Royal Enfield launches Continental GT café racer at Rs 2.14 lac on road, Mumbai

Royal Enfield launches Continental GT café racer at Rs 2.14 lac on road, Mumbai

The Indian motorcycling landscape got a lot more interesting on the 26th of November with the launch of Royal Enfield’s much-anticipated Continental GT. The marque has some history within RE. The first Continental GT was launched in the 1960s — the seminal years of café racer culture and by today’s standards, is a diminutive bike. The new Continental GT pays obvious tribute to its ancestor, but brings things significantly more up-to-date.

Royal Enfield has already had a first ride event in September for journalists across the globe, and while some found the Continental GT to be the best Enfield yet, the praise was measured, qualified and often in relative context. The reality is that while the Continental GT is a giant leap forward for Royal Enfield, it’s about par for the course in 2013. You’d expect a 535cc motorcycle to cruise at above 100kmph, and the Continental GT does.

What is a surprise, however, is the price at which Royal Enfield has launched their café racer. Most (this writer included) expected the Continental GT to come in at close to Rs 2.5 lac, but Royal Enfield has announced a very aggressive Rs 2.14 lac on-road price for Mumbai (Rs 2.05 lac on road, Delhi). While this makes it the most expensive bike in the company’s line-up, it’s good value for what it offers. The Thunderbird 500, their next-most expensive motorcycle, is around Rs 1.8 lac on-road is heavier, slower and comes with less equipment.

What of the equipment, then? How do Brembo brakes sound? Not the Indian imprint Bybre; genuine Brembo front and back, with a 300mm full-floating rotor up-front. That’s more street cred than the KTM 390 Duke, which makes do with Bybre calipers gripping a fixed disc. The rims are 18" alloy laced with spokes — a first on an Indian vehicle. A relatively beefy 41mm front shock and Paioli rear shocks round out the bouncy bits. Tyres are Pirelli Sport Demons, which have been a familiar sight on the venerable RD350s for years. All this is mounted to a brand-new frame developed by Harris Engineering, UK, making it the first new frame by Royal Enfield in 50 years. Gone is the single downtube rigidly mounted to the front of the engine cases. This is a proper twin downtube frame reminiscent of the storied Norton Featherbed.

While all the components that make up the Continental GT will undoubtedly make it the best-handling RE yet, the engine is somewhat disappointing. At 535cc, it is essentially the same 500cc UCE mill used in the Classic 500 with a larger bore. Power is up by a token 1bhp at 29bhp. First ride reports suggest that vibrations are controlled up to 100kmph, but become uncomfortable around 120kmph. You could probably push it harder and go faster, but you’d better hope that the next café is only a short distance away. Siddhartha Lal, CEO of Eicher Motors — the owners of the Royal Enfield marque — is on record saying that they believe the Continental GT will make a good platform for customisation and expects aftermarket firms and tuners to work toward improved performance as well.

Royal Enfield is clearly focused on a global audience with the GT. There will be a range of accessories available with the motorcycle, as will riding gear and other “lifestyle” bits and bobs. The bar-end mirrors visible on most press bikes and promo images are particularly cool, but sadly will not make it to the stock bike in India due to regulations. They will be optional extras, however, along with a sportier exhaust and a choice of single and twin seats. The company also sprung a bit of a surprise at launch with the announcement of a canary yellow colour along with the red we’ve all seen since the concept bike.

For a Rs 34,000 premium over the relatively porky Thunderbird 500, you get a bike that’s lighter, faster, more agile and to these eyes, far far better looking. At the aggressive price of Rs 2.14 lac on-road, the Continental GT makes a compelling alternative to the KTM 390 Duke, The Honda CBR250, the Hyosung GT250R and even the unfortunately-priced Kawasaki Ninja 300. Some would argue that all these competing bikes offer more practical performance and reliability than RE is able to offer. They’re all sport-oriented motorcycles with as much plastic as metal.

What the Continental GT offers is continuity, an upgrade path to existing or past RE owners and perhaps a more acceptable mental self-image to a potential buyer. As much sense as the current crop of little sportbikes make on paper, they’re hard to recommend to everyone who has Rs 2 lac to spend. It remains to be seen if Harley-Davidson will be as aggressive in pricing its upcoming Street 500. If offered under Rs 4 lac, the H-D would slot in nicely above the Enfields in what is turning out to be a vibrant line-up of motorcycles available in India, with something for everyone at every price point.

Update: It appears that only the Harley-Davidson Street 750 will make it to India, which is unlikely to be close to the Continental GT in price. This leaves an interesting opportunity in the Rs 2 — Rs 4 lac space.