Enfield with side car, turn of the century
Apparently in the latter part of the 19th century, in Europe and the UK, small time motorcycle manufacture was quite common. Every Tom, Dick and Harry who had a bit of a greasy thumb figured out a way to strap some kind of small engine into a bicycle and it became a motorcycle. Interestingly an American fraud/scam artist named E.J. Pennington was credited with having invented the word “motor-cycle” around 1893 but credit for actually making a commercial “go” of motorcycles has to go to the British.
Royal Enfield circa 1913
Sometime in 1901 a little bicycle manufacturer called the Enfield Cycle Company was the first to start mass production of the fledgling motorcycle. They started by making a 239 cc belt driven motorcycles under the name Royal Enfield. The name, “Royal Enfield” was originally licensed, in 1890, to make weapons for the crown and was used around the turn of the century to sell other things like lawnmowers and stationary engines. Then in 1911 Royal Enfield became the official company name and their motto, “Made like a gun, goes like a bullet” is a clever homage to their weapon making history.
During the First World War, Royal Enfield supplied the British War Department with 225 cc single and 425 cc v-twin motorcycles and a 770 cc v-twin motorcycle with sidecar that came with a mounted machine gun. Enfield even won a Russian Imperial Government contract to supply them with the same. Pre and post war development of the motorcycle for the popular sport of racing produced many advancements. The development of 956 cc v-twin and a 350 cc four-stroke using a JAP engine in 1921, lead to more speed and horse power but the design of the overall motorcycle stayed the same. Then,in 1928, Enfield was one of the first to start using the bulgy saddle style fuel tanks similar to modern motorcycles and centre-spring girder front forks.
During World War Two, Royal Enfield was again commissioned to develop and manufacture motorcycles for the War Department. One of it’s most famous was the WD/RE (WD for War Department and RE for Royal Enfield) or the Flying Flea. It was a lightweight 125 cc contraption that was designed to be dropped by parachute or carried by gliders. The Flea was used as a means of communication between airborne and assault troops where radio communications were not in place.
Flying Flea WWII
The popular 350 cc Bullet model started production in 1948 with ground breaking rear suspension. No longer did motorcycles look like bicycles with motors. With beefed up frames and suspension the ride was comfortable and popular. A 500cc version soon followed. Then in the 1950, production for the Royal Enfield Company was turned over to India. Where, with minor modern additions, they are still being produced today. Royal Enfield is the oldest motorcycle brand in the world still in production and the Bullet has become the longest running production model of all time.
Modern Enfield, Vancouver Motorcycle Show 2010
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[...] It seems that motorcycles and tattoos go together like….bread and butter…Don’t they? Funny though, most of the people I know and met through riding, don’t have them. (Although I do have one friend who is quite beautifully illustrated.) Interesting… maybe I could get a grant from the government to study this phenomenon? But the tattoo is an artform that predates the motorcycle by, oh say roughly 30,000 years. (For some motorcycle history see my posts here and here) [...]
[...] It seems that motorcycles and tattoos go together like, bread and butter. Don’t they? Funny though, most of the people I know and met through riding, don’t have them. (Although I do have one friend who is quite beautifully illustrated.) Interesting… maybe I could get a grant from the government to study this phenomenon? But the tattoo is an artform that predates the motorcycle by, oh say roughly 30,000 years. (For some motorcycle history see my posts here and here) [...]