Tuesday, 24 December 2013

Golden to Silver



Something unique & unusual was waiting for me to behold when I recently visited my local Royal Enfield Brand Store. For the first time they got a change for the pinstripes on Bullet 500 EFI.


Off course hand painted, these ones are the same traditional lines on the iconic Bullet fuel tank, however this time not golden they got it silver !






Not sure about mine, what's your thought?




Wednesday, 27 November 2013

A Tribute to the Real Heroes



We  appreciate & highly honor the passion & effort of  Bobbee Singh, Old Delhi Motorcycle Team and the Colorblind Production for making of this video. This is not just another video shared on YouTube, Google or on a Facebook Timeline, its a saga and a tribute to the master mechanics and enthusiasts who have been the real heroes of restoring the great legend called Royal Enfield.

We believe this documentary has a spiritual connection with each one of us who have a true passion for their special life & their special motorcycle - The one who ever had it or have it, rode it or read about it, dealt it or fixed it, paint it or custom made it and off course the one who ever had a dream to have it - all of us find ourselves touched & blessed to see their story cherished in the video. This must be shared & celebrated to reach millions of hearts of 4-stroke beat 
that goes like a bullet :
dug,dug,dug,dug,  
dug-dug-dug-dug......

Thursday, 12 September 2013

Royal Enfield Continetal GT launched at Ace Cafe, London


Royal Enfield Cafe Racer is back to future with all new 535 CC EFI engine. Launched at Ace Cafe, London Continental GT gets many hearts of cafe racer dudes !






Wednesday, 4 September 2013

Saturday, 10 August 2013

RE to launch Cafe Racer in UK this September, Good News for India in next year !


Waiting ends this September for the return of the Cafe Racer in UK !
Royal Enfield's retro model based on Continental GT of 1960s is aspired to be a leading marque in global segment of mid-sized motorcycles.

And the answers to the domestic temptations is Yes ! the Cafe Racer will be launched in India as well, however in next year. Here are some of the 
retro cool pictures of the motorcycle at Auto Expo.









Friday, 9 August 2013

Up to the Highest Pass


In his own words, this is the real story of a boy turned Man who never had a chance to ride any bike, not even had one before he reached one of the highest roads in the world in Himalayas on his Royal Enfield Motorcycle.


RIDING TO THE TOP OF THE WORLD



20th of June, 2013. 05:30 pm. Back to home, back to the crowded city (Lucknow), back to routine, physically at least. This was the day when I returned from a 4000 Km trip from Lucknow to Leh-Laddakh. Mentally, to be honest, I was lost- drifting, searching myself. My mind was occupied with too many thoughts- get back into the groove, focus on work (College to open after 10 days) and the yearning to go out in the open and to find out the elusive meaning.


Mayank Tiwari on his 2012 Royal Enfield Electra

Next morning, I got up feeling lost and disoriented. I had to be reminded that I was back in Lucknow. I could barely recognize my face in the mirror (courtesy-frost bite). When I left for this trip, everyone around me thought that I would/should change. Though the trip nothing really changed me drastically but I now find myself a changed man definitely in many small ways. I am going to try and pen down on paper what exactly I thought during the ride and after.


First of all why did I do it? I was the guy who never got a chance to ride any bike before I got my bullet. Leave aside bike, I never got a chance to ride a two-wheeler in my school/college days (not that I did not know how to ride a two-wheeler) because I had a cycle till my graduation days (which in fact I say with pride). In the last year of my graduation, I was gifted a scooter (a Bajaj Chetak and once again no motorcycle) by my father as he is always protective about me and his logic was that a scooter is safer than a bike in terms of speed. I bought my Black Royal Enfield Electra 350 (Bullet) in November 2010. Did some local rides and Lucknow-Mussorie ride(last year) but that really did not leave me any sense of achievement or belonging. But I really loved everything about my bike. The Question which really bugged me was that was I a tough rider, do I have the fitness and temperament to complete successfully and safely one of the toughest ride on one of the toughest terrain both in terms of altitude as well as the variety of obstacles on offer. I am talking about the terrain of Leh-Laddakh commonly known as Biker’s Mecca or Biker’s Paradise among the riders. It has it all- sand, gravel, murk, water and of course ice compounded with sudden unpredictable weather changes and vast stretches where one has to do off-roading.

