[6] After the Indian Independence Act 1947 the new government looked for a suitable motorcycle for its army to patrol the country's border.
[8] In the year 1990, Royal Enfield collaborated with the Eicher Group, an automotive company in India, and merged with it in 1994.
[9] Apart from bikes, Eicher Group is involved in the production and sales of commercial vehicles and automotive gears.
This was followed in 2017 by the inauguration of another new factory of a similar size to the facility at Oragadam (capacity 600,000 vehicles per year) at Vallam Vadagal.
[19] Harris work with the UK-based part of Royal Enfield's development team, who are based at the UK Technology Centre at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in Leicestershire.
[20][21] In August 2015, Royal Enfield Motors announced it is establishing its North American headquarters and a dealership in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with the intention to offer three bikes, the Bullet 500, Classic 500 and Continental GT 535 Cafe Racer as they feel this engine size represents an under-served market.
Later in August 2015, parent-business Eicher announced its entry in Indonesia as a part of its global strategy in the mid-sized (250–750 cc) motorcycle segment, initially starting retail operations from a dealership in Jakarta.
[24][25] From April to September, 2015, Royal Enfield's domestic sales were 50% higher than the previous year, despite a declining motorcycle market in India.
The motorcycle features a retro-style single-piece seat, a classic round headlamp, a flat handlebar and a sculpted fuel tank.
An entirely new Himalayan was launched on 24 November 2023, with a liquid cooled Sherpa 450 engine, switchable ABS as standard, and improved design and build quality.
A 648 cc, air cooled version of the bike has been revealed named the Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 which was released on January 16, 2023.
[52][53] It is based on the 2023 Himalayan featuring the same chassis, 6-speed gearbox, and the 452cc liquid-cooled Sherpa Engine, with 39.47 bhp and 40 Nm of torque.
[54] The bike features a minimalistic design with a smaller 11 litre fuel tank while retaining the round LED headlamp and flat-style handlebar, common amongst its three variants.
[56] It has been described as "a stylish scrambler-styled standard based primarily on the brand's INT 650 model, though with some notable differences.
"[57] On the Design and Styling front, Bear 650 comes with a scrambler seat, side panel number boards, and urban-off-road aesthetics.
Derived from the Shotgun series this motorcycle uses Showa USD Forks, but optimized for scrambler duties with longer suspension travel.
Equipped with a full-color TFT screen with integrated navigation brings modern tech to the classic platform.
Powered by the 650cc parallel-twin engine delivering 47bhp and an increased torque of 57N-m (5N-m more than the Interceptor), while saving weight owing to two-into-one exhaust system.