Royal Enfield Tour of Rajasthan

The Royal Enfield tour of Rajasthan 2012 took place between 5-15 February and it seems a great time was had by all; having just returned from our first tour of the year, we were incredibly jealous!

As a tour organiser myself, I wanted to put the spotlight on the Royal Enfield tour as it’s a great example of what a tour should be.

The tour started in Jaipur where the riders were given lots of memorabilia e.g. stickers and t-shirts to really add to the sense of occasion and anticipation for the start of the journey the next day. It’s a great way to get Royal Enfield lovers coming together and making them feel a part of something special. There’s even a starting flag to herald the start of the tour and see excitement reaching fever pitch! To cement this, riders are given certificates at the end of the journey so they have a great memento of their tour.

Although run by Royal Enfield, it’s not all about the bikes; it’s about new experiences and time to unwind too. For example, from dune bashing and a visit to Karni Mata Mandir, famous for its rat population to sampling the local cuisine, camel rides and a (much needed) rest day in Jodhpur. Whilst it’s important to recharge the batteries – tours can be very demanding - these sorts of activities are also important because they help the tour group (most of whom won’t know one another) to bond over a shared appreciation of this (potentially) once in a lifetime experience.

What was great about this tour is that it has been planned to pass major Indian landmarks and give people an experience not to forget e.g. Pokhran, location of the demonstration of India’s nuclear capability and the historic battlefields of Longewala. So people aren’t just getting a great ride and some great sights, they’re getting to absorb some of the history and culture which make India such a fantastic place to tour.

There’s a great blog on the Royal Enfield website which followed the riders on each day of the ride http://www.royalenfield.com/community/events_updates.aspx?eid=39   

We have a similar tour through Rajasthan which this year runs from 13th-30th November. There are still places available so get in quick! http://extremebiketours.com/rajasthan-tour

Motorbike Tours India, Himalayan motorbike tours and South India motorbike tours

Many people have asked Extreme Bike Tours why they would use 500cc Royal Enfield Bullets on their Indian motorbike tours. Well we always say to those people, ‘Do actually know anything about them?’ and do you realize how iconic they are?’ Below is a small snippet of the History of the Royal Enfield Company and the reason why we use these amazing motorbikes on our tours around India.

Royal Enfield did not just manufacture motorcycles; indeed the English engineering company portrayed a strong lineage of necessity beyond boundaries of ordinary realms. Yes! Driven by sheer necessity and manufactured with the state-of-the-art engineering capabilities, Enfield was initially associated with military requirements. In its earlier days, the company built lawnmowers, bicycles and even rifle parts for some Arms Factory. The company’s motto of “Made like a Gun and goes like a Bullet” reflects Enfield’s strong involvement with the military needs.

Spanning over three centuries the company is in the path of making its impact felt in even now in this new millennium. Lets sift through the Enfield’s landmark achievements since it raced against cars and fought the wars.

• 1898: Produced first motorized vehicle equipped with a 2.75hp De Dion-Bouton engine. Today, this motorized vehicle is known by the name Quad.
• 1901: launched a bicycle that’s fitted with a 150cc engine on the front wheel.
• 1902: improved vehicle with a 239cc Enfield engine mounted over the front wheel of the bicycle.
• 1907: produced an all-day automobile with company name as All days & onions. However, the vehicle manufactured was there in production until 1925, popularly referred as All Day Automobiles with the word onion dropped.
• 1910: launched V-twins type, a Motosacoche 344 cc engine.
• 1915: during the World War I, Enfield needed to manufacture motorcycles that would be equipped to carry machine guns with stretcher-bearing capacity, on request of the British Armed Forces. It was during this time that the first small 2-stroke engine seen the light of the day.
• 1917: Royal Enfield supplied machines to Russians as well. The phase saw a team of women police force riding the 600cc Royal Enfield bikes.
• 1924-1930: the phase of WWI and the aftermath did not affect the growth of sales of Royal Enfield. The company upgraded its engine and added features such as girder front forks, saddle tanks and center spring to give the bulls of Royal Enfield a more contemporary look. Further upgrading led to the launch of 488cc machine with a four-speed gearbox in the year 1927 and soon by 30s, Royal Enfield had thirteen featured models and the birth of famous Bullet cylinder took place during this phase.
• 1939-1945: As the world again fought the bloodied wars, Royal Enfield rose to the occasion and supplied the countries with machines and motorcycles for military purposes. The model 125cc Flying Flea became quite popular, and was referred as Airborne, because of its capacity of being dropped by a parachute. War instruments were also manufactured by Royal Enfield during this period.
• 1950s: Enfield India began manufacturing machines with parts being brought from Britain.
• 1962: Enfield India began producing complete motorcycles indigenously while it retained all essential traditions from Enfield.
• 1965-Until Now: Shifting of production from Redditch England to Chennai plant in India.

