The Royal Enfield Bullet has the longest unchanged production run of any motorcycle having remained continuously in production since 1948.
The Bullet marque is even older, and has passed 75 years of continuous production. The Royal Enfield and Bullet names derive from the British company which had been a subcontractor to Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, London.
The Royal Enfield Bullet has the longest unchanged production run of any motorcycle having remained continuously in production since 1948.
The Bullet marque is even older, and has passed 75 years of continuous production. The Royal Enfield and Bullet names derive from the British company which had been a subcontractor to Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, London.
fter ever-tighter European emission specifications forced the Bullet Standard 350 to end 2007 as its last model year in the European Union. The 500s had been fitted for some time with an induction pulsed pump to draw in fresh external air and expel it into the exhaust header to make it appear that the emissions were lower than in reality they were! When existing stocks of motorcycles were all sold the British-design engined Bullet became no longer available. All new models exclusively featured the AVL 'lean-burn' engine. The introduction of a five-speed, left foot change gearbox meant that Royal Enfield could 'fix' one of the long-standing quirks of the Bullet design;the original foot-brake is on the left-side while the gearchange is on the right (as was the custom with British bikes). Accordingly, the Bullet Machismo 350 was equipped with this left foot change gearbox and a big hit in the foreign markets as it was rich in design and the first chrome model on an Enfield. However, the 'left-shift' gear change provoked a backlash from Indian Bullet customers, forcing the company to not only continue the Bullet Standard with the traditional system but even on the Electra, it was offered only as an option, leading to the Electra four-speed (traditional) and Electra five-speed (left-shift) variants. Sales figures indicated that Indian Bullet customers had shunned the new gearbox, foregoing even the attraction of five-speed transmission to keep the gearshift traditiona
fter ever-tighter European emission specifications forced the Bullet Standard 350 to end 2007 as its last model year in the European Union. The 500s had been fitted for some time with an induction pulsed pump to draw in fresh external air and expel it into the exhaust header to make it appear that the emissions were lower than in reality they were! When existing stocks of motorcycles were all sold the British-design engined Bullet became no longer available. All new models exclusively featured the AVL 'lean-burn' engine. The introduction of a five-speed, left foot change gearbox meant that Royal Enfield could 'fix' one of the long-standing quirks of the Bullet design;the original foot-brake is on the left-side while the gearchange is on the right (as was the custom with British bikes). Accordingly, the Bullet Machismo 350 was equipped with this left foot change gearbox and a big hit in the foreign markets as it was rich in design and the first chrome model on an Enfield. However, the 'left-shift' gear change provoked a backlash from Indian Bullet customers, forcing the company to not only continue the Bullet Standard with the traditional system but even on the Electra, it was offered only as an option, leading to the Electra four-speed (traditional) and Electra five-speed (left-shift) variants. Sales figures indicated that Indian Bullet customers had shunned the new gearbox, foregoing even the attraction of five-speed transmission to keep the gearshift traditiona
fter ever-tighter European emission specifications forced the Bullet Standard 350 to end 2007 as its last model year in the European Union. The 500s had been fitted for some time with an induction pulsed pump to draw in fresh external air and expel it into the exhaust header to make it appear that the emissions were lower than in reality they were! When existing stocks of motorcycles were all sold the British-design engined Bullet became no longer available. All new models exclusively featured the AVL 'lean-burn' engine. The introduction of a five-speed, left foot change gearbox meant that Royal Enfield could 'fix' one of the long-standing quirks of the Bullet design;the original foot-brake is on the left-side while the gearchange is on the right (as was the custom with British bikes). Accordingly, the Bullet Machismo 350 was equipped with this left foot change gearbox and a big hit in the foreign markets as it was rich in design and the first chrome model on an Enfield. However, the 'left-shift' gear change provoked a backlash from Indian Bullet customers, forcing the company to not only continue the Bullet Standard with the traditional system but even on the Electra, it was offered only as an option, leading to the Electra four-speed (traditional) and Electra five-speed (left-shift) variants. Sales figures indicated that Indian Bullet customers had shunned the new gearbox, foregoing even the attraction of five-speed transmission to keep the gearshift traditiona