Exclusive: Royal Enfield to unveil 830cc cruiser bike at EICMA 2018

Royal Enfield, arguably the world’s largest mid-capacity motorcycle manufacturer in terms of retail sales, is all set for a global unveil of its first-ever 830cc cruiser at the upcoming EICMA Motorcycle event in Milan (Italy) next week, learns Autocar Professional.

The Eicher Motors-owned Royal Enfield, which had unveiled its twin-cylinder, 650cc motorcycles – Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 – at EICMA 2017 in Milan, is now geared up for yet another world premiere at the EICMA 2018 next week. According to sources, the company will unveil a liquid-cooled, twin-cylinder, 830cc prototype of a cruiser motorcycle next week when the motorcycle show opens on November 8.

Ahead of the official reveal on November 6, Royal Enfield tweeted an image of the cruiser concept.  

The powertrain of this cruiser, it is understood, has spawned out of Eicher Motors’ now-defunct alliance with Polaris Industries. “The company will take the covers off an all-new motorcycle powered by the biggest engine any Royal Enfield had in the past couple of decades. It will be a prototype cruiser powered by a liquid-cooled, twin-cylinder engine with a precise displacement of close to 834cc. The engine is understood to be BS VI-compliant already. The long-wheelbase cruiser is going to be Royal Enfield’s flagship offering for the global as well as home markets in the foreseeable future,” disclosed a source aware of the development, who prefers to stay anonymous. 

Meanwhile, Royal Enfield is yet to revert to Autocar Professional , which had written to the company for more details on this development.

The new 834cc powertrain
The all-new liquid-cooled, twin-cylinder (V-twin, DOHC), 834cc engine, which is learnt to have been born out of Eicher Motors’ erstwhile alliance with US-based Polaris Industries, has been developed to produce peak power output in the range of 80-90bhp.

Notably, Polaris Industries is known for manufacturing mid-capacity and heavyweight motorcycles in the US. It is widely known for its Indian Motorcycle and now-defunct Victory motorcycle brands globally.

It is already known that in March 2018, the board of Eicher Polaris (50:50 JV between the two) had passed a resolution to close down the operations owing to the failed customer response to the Multix personal utility vehicle purpose-built for small businessmen. Eicher Motors had invested about Rs 290 crore in this JV, which was incorporated in 2012.

“The JV company will design, develop, manufacture and sell a full new range of personal vehicles suitable for India and other emerging markets,” quoted the official communication that was notified by Eicher Motors to the Bombay Stock Exchange in July 2012.

“There was also an agreement between Eicher Motors and Polaris Industries in the past on the front of special cooperation for Royal Enfield motorcycles within their alliance. This special arrangement between the two companies was tightly guarded and was not made public. The powertrain engineers at Polaris and at Royal Enfield had together developed this liquid-cooled, twin-cylinder, engine platform for Royal Enfield during the time their alliance was alive. This project was carried out in the UK between the technical centers of Polaris and Royal Enfield. The 834cc powertrain has spawned out of that arrangement,” revealed another source, aware of the matter.

According to the sources, the yet-to-be-unveiled Royal Enfield prototype cruiser is easily a year (or more) away from its potential production version. While the company is working to launch its 650cc motorcycles in India soon thereby scheduling its production and backend processes accordingly, the top management at Royal Enfield appears to be carefully evaluating the potential of this new engine platform in the foreseeable future.

Expect Royal Enfield to generate ample excitement around the brand in the coming days on the back of its all-new cruiser motorcycle.

Also read: Royal Enfield eyes mature markets with high-performance motorcycles

Royal Enfield reveals its new engine of growth: a 650cc parallel-twin

Interview with Rudratej Singh: ‘Royal Enfield’s 650 twins will definitely open the leisure motorcycling segment in India and also globally.’