While there has been a lot of speculation about when this new parallel-twin from Royal Enfield will hit production, it is going to be seen at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Italy in November 2017.
Spy pictures of Royal Enfield’s upcoming twin-cylinder motorcycle seem to feature quite frequently on the internet now. A recent photograph that has emerged points towards there being multiple models based on the company’s parallel-twin cylinder engine, which has been under development. This photo revealed two distinct bikes – a café racer (à la the Continental GT) seen earlier and what appears to be a ‘standard’ motorcycle built around the same chassis (a modified version of the Continental GT 535) and the same parallel-twin engine.
The clear differentiating factors between the café racer and standard models are the fuel tank and the seat. The latter’s tank is more rounded like that of RE’s Classic series of bikes, albeit with knee recesses. And while the café racer gets a sculpted single seat, the standard bike has a regular bench seat – similar to the option offered on the current Continental GT 535 – which can accommodate a pillion rider as well.
Other than that, there seem to be no other mechanical changes to the two bikes. Both look like they’re powered by the same air-and-oil-cooled parallel-twin motor, and they seem to run the same suspension and brakes as well.
While a lot of websites and publications claim that this is a 750cc mill, there is in fact no confirmation on the actual displacement. Enfield’s UK division has been developing engines of varied displacements, so it could be any one of these. Royal Enfield has been hush-hush about revealing details about these bikes, but we’ve heard from sources close to the company that this new motor might not actually have a cubic capacity of 750cc, but might breach the 800cc-plus range where it will compete directly against the Triumph Bonneville Street Twin.
More speculation includes the possibility that this new model could be named the Interceptor; a 750cc parallel-twin motorcycle made by Royal Enfield from 1960 to 1970. These new parallel-twin motorcycles are to make their international debut at the EICMA show in Milan this November, with an India launch slated for early 2018.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
