Royal Enfield has been quite busy recently. A little forgotten brand, once iconic and famous, that became in recent years to some niche manufacturer, focusing on an Asian market only. RIght now they are gaining serious momentum. This bike is yet another build that reached the European and North American audiences.
And it’s great, as any new/old brand that gets some attention on the market provides some diversity in the more and more globalised and unified motoring world.
This build is called “Royal Rally 400”
It’s exciting as it was created based on a new donor bike. A Royal Enfield model that in 2018 brings some old fashioned technical simplicity.
The Himalayan is powered by a single-cylinder 411cc four-stroke engine that makes 24.5 horsepower and 23 ft-lb of torque. Yes, those numbers are pretty low, but we think it can perform pretty good on the Atlas mountains and Morocco desert where speed is not as important as lightness, manoeuvrability, and simpleness…
And simplicity is a significant factor – when You are considering to ride the Scrambler in a place where it was built for… rather than provide stylish addition on city streets. This bike was intended to be used on events like the Scram Africa 2109 edition.
A trip to Africa organized by us (Fuel Motorcycles) where we ride through all kind of terrains, mud, asphalt, sand, etc.. A hard test for the bikes and the riders, a real challenge!
Looking at the thing, You cannot feel the inspiration from the ’80s. Maybe even go to “Dakar” inspired levels as the motorcycle looks retro.
The mods include:
- Classic enduro front light mask
- Front and rear fender
- Indicators
- Custom solo seat
- Suzuki RMZ 450 exhaust modified
- Rear grille
- Side case support
- Tomaselli handlebar
- Koso speedometer
- Pirelli MT 21 Rallycross
- Powertronic ECU
The fabrications were not extensive
Most of the parts besides the ones listed above were left stock, The single-seat provided extra loading space and rack. The Powertronic unit provided a little more power and ride smoothness. The switches You see on the photo, are placed there to have control over the ABS (which is quite useful considering the sand and mud riding).
The general result – is a straightforward machine that is meant to do the job. To provide reliability while riding over 4000 km in the Scram Africa event, and yet be stylish enough to serve as a daily ride on the city streets.
As for the Royal Enfield… Keep on releasing real retro machines like this one! Show the way to the Yamaha that seems like got lost somewhere…
Source: fuelmotorcycles.eu
