Royal Enfield is understood to be currently developing a near-400cc engine, using its existing air-cooled, single-cylinder, 346cc engine, which powers its hot-selling 350cc models, the Classic 350 and the Bullet 350.
Speaking exclusively to our sister magazine Autocar Professional, an industry expert associated with the development said, “Royal Enfield is working to develop a new engine with a slightly bigger displacement (measuring nearly 400cc) than its current 346cc, single-cylinder powertrain. It essentially is a substantial modification; using enhanced dimensions, which also requires a lot of hard work.
New connecting rods, crankshafts and other crucial changes need to be made to the existing 346cc platform.” While the 346cc engine delivers a peak power output of nearly 20bhp, the 499cc generates peak power of around 27-28bhp."
The single-cylinder, 535cc engine, which powers the popular Continental GT café racer, develops 29bhp. It is clear that the company is looking at a new engine, which can promise slightly higher power delivery over its basic variant, in the range of 22bhp to 24bhp. On the pricing front, it's worth noting that while a basic 350cc model costs a little over Rs 1 lakh (on-road), the most affordable 499cc model (Bullet 500) costs over Rs 1.5 lakh (on-road).
“With the new upcoming engine, the Chennai-based motorcycle maker is looking at positioning its new models in the price bracket of Rs 1.1-1.5 lakh (on-road) and will eventually be able to conveniently populate the segment with four commercially usable engine options – a 346cc, near-400cc, 499cc and a 535cc (all air-cooled, single-cylinders) in the near future,” added another source, speaking on the condition of anonymity. According to SIAM data,
Royal Enfield sold a total of 1,59,740 units between April 2013-January 2014 as against 97,955 units sold a year ago, recording 63.07 percent growth. While the bike maker has sold 443 units of the Continental GT café racer so far (April 2013-January 2014) in the domestic market, it has exported 737 units of this model during the same period.
AMIT PANDAY