If anybody is still in any doubt about Royal Enfield’s domestic U.S. middleweight ambitions, then they simply aren’t paying attention. With their new air-cooled 650 Parallel Twins about to start hitting dealerships at a sub $6k price-point sweet spot, neither should anybody be in any doubt about whether or not the machines are going to actually be, you know, “any good”!
Royal Enfield teamed up with 18-year-old motorcycle racer Cayla Rivas (Fresno, California) to set a new land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats at the end of August. The fully custom-built bike showcased the new Continental GT 650cc twin engine, which was tuned and designed by U.S. based S&S Cycle.
The chassis was developed by Superbike chassis manufacturer Harris Performance in the UK. Harris is one of the most successful race and performance chassis businesses in the history of the motorcycle industry, and Royal Enfield bought them three years ago as a first stage in realizing its ambitions to be able to produce convincing new models and more powerful models.
By the end of the week-long speed trials, Cayla, the daughter of former NHRA motorcycle racer Chris Rivas, hit a jaw dropping speed of 159 miles per hour on the measured mile, setting a new record for the class with a record return run of 157.03 mph (pending FIM certification). This will be the 13th record Cayla has set since the age of 12, and her new top speed.
Backed up by team Royal Enfield, Harris Performance and S&S Racing, Cayla entered the naturally aspirated 750cc class, initially in a bid to reach 130 mph. By the end of the week she had set a 157.145 mph record (after blowing the engine twice).
With S&S Cycle backing the engineering team at the Royal Enfield Technology Center in the UK, expect to see Royal Enfield stake an early claim to leadership of the burgeoning “Battle of the Middleweights” that is destined to play out in the next decade; and remember, the GT 650 and the even lower priced retro styled Interceptor 650 are likely just a market entry start-point for the world’s oldest and highest unit volume continuously produced motorcycle brand.