The story of Royal Enfield is a wild and circuitous one. In the 1950s and, 60s the British manufacturer was the preferred choice of café racers and gentlemen rogues who made that era in motorcycling one of the most influential ever. But like most British marques from the 20th century, Royal Enfield struggled to compete with cheaper—and regrettably more reliable—Japanese bikes that poured into Europe and America in the, 60s and, 70s, eventually leading to the company’s shuttering in 1971.
Except it didn’t, really. Across the globe in one of the
