Design concept shows possible new direction for Royal Enfield, radically different to where they are now!

Royal Enfield SG650 Concept Could be the Future Direction for The Company

Royal Enfield is known for its incredibly long-running series of 500cc single-cylinder motorcycles produced in India for decades after the British stopped producing them.

More recently, a 650cc parallel twin engine has joined the ranks, housed in a 1960's-styled roadster. But this concept around that engine could signal a whole new direction for the company.

It has been created in-house by a team led by Mark Wells, RE's Chief of Design. The challenge he set to the design team was to explore how Royal Enfield’s bikes might evolve from the traditional, classic-styled machines that have been the mainstay of production for many decades to more modern designs that could shape the company’s future.

Wells said: "We are a company in transition, for so long a representation of the analogue age and now developing new products that keep that same pure soul yet are fully integrated into the digital present.

"We wanted to develop a project that really gave our design team an opportunity to stretch themselves creatively, to build a unique concept motorcycle that pays homage to Royal Enfield’s rich history but one that wasn’t encumbered by the past.

"A ‘neo-retro’ interpretation that pushes the boundaries of what a Royal Enfield motorcycle could look like, but at its core still celebrating that iconic Royal Enfield DNA."

The SG650 follows current retro thinking by incorporating modern technology in an old-school look and feel. Inverted forks and ABS at the front are strangely modern next to the twin-shock rear. The frame is a very traditional twin-loop cradle.

"We’re really excited to unveil this concept and write another chapter in the rapidly evolving story of Royal Enfield design," said Adrian Sellers, Enfield’s Group Manager of Industrial Design.

"It is always exciting to design for a ‘what if...’ scenario, and the brief to create a motorcycle that would both be recognisably Royal Enfield but at the same time push what a Royal Enfield could be was a real challenge."

It might not be a huge leap into the future, but it does show that Enfield are looking at expanding its range to fast forward into at least the early years of the 21st century.