More Royal Enfields for India by 2010

In the next two years, an additional 20,000 Royal Enfields will be on Indian roads. Eicher Motors has announced that it is pushing up the production capacity of its Chennai Thiruvottiyur facility to make an additional 20,000 Enfields more.

The company, which would pump in Rs 25 crore for the expansion, will see that additional production capacity to be on stream by 2010-2011. The facility will be building the  Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark . The capacity expansion from the existing 40,000 units a year to 60,000 units a year will be done in the next two years.

Eicher, which unveiled its Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark 350cc motorcycle brings with the model a progressive refinement in the art of motorcycling. The new Thunderbird is said to be Royal Enfield’s first among a series of models to feature the evolutionary Unit Construction Engine (UCE). The UCE can be explained as a shift in the traditional Royal Enfield engine architecture, with the external clutch and gearbox integrated within a common crankcase space. This feature makes it more compact and a cut in transmission losses. It would also mean the machines would boast of reduced friction, lower maintenance and higher reliability.

Eicher will debut other such twinspark models by year 2010, the company has hinted. The models might include Machismo, Electra and the Bullet 350 for the domestic terrain, while for the overseas bike marts the Bullet Electra EFI is being tested. The 500cc version of the UCE that powers the Bullet Electra EFI would make Royal Enfield the first two-wheeler manufacturer in India to produce and sell a Euro-III compliant motorcycle, said a source.

The company has a variety of models including Bullet 350, Bullet Electra, Bullet Electra 5S, Bullet Machismo and the Thunderbird Twinspark 350cc. Internationally, its motorcycles are exported to over 25 countries including USA, Japan, UK and several European countries.

The company has revealed that the new Thunderbird incorporates hydraulic tappets, arguably a first in the Indian context. The company has been a pioneer of clean four-stroke technology in India from 1955. The new capacity enhancement is expected to take the Eicher Motors name far and wide on an Enfield mean machine.