Just yesterday I saw this Enfield on the streets of Berlin. It reminds me so much of India... and I would love to ride it on the bumpy roads. I haven't riden an Enfield before (only a modern motorbike) but would love to. I suppose it can't be so difficult. The bike is not mass produced and "has a soul".
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Also, I remember the "kiss of the motorbike" which almost everybody gets at one point. In India nobody wears heavy leather clothes just ordinary clothes when riding the motorbike. Then it happens, your calf touches the exhaust pipe and "ouch!" there is the "kiss".
The Enfield is a very fascinating motorbike and the sounds so very Indian. Since a few years one can also buy the Royal Enfield here in Germany. A company imports them.
But I think it's only half the fun to ride it on the nice roads here.
The info below is from this website:
http://royalenfield.com/aboutus/overview/
THE INDIA CONNECTION
Royal Enfield motorcycles were being sold in India ever since 1949. In 1955, the Indian government started looking for a suitable motorcycle for its police forces and the army for patrolling duties on the country's border. The Bullet 350 was chosen as the most suitable bike for the job. The Indian government ordered 800 of these 350 cc motorcycles, an enormous order for that time. Thus In 1955, the Redditch Company partnered with Madras Motors in India to form what was called 'Enfield India' to assemble these 350 cc Bullet motorcycle under licence in erstwhile madras (Now called Chennai). As per their agreement Madras Motors owned the majority (over 50%) of shares in the company. In 1957 tooling equipment was also sold to Enfield India so that they could manufacture components and start full-fledged production. The Enfield Bullet dominated the Indian highways and with each passing year its popularity kept rising.
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