV. This was a very popular seller, offering a comfortable ride. A 500cc version appeared shortly after. A mid 1950s version of the Bullet manufacturing rights and jigs, dies and tools was sold to India for manufacture there, and where developed versions continue to this day.
500 Twins, Meteors, Super Meteors and Constellations 1949-1963
In 1949, Royal Enfields version of the now popular selling parallel twins appeared. This 500cc version was the forerunner of a range of Royal Enfield Meteors, 700cc Super Meteors and 700cc Constellations. Offering good performance at modest cost, these sold widely, if somewhat quietly in reputation. The 700cc Royal Enfield Constellation Twin has been described as the first Superbike.
250 cc models
The 250cc class was important in the UK as it was the largest engine which a 'learner' could ride without passing a test. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Royal Enfield produced a number of 250 cc machines, including a racer, the 'GP' and a Scrambler, the 'Moto-X', which used a modified Crusader frame, leading link forks and a Villiers Starmaker engine. The Clipper was a base-model tourer with the biggest-seller being the Crusader, a 248 cc pushrod OHV single producing 18 bhp (13 kW).
In 1965, a 21 bhp (16 kW) variant called the Continental GT, with red GRP tank, five-speed gearbox (which was also an option on the Crusader), clip-on handlebars, rearset footrests, swept pipe and hump-backed seat was launched. It sold well with its race-styling including a fly-screen resembling a race number plate which doubled as a front number plate mount.
The Avon 'Speedflow' full sports fairing was available as an extra in complementary factory colours of red and white.
Other variants were the Olympic and 250 Super 5, notable for use of leading-link front suspension (all the other 250 road models had conventional telescopic forks) and the 250 'Turbo Twin', fitted with the Villiers 247 cc twin cylinder two-stroke engine.
The Royal Enfield GP production-volume racer was first raced in the Manx Grand Prix in September, 1964. Developed in conjunction with Royal Enfield Racing Manager Geoff Duke the first public appearance was at Earls Court Show in November, 1964. Using a duplex-tube frame, leading link forks and one-piece tank and seat unit, the 250cc two-stroke single engine was similar to other small capacity race machines offered from rivals Greeves, Cotton, DMW and particularly Villiers, which provided the engines for these marques and many other manufacturers and bike-builders including the 'Starmaker' competition engine used for the Scorpion racer and Sprite scrambler.
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 692cc Interceptor in 1960 -1961 followed in 1962-1968 by the 736cc Series I and Series II Interceptors. Made largely for the US market, it sported lots of chrome and strong performance, completing the quarter mile in less than 13 seconds 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.
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 two hundred Series II Interceptor engines were stranded at the dock in 1970. These engines had been on their way to Floyd Clymer in the US; but Clymer had just died and his export agents, Mitchell's of Birmingham, were left to dispose of the engines. They approached the Rickman brothers for a frame. The main problem of the Rickman brothers 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 (2009) and are part of the Enfield Industrial Estate.
Enfield Indians
From 1955 to 1959, Royal Enfields were painted red, and marketed in the USA as Indian Motorcycles by the Brockhouse Corporation, who had control of the Indian Sales Corporation (and therefore Indian Motorcycles) and had stopped manufacturing all American Indians in the Springfield factory in 1953. But Americans were not impressed by the badge engineering and the marketing agreement ended in 1960, and from 1961, Royal Enfields were available in the US under their own name. The largest Enfield 'Indian' was a 700 cc twin named the Chief, like its American predecessors.
Enfield India (since 1949)
Royal Enfield motorcycles had been sold in India since 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 joined Madras Motors in India in forming "Enfield India" to assemble, under licence, the 350 cc Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle in Madras (now called Chennai). Under Indian law, Madras Motors owned the majority (over 50%) of shares in the company. In 1957 tooling equipment was sold to Enfield India so that they could manufacture components.
Enfield of India continued producing the 'Bullet' long after the UK factory's bankruptcy, and changed its branding to 'Royal Enfield' in 1999. The 'Royal Enfield' name and rights had been purchased by Matt Holder of Aerco Jigs and Tools, at the bankruptcy sale in 1967. The business passed on to his son, David Holder, of the Velocette Motorcycle Company of Birmingham, UK. The Holder family has produced spares for Royal Enfield motorcycles continuously from 1967 through to the present, but did not trade under the Royal Enfield name. While David Holder objected to the use of 'Royal Enfield' by Enfield of India, a UK court ruled in favour of the Indian company, who have now assumed the trademark, and produce motorcycles as Royal Enfield.
Royal Enfield India manufactures and sells in India, and also exports to Europe as well as the Americas, South Africa and Australia. They recently entered the Indonesian market. Recently Royal Enfield has undergone a major retooling particularly in the engine department going from carburated cast-iron engines to twin spark unit construction engines on all its models, with Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) available on their flagship 500 cc model. The major redesign has sparked such a demand for the bikes that Royal Enfield have started double shifts at their plants.
In August 2015, Royal Enfield Motors announced it is establishing its North American headquarters and a dealership in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with the intention to offer three bikes, the Bullet 500, Classic 500 and Continental GT 535 Cafe Racer as they feel this engine size represents an underserved market. The dealership will be Royal Enfield's first company-owned store in the U.S., according to Rod Copes, president of Royal Enfield North America. The company wants to establish about 100 dealerships in American cities starting with Milwaukee.
"I live here, so I am biased. But in my mind, Milwaukee is kind of the center of motorcycling in the United States," said Copes, a former Harley-Davidson executive. "We view this as kind of our first flagship dealership," he added.
On November 9th, 2017 Royal Enfield revealed their new 650 twins, the Interceptor and Continental GT 650.
See also
- List of Royal Enfield motorcycles
Notes
References
External links
- Royal Enfield at Curlie (based on DMOZ)
- MotorcycleWorthy - [5]
Source of article : Wikipedia
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