Top selling big bike worldwide is.....

[wheelbender6]

Royal Enfield. It surprised me too. Royal Enfield is not a leader in performance, reliability or any of the big categories.
-It must be a good value.
-The big bike category is broadly defined as over 250cc. More at the link.
-Perhaps the Chinese should be studying Indian motorcycle companies more than the Japanese companies.
http://newatlas.com/indian-motorcycl...h-bajaj/50859/

[ChondaChondaChonda]

I read this years ago and it has colored my opinion of Royal Enfields ever since:

http://advrider.com/index.php?thread...ece-of.649091/

These guys are local and have done some crazy adventures. They learned a lesson from this India adventure and purchased new China bikes when they toured Mongolia. That would be a very cool trip to do.

[Biker_Andy]

I guess I was nieve in thinking the reason Japan finally started making small adventure bikes was because "we" were asking for them. I believe because India is the driving force for the motorcycle industry Japan is making a bike to suite the conditions of India. Why people of India with terrible roads, limited income/mechanical knowledge buy Enfields is beyond me!

[ChondaChondaChonda]

Originally Posted by Biker_Andy

Why people of India with terrible roads, limited income/mechanical knowledge buy Enfields is beyond me!

Maybe the same reason people pay 10X too much money for a HD? Some link to local production, heritage maybe?

Don't get me wrong; I love all kinds of bikes, but the prices people pay for some are crazy high.

[Biker_Andy]

Perhaps but heritage, retro styled bikes should be for those with disposable income who can afford repairs and design impracticallity.

[Megadan]

It could also be the fact that Royal Enfield bikes have been made in India for decades almost entirely unchanged, or that they are considered an Indian company, a subsidiary of Eicher motors, and all of their production/assembly is done in India. Or that Royal Enfield is the oldest motorcycle brand in the world.

Just a thought lol.

[wheelbender6]

Royal Enfield is now offering 0 down and $99 per month on bikes in the US. That should sell a lot of new thumpers.

[culcune]

Royal Enfield in India is probably like what ____________________ (name your Chinese brand in China) is like from a Chinese local point of view--cheap repairs; EVERYWHERE, cheap repairs. I have not read in depth ride reports lately on Horizonsunlimited or ADVrider, as well as Chinese ride reports on here or Mychinamoto, but when I used to eagerly read the multitude of reports of people purchasing cheap Chinese bikes, I do recall the one common factor as far as Chinese bikes go is the multitude of repair places, and the low cost of said repairs. The few reports on Indian riding adventures on Horizons or ADVrider regarding Royal Enfield I have breezed through mentioned the low repair costs throughout the region, as well. So, my guess as far as attraction goes, would be repair costs.

[wheelbender6]

So how reliable is a Royal Enfield? Is the quality closer to Taiwan or mainland China?

[culcune]

Originally Posted by wheelbender6

So how reliable is a Royal Enfield? Is the quality closer to Taiwan or mainland China?

Based on the jokes and banter I read about, and owning a Taiwanese 151cc scooter, sounds more like China than Taiwan. Only, because of the heritage, my guess is RE's bikes' shortcomings in quality are probably referred to as 'character' vs. flaws, LOL

[wheelbender6]

RE has introduced the new 650cc twin.
https://royalenfield.com/motorcycles/twins/

[RockyDS]

They've been around so long, virtually unchanged that they can be fixed by any half-assed Indian mechanic.

[pete]

what they need to do is build a old school scrambler
now they have the bike...


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