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| Brice Bizzel, MD of Royal Enfield South Africa and Miss uShaka 2103, Chloe Stone, with the Continental GT at its unveiling at the Durban Motor Show on November 8. |
KwaZulu-Natal's ironic ranks of thumper riders have been keenly awaiting the local launch of the Royal Enfield Continental GT, first launched at the Ace Café in London on September and now also at the Durban Motor Show on November 8.
Riders of more modern bikes may scoff at Royal Enfield's (RE) advertisements that this motorbike is their "fastest, lightest, most powerful yet" with "a more streamlined silhouette", but MD of RE South Africa Brice Bizzel touted the company line, saying the Continental GT is "a nod to motorcycling's finest hour" and "the best expression yet of a cultural phenomenon that has simply refused to fade away, the café racer".
Anyone who remembers that hour would have been a teenager in the 1960s and is right now throwing cash at anything that will bring back those memories of energy and tautness.
To be sure, few machines are better suited to stave of a midlife crisis than the Royal Enfield's café racer. It has digital electric ignition for most days and for those special days when who riders need to display their virility, a
kick start. Torque is sufficient at 44 Nm 4000 rpm at and the peak work rate is a sedate 21,4 kW at 5100 rpm. Five gears, gas shocks and a pillion seat complete the package. With the single piston steadily thumping away like a 535 cc pacemaker, this 184-kg bike is strictly for cruising to and parking at a fast-food joint that understands the importance of deep frying it first in hot oil.
kick start. Torque is sufficient at 44 Nm 4000 rpm at and the peak work rate is a sedate 21,4 kW at 5100 rpm. Five gears, gas shocks and a pillion seat complete the package. With the single piston steadily thumping away like a 535 cc pacemaker, this 184-kg bike is strictly for cruising to and parking at a fast-food joint that understands the importance of deep frying it first in hot oil.
While on the topic of oil, sales manager Gareth Hope-Bailie said RE's have all been re-engineered and no longer mark their territory with a liberal dripping of refined crude. "They now claim everywhere as their territory," he said, fondly patting the saddle seat of a Classic 500. He shrugged off a question about the GT being a machine for those in midlife crisis, saying if it was that simple, his marketing job would be easy. "We get all ages, from young people who commute to work on them, to the weekend tourers, to one client who just parks the bike in his lounge," explained Hope-Bailie.
Only fifteen Continental GT's have been ordered for South Africa to date, and they will sell for between R70,000 and R75,000. With the number of test rides booked by the thumper ranks in KwaZulu-Natal already double the national supply and a year-long waiting list in India for any Royal Enfield model, expect that price to lean to latter.