The name Royal Enfield lived on with its full life, as Indian bought the denomination rights. However, in the year 1986, Raja Narayan, a civil servant from Britain created an Export arm for Royal Enfield India, and as of now, it’s the most famous model Bullet that is being marketed in Britain.

Thus, Royal Enfield claims to be the “world’s oldest motorcycle” still striving to stride well in the global as well as Indian market nevertheless been enticing Enfield enthusiasts but more importantly has become a benchmark standard for other bike manufacturers and still dedicating to the biking in the truest sense!

For more information about motorbike tours in India please go to www.extremebiketours.co.uk.

Motorbike Tours India, Himalayas and South India

When people think of the Himalayas, pictures of snow capped, rocky outcrops, deep valleys and glaciers spanning out across deep gorges and valleys. And of course this is spot on, you really can’t say that it is not. However to really experience the Himalayas you really need to visit them and travel around them. The ultimate and most adventurous way of seeing the Himalayas is on a motorbike and if you really want adventure then that motorbike would be a 500cc Royal Enfield. Your next descision would then be whether you want to risk renting a bike and doing the motorbike tour by yourself or by using a good motorbike tour company that have the crew and backup. The problem with this is that do you really want to spend two weeks with ten plus motorbikes polluting the roof of the world? There is one exception to these companies and that is Extreme Bike Tours. They only have six motorbikes on any one tour. Their 500cc Royal Enfield Bullets are also customized using many English parts which means that they are beasts of bikes without polluting as much as the Indian Bikes.  

A Himalayan motorbike tour has so much to offer. A great deal of people think about rider the high passes of the Manali – Leh highway with passes over 18,000 ft. But many people do not realize the majestic beauty of Kinnaur, Spiti, Lahaul, Sangla and Pinn valleys. These are all in Himachal Pradesh in northern India. Extreme Bike Tours sets out on this motorbike tour in September when all the wild flowers are in bloom and the monsoon rains have gone. The roads on this motorbike tour are very good except for about 200 km of gravel road over the whole tour. There are many Buddhist monasteries in this area of the Himalayas and some of these are visited on this tour. This motorbike tour is a discovery of he Tribal region of the Himalayas as it is about riding a motorbike. This has to be one of the most idyllic motorbike tours that there is, magnificent valleys, stunning landscapes and as close to an ancient civilization as it is possible to get in this day and age. The local people in this area are mostly Buddhist and much of the clothing hasn’t changed for thousands of years/. It really is like stepping back in time.

The camping spots that Extreme Bike Tours sets its camps on are unbelievable, whether it is in the bottom of a valley, river nearby surrounded by wild flowers and the smell of the mountains or on top of a 14,000 ft pass by a majestic lake, at night it is like having your head in the starts due to the altitude and lack of any light pollution.

The crew is made up of cooks, guides, mechanics with support vehicles, all the camping gear, food, spare parts and everything is organized so that you get that perfect nights sleep but still feel like yopu are having a once in a lifetime adventure.

For more information please go to www.extremebiketours.co.uk