2018 Royal Enfield Euro 4 range review

In this day and age, any bike form that can trace back its history to 1901 definitely earns the tag 'historic'. Royal Enfield was originally a branch of an English company called Eadie and started life building three-wheelers with De Dion engines. Its first motorcycles carried small Minerva powerplants above the front wheel and the firm eventually became a major manufacturer over the ensuing decades.

It has quite a proud competition history, but succumbed (like much of British industry) to poor investment and management, plus savage overseas competition from other manufacturers. By 1967, the proud Brit firm had been sold, including all the tooling, to its Madras branch in India.

The Indian company flourished and was exporting bikes back to Britain as early as 1976. Its mainstay model was the Bullet, a very simple, robust, single-cylinder four-stroke engine.

In 1990, the company was given another shot in the arm when it hooked up with a massive Indian automotive group called Eicher. With the deal signed investments followed, which more recently has included the creation of the UK Technology Centre headed up by former Triumph product chief Simon Warburton.

In 2015, Royal Enfield also purchased Harris Performance Products. Harris already had a long-standing relationship with Royal Enfield and was responsible for the chassis development of the brand's Continental GT cafe racer.

Recent clean sheet Royal Enfield designs include the Himalayan adventure bike and the new Interceptor 650 Twin and Continental GT 650 Twin which we’ll hopefully be seeing in Australia in the second half of 2018. The two 650s are powered by a brand new air/oil-cooled parallel twin.

Plenty on the horizon, but there’s also been the small matter of Royal Enfield updating its existing line-up to meet Euro 4 regulations, which includes the fitment of anti-lock braking systems (ABS) as standard.

Royal Enfield Australia recently showcased its updated LAMS-approved range in a media launch through the rolling hills north of Melbourne, with the Continental GT, Classic 500 (in various liveries) and Bullet 500 all in attendance. Let’s take a quick look at them, which all carry a two-year warranty and two-year roadside assist policy.

Continental GT
Priced at $8690 plus on-roads, the café racer-inspired Continental GT was – unsurprisingly – the class act of the bunch on the launch in terms of horsepower, cornering prowess and braking efficiency.

The Euro 4 updates include – other than the obvious reduction in emissions – the addition of Bosch ABS and a more “smoother and reliable engine”, while there’s also a new swingarm and new internals in the 41mm telescopic forks.

Power has also inched up to 29.1hp from 28hp on the fuel-injected, five-speed 535cc parallel twin, but with the same level of torque (44Nm). Wet weight is 184kg.

The 18-inch wheels, carrying Pirelli Sport Demon rubber, are firmly rooted in the past, and the bike has Excel-laced rims for that extra bit of stiffness.

Clip-on bars are fitted above the top triple clamp to keep that café racer look, but are high enough to not cause the wrists too much stress.

If you’re content to cruise around at street-legal speeds – even on a highway – the Continental GT does it convincingly, and it’s more comfortable than it looks. The clutch is also light and the Brembo brakes are solid, while the gas-charged Paoli shocks contribute to a bike that handles way better than its siblings, and with more cornering clearance. There are folding footpegs, too.

That all adds up to a bike you can chuck it into a turn at speed and be very confident about how things will turn out.

The instrumentation includes an inset LCD display with an odometer, trip meter and fuel gauge.

Colours are red, black or green.

Classic 500
If you can’t find a livery in the Classic 500 range to meet your tastes, it’s not Royal Enfield’s fault! As well as the standard black, tan and lagoon blue liveries, there’s also the Classic 500 Special in battle green, squadron blue and desert storm, the Special Matte in grey and black, the Classic 500 Chrome in graphite, green and black, and the Redditch series in blue, red or green. Fourteen in total… We can’t do them all justice in this form, so click here.

Other than the Chrome bikes, which is priced at $8190 plus on-roads, the rest of the Classic range retails for $7990 plus on-roads.

ABS and a rear disc brake now find their way onto the Euro 4 Classic 500, with the low-revving 500cc engine good for 27.2 horses. The spent gases are pumped out of pea shooter silencers, and the power delivery is smooth thanks to the fuel injection.

CLASSIC 500 PRICE AND SPECS

Even with the updates, the strongest selling point for the Classic 500 remains its charming old-fashioned ‘ways’, with the sprung seat leading the way. There’s also a pillion seat as standard fitment from the factory, but the bike looks way better without it.

It’s relaxing, because the package doesn’t tempt you to be anything else but patient and respectful – somewhat incongruous these days, but the Classic 500 does it. It’s 190kg (wet) of honest and self-effacing effort.

The Classic 500 rolls on 19-inch front and an 18-inch rear wire-spoked wheels with skinny 90/90 and 110/80 tyres, and the basic suspension (35mm forks and preload-adjustable twin shocks) simply does what’s asked of it. You’ll still build up a fair head of cornering steam on the Classic 500, though, as we found out on a mountain pass near Broadford.

The five-speed gearbox is easy to use, although it was occasionally difficult to find neutral when the Classic 500 was at a standstill.

Is the Classic 500 for everyone? No, but for carefree solo riding, classic enthusiasts and even first-time riders, it can certainly fit the bill.

Bullet 500
The Bullet 500 was the first bike I rode on the launch, and the seat felt about as hard as a bed I slept in at a hotel in the north of Vietnam a few years ago. That’s what I had to drink so much that night – to dull the pain…

Much to my surprise, the iconic machine – born in 1932 – was much more welcoming than I thought, and I actually enjoyed riding it more than the Classic 500 and Continental GT.

I am not actually sure why, but the fact that it probably does versatility better than its siblings is a major part of the story. I enjoyed threading through the traffic on this one.

Like the Classic 500, the Bullet 500 now has a new rear brake, as well as the same engine specs and weight. It has 19-inch wheels at both ends though, and you just sit back and putter gently along – quite therapeutic on a lazy Sunday. If you want a bike as far removed from the intensity of your average sports bike, here it is.

The gearbox has a rock-solid shift action, and I could see myself hitting the open road more on the Bullet 500 than any other Royal Enfield – save for the Himalayan, and the Continental GT 650 Twin could also be added to that list very soon.

The Bullet 500 is available for $7690 plus on-roads in three liveries: black, grey or forest green.

Summing up
Launches don’t come much more relaxing – and it’s not hard to see why. The Euro 4-approved Continental, Classic 500 and Bullet 500 are vital cogs in Royal Enfield’s ‘lifestyle branding’ philosophy, and they’ll continue to play their part even as new models are introduced into the mix over the next few years.

All the Euro 4 models are now on sale in Australia.