The Enfield Bullet had its own mass appeal it was a rugged motorcycle very well-liked by the masses, it till date is the motorcycle used by the Indian army. It is also very much used by the Indian Police.

           Simple single cylinder low revving engine with ample torque and rugged chassis which took all the beating of the rough Indian roads with ease. The gear and the engine were separate units mated together. The bike gave a decent fuel average so the sale numbers kept on growing as the bullet brand developed a brand appeal of its own. If you want to seek the adventure of driving Royal Enfield and doing Delhi Agra Jaipur Tour, it can be a great experience travelling North India.

       By 1970 the British parent company closed down and now the Indian manufactured Enfield Bullet was exported to England. In 1970’s the Indian Economy kept growing and with it the numbers of bullet bike kept Increasing.

       1980’s was a decade of new changes in Indian economy when the closed doors of the economy were opened and many international players started their Indian operations.  By 1984 Honda had unveiled their frugal 100cc motorcycle Hero Honda CD100 in the Indian market following it Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki made their foray into the Indian market.

         These were a modern and very efficient motorcycles with very low price tags. They were instantly hit in the India Market. Hero Honda CD 100 claimed a mileage of 80kms to a litre of fuel which was way ahead of the mileage offered by the Enfield Bullet. The Bullet used old technology and was a bulky machine in comparison to these slick Japanese bikes but it was used by the adventure lovers and those travellers who had a love for vintage bikes on their Delhi Agra Tours. By 1990 Enfield had almost lost its supremacy of the Indian automobile market and the company was sold to Eicher motors in 1994.

       The Eicher motors started experimenting with the design of the Enfield Bullet which was not an easy task they collaborated with Austrian national Mr Fritz Egli and in 1997 a completely revamped Bullet, was seen, this bike used an aluminum head on the Bullet engine and it was christened A350 a new manufacturing plant came up near Jaipur.

           New models were launched but the sales figures didn’t rose dramatically. The reason was the new generation of automobile users who grew up on small Japanese bikes with normal set up of gear mechanism on the left side and brakes on the right side Bullet still was using the original set up of gear on the right side and brake on left. The new generation was not very comfortable with Bullet bikes though now the company was offering models with the gear configuration of the Japanese bikes.

            Company in 2008 introduced a new unit construction engine known as UCE which did away with separate gear, the modern engine set up retained the originality of British Thumper as it still employes the age old over head rockers and push rods technology. The new engine employs an electric start and the fuel mileage was also much better.

          The company introduced retro styled motorcycles with classic badging this immediately saw the soaring sales and the brand again become hit.

           Today the saga still goes on and bullet brand is a very strong and powerful full brand of India automobile Industry, like a phoenix it has reemerged and claimed its place long lost.

The company has recently introduced “Meteor” brand and there is a waiting period of two- three months for this motorcycle ,these waiting time periods to take delivery of new motorcycles shows the immense popularity of Enfield brand , Now certainly the motorcyles are also more trust worthy and user friendly with style quotient this is the reason for immense popularity of Enfield bullet brand among the masses, The tourists coming to India love riding this classic motorcycle , there are many tour companies who organise specialized riding tours on Enfield bullet motorcycle. Mostly these tours are focussed on hill areas like Ladakh and Manali, tourist can even hire the enfield bullet motorcycle and ride them while they tour ladakh and Manali areas.

             If you are coming to India on your favorite Golden triangle tours don’t forget to ride this classic motorcycle which certainly will evoke nostalgia. 

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