Royal Enfields are known for their niche market appeal, and the new Bullet Classic is only expected to enhance that appeal. Here's why.
The once sprawling Royal Enfield product portfolio has grown really lean over recent times, with just three key models - each with a very specific USP - using which the company is covering most classes of buyers with a fair bit of efficiency. The Standard 350 takes care of RE's rural fan-following, the Electra 5S offers a more reliable and user-friendly urban option and most recent Thunderbird Twinspark caters to the more affluent and style-aware market. Little space for another bike then? Probably not, because the new Bullet Classic will occupy a pretty special place in the portfolio - at the top. And it helps that the Classic is no sticker-paint-facelift job - it is a properly new motorcycle not only in terms of its design, but also its technology and most importantly, its appeal.
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We've already spoken about the design of the Classic when we took a closer look at it in the earlier story, but it must be mentioned that the bike marks a spiritual return of the England-born Chennai-based firm to the classic and upright Brit-bike design. After the company's pursuit and capture of the stretched-out cruiser market first with the Thunderbird and then the revamped Thunderbird TwinSpark, the stance of the Classic will definitely appeal to old-schoolers, retro-lovers, if not the cruiser appreciating baby-boomers.
The Classic should also take care of those who had grudges with RE's use of dated powerplants. After garnering appreciation for the modern 350cc dual-spark plug engine used on the Thunderbird Twinspark, the new Bullet Classic goes one step further and offers the same unit-construction advantages in a more powerful and torquier 500cc package, with the added bragging rights of electronic fuel injection. We'll know more about how well the modern engine manages to retain the Enfield old-school charm once we test the bike, but for now it will be the only 500cc motorcycle in India.
Royal Enfield has brought the Bullet Classic before a crowd already fraught with a loyal fan following. In terms of product development, the move is bold because the bike brings with itself the same levels of quality that international markets have been enjoying all this while. The pricing is steep for sure, but then Royal Enfields ditched the value-for-money philosophy quite a while back - thanks to the utter lack of competition from India or abroad. We think the Bullet Classic will only add to this enviable image of first-in-the-field-of-one for Royal Enfield.
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