So what did I do? I discussed with the local riders who also happens to be one of my school friend (Mr Somendra Banerjee) and decided to go on a trip to the top of the world- Khardung La. 6 riders started the trip on 6th of June 2013 from Lucknow. But instead of going though the more common rider route of Delhi-Chandigarh-Manali, we took more adventurous and less traversed route that took us from Lucknow-Haridwar-Dehradun-Chakrata-Rohru-Narkanda-Kullu-Manali-Tandi-Keylong-Jispa-Sarchu-Rumtse-Leh-Pangong Lake-Kargil-Drass-Sonmarg-Srinagar-Udhampur-Jammu-Ludhiana-Ambala-Panipat-Sonipat-Delhi-Agra-Kanpur-Lucknow. That’s just the headlines-how can one forget the mountain passes-Jalori (not well known among the tourists and the toughest of this ride for its steep slopes) Rohtang (pass for tourists, traffic-jams and dirt), Baralacha La(tough for some but not for us), Tanglang La(World’s second highest motorable pass at 17800 ft), Khardung La(World’s highest motorable pass at 18380 ft) Fotula(the most beautiful and photographic), Zozilla(called by us as Godzilla Pass and the one mothers will use to put bad riders to sleep- “so ja nhi to Zozilla Pass bhej dungi”). And the small stops in between from nowhere with just dhabas(meaning hot water/tea and shelter from the icy winds for 30 minutes) at Bharatpur, Pang, Upshi, Losar amongst others. The ride took us from plains of Uttar Pradesh to the first twisties(borrowed term) en route to Chakrata through cold and miserable roads on way to Keylong and Sarchu, the magnificent Moore Plains and never-ending Gata Loops, beautiful tarmac roads through colourful mountains on way to Kharu and Leh, the fun-filled off-road stretches where there were no roads, the most beautiful straight roads through valleys and green patches with snow-capped keeping guard, the curvy roads along the raging Sutlej, the beautiful green mountains of Kashmir and back to the sweltering heat of Lucknow. The ride that gave an opportunity to enjoy some of the delicacies of Laddakh, the famous Laddakh tea, to enjoy Kebabs near Dul lake in Srinagar.

It is difficult to express what we went through both mentally and physically. There were times of exhilaration when we were able to complete a day’s task set aside by us and the feeling of extreme looseness when we realized that we are not the riders we thought we were. The feeling of insignificance- when faced with the beauty and the size of the landscape we were riding through. When a rider completes a ride to Leh-Laddakh, only a handful that shared the adventure would truly understand what it takes to endure an escapade like that-feeling the elements fighting against you and manipulating your bike to overcome the obstacles set before you. For those like us who like to ride off the beaten tracks, a common occurrence is the battle is between enjoying the ride and the scenery at the same time. For us transportation is only a secondary function. A motorcycle is a joy machine. But one thing on which we never compromised was safety. We always followed the basics of riding which eventually helped us in completing the riding safely.

After this ride I totally agree with two tag-lines of Royal Enfield about the ride to Leh-Laddakh- “Tiring-Testing-Tempting” and the second-“The road to heaven is never a straight line” and that’s literally and figuratively bang on. It is said that promises are made in heaven and I made a promise to myself in Leh-Laddak that I will be back here again with my joy machine.                       

- MAYANK TIWARI



Up to the Highest Pass (some amazing pictures)


Group of Indian Riders from Lucknow, India reached Khardung La - claimed as the Highest Motorable Road in the world (18380 feet) in Himalayas on their Royal Enfield Motorcycles. Here are some of the amazing pictures they shared :