Royal Enfield Continental GT Caught Testing

India,s premium motorcycle manufacturer Royal Enfield is planning things out to launch the much awaited motorcycle of the company, the Cafe Racer anytime soon. The Cafe Racer which is also tagged as the Continental GT is now rumoured to be launched by the second half of this year. Meanwhile, the pre-production bike was caught testing when the CEO of Eicher Motors Ltd., Mr. Siddhartha Lal rode the machine from Goa to Mangalore via Gokarna. Eicher Motors is the parent group of Royal Enfield since 1994.



While routing to Mangalore, Mr. Lal shared his view on the upcoming flagship motorcycle of Royal Enfield. He said, "Being one of a kind, the red, low, racer attracted a crowd every time I stopped. While some thought of the GT as a modified Enfield, surprisingly, there were also many bikers who knew a lot about it."



The Continental GT is powered by a 535cc, air-cooled single engine, which is a bored out version of the Classic 500's 499cc Unit Construction Engine. This ensures more power and rev to the machine. Once it gets placed in production, the Continental GT will be the most powerful and the quickest motorcycle of Royal Enfield till date.



The motorcycle is certainly a mixture of sport and tradition motorcycling. The bike resembles us the machines in 1960,s as it is specially sketched to bring out an esthetic beauty of olden days. Still, the bi-wheeler,s ergonomics and engine performance is very much suitable for race tracks. Moreover, the bike is 15 kg lighter than the Thunderbird 500 which was recently launched. So you can imagine how powerful this machine is as it is mated with a more powerful 535cc engine.



RE machines are known for their selfishness. The Continental GT is no different. Mounted out of a newly designed saddle that accommodates only one-man journey proves the world selfish for this machine too. To ensure better safety while braking at high speeds, a Brembo full-floating disc brake at front and a ByBre disc brake at the rear have been wedded.

Since the Cafe Racer,s unveil at the 2012 Auto Expo, the bike has been a usual visitor for bike magazines, websites and all media. Indeed the machine was a showstopper at the event took place in Delhi. As the machine is likely to reach down later this year, expectations are higher for the Bullet-maniacs across the world.

Picture Courtesy: NDTV