As one Royal Enfield spokesman stated in 2009 when the all-
new 500cc unit-construction engine first appeared: “We had to
retain ‘the beat,’ which is the distinct and time-honored sound of
a long-stroke, single-cylinder, British motorcycle.”
In truth, today’s Royal Enfields are not British bikes; they’re
motorcycles designed and built exclusively in India. It was in
1955 that Royal Enfield, a British bike company originally formed
in 1901, first shipped its tooling to the coastal city of Chennai,
India, so that bikes could be built there for the Indian army. But by
1970 the original Royal Enfield motorcycle company in England
went out of business. A short time later the India-based RoyalSponsored by Royal EnfieldA
Anybody familiar with Royal Enfield’s single-
cylinder, unit-construction engine knows whatthe “beat” means. It refers to the mood and spirit
that’s been engineered into every Royal Enfield
engine for more than 100 years and counting.
The beat goes on