The Enfield Cycle Company made motorcycles, bicycles, lawnmowers and stationary engines under the name Royal Enfield out of its works based at Redditch, Worcestershire. Use of the brand name Royal Enfield was licensed by the Crown in 1890. In 1909 Royal Enfield surprised the motorcycling world by introducing a small Motorcycle with a 2 ¼ HP V twin Motosacoche engine of Swiss origin. In 1911 the ne
xt model was powered by a 2 ¾ HP engine and boasted of the well known Enfield 2-speed gear. In 1912 came the J*P 6 HP 770 CC V twin with a sidecar combination. It was this motorcycle which made Enfield a household name. 1914 saw the 3 HP motorcycles this time with Enfield’s own engine which now had the standardised Enfield paint scheme of black enamelled parts and green tank with gold trim. Royal Enfield motorcycles were being sold in India ever since 1949. In 1955, the Indian government started looking for a suitable motorcycle for its police forces and the army for patrolling duties on the country's border. The Bullet 350 was chosen as the most suitable bike for the job. The Indian government ordered 800 of these 350 cc motorcycles, an enormous order for that time. Thus In 1955, the Redditch Company partnered with Madras Motors in India to form what was called 'Enfield India' to assemble these 350 cc Bullet motorcycle under licence in erstwhile madras (Now called Chennai). As per their agreement Madras Motors owned the majority (over 50%) of shares in the company. In 1957 tooling equipment was also sold to Enfield India so that they could manufacture components and start full-fledged production. The Enfield Bullet dominated the Indian highways and with each passing year its popularity kept rising. INFRASTRUCTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
To manufacture quality bikes that are well known worldwide for their reliability and toughness state-of-the-art infrastructure is required, and that is just what Royal Enfield has done at their Chennai manufacturing facility. An active in-house Research & Development wing is constantly at work to meet changing customer preferences and the challenges of Indian and International environment standards. When introducing a new product, this team undertakes all related planning which includes a rigorous customer contact program, design, concurrent engineering and testing processes. The Motorcycle Design team at Royal Enfield is well equipped with high-end CAD/CAM workstations and the latest modelling software. Top-notch designers work continuously to come up with innovative bikes designs to meet the market’s expectations. Continuous rigorous testing of motorcycles and components is carried out in the Product Development testing lab to come up with more improvements in enhancing the customer experience.
