Royal Enfield Continental GT, the perfect cafe racer?

English designer Charlie Trelogan wrote "How to Build a Cafe Racer" on the BikeExif.com blog. He established basic guidelines for the ideal cafe racer and illustrated how these lines worked to turn a Honda motorcycle into a cafe racer.

I thought it would be fun to superimpose the lines he drew onto the new Royal Enfield Continental GT, to see how well it does in comparison.

You'll have to read the original article to learn the justifications Trelogan provided for the lines he drew. But just looking at them surely provides some idea.

How does the Royal Enfield do, all told? Very well, but not perfectly.

The Foundation.

The Foundation, a straight line (bumps and bends are distracting) above two equal size wheels.

The Cut Off Points.

The Cut Off Points run through the wheel center lines. No bodywork should extend past them.

The Height Limit.

The Height Limit. Low and lean. Nothing should extend above the top of the tank.

The Bone Line.

The Bone Line. Widest part of the bike. Best if it runs through the center of the headlamp.

Visual Weight.

Visual Weight. The mass of the bike is here, ideally topped by the tank. Peak of the tank should fall right on the center line of the cylinder.

The Swoop.

The Swoop ties the seat and the tank together.

Main Angles.

Main Angles. Straight, not spaghetti.

Secondary Angles.

Secondary Angles. Your eye likes things to line up.

Fork Distance.

Fork Distance. Tuck in that wheel. Makes it look mean.

Evaluated this way, the Continental GT looks a bit too long. To achieve the rough, tough look of the ideal cafe racer it should be more tucked in and less open around the motor. Note the Visual Weight illustration: cladding behind the motor (where the tool boxes would be on a Bullet) creates mass where openness is wanted.

Ironically, while working for Tata in India Trelogan built his own design based on the Royal Enfield Bullet 350!

The designer crafts his own Royal Enfield.

Looking at it tells us where he might have taken the Continental GT.

Royal Enfield Continental GT, from a woman's view

Press photographers gather glamour shots of the Continental GT at Brooklands.

Alexandra Straub stood out as the only woman I saw among the many foreign writers riding the new Royal Enfield Continental GT at its launch in England. Her testosterone-free report on the Continental GT is on Canada MotoGuide.

It's a complete report and it's funny. I liked it because Straub is the only writer there, besides me, who admits to struggles riding on the "wrong" side of the road — and she is a far more experienced motorcyclist.

"Even through the unnerving urban haul, the bike posed no additional stress on my being," she writes. "It's easy to live with, even if your life expectancy appears short."

I got to like her ready sense of humor during hours on the press bus, when she would entertain her Canadian colleagues with a trivia quiz from her smart phone. Journalists from around the world would jump in with answers North Americans wouldn't know.

Riding the Continental GT on the unfamiliar route from Brooklands to Brighton I followed the wisp of blond hair from beneath her helmet. Very possibly our little group was lost, I figured, but she was bound to be amusing regardless of where we ended up.

Royal Enfield Continental GT part of Retro World look

Royal Enfield's Continental GT with Planet Sputnik's David Parr (center).

Royal Enfield's retro-sassy new Continental GT cafe racer was launched in England with the help of an outfit named Planet Sputnik. Jorge Pullin noted the firm's contribution in a recent item on his blog My Royal Enfields.

With a storehouse of vintage vehicles, props, locations and fetching models dolled up in period duds, Planet Sputnik delivers the look of the 1950s and '60s for a long list of commercial and film clients.

They did a fantastic job for Royal Enfield. I was in England to witness it first hand, but you see it for yourself in the short movie "Ace Cafe to Madras Cafe."

According to Planet Sputnik:

"Not only did we advise the company during the earliest stages of the motorcycle’s concept and design several years before it became reality, but we were also consulted to ensure that the launch struck the right balance of classic Brit heritage and modern-day cool.

"Finally, Planet Sputnik‘s guy David Parr was specially selected by Royal Enfield to appear alongside several other riders in promotional footage and stills for the stunning new 500cc machine. Most exciting was this edgy new short movie "Ace Cafe to Madras Cafe," which involved a demanding filming schedule in London, Turkey and India.

"Planet Sputnik is your one-stop retro hire agency for photographic, editorial, film and television work. Authentic locations, vehicles, props and wardrobe — and period-perfect people, too — whatever your stills, filming or event hire requirements, we’ll supply a professional and creative service sparkling with vintage glamour and style."

Check out Planet Sputnik's gallery of fashion and film. The recreations are great and they use a lot of original items. But there's an overly commercial feel to it. I asked my wife and grown daughters to look at Planet Sputnik.

Daughter Erin's reaction: "Aaaaand now I want to shop."

Planet Sputnik's motto is "Welcome to our Retro World." They bring the mid-20th Century into the 21st Century, all polished and prettified.

I was there and I remember. It stank. We had pimples. The girls were not nearly so suggestively pliant as the models Planet Sputnik serves up. On the other hand, the men — even hooligans — were generally better shaved.

The Retro World of Planet Sputnik is the idealized past seen as it would have looked in a glossy fashion magazine of the time. Maybe better.

What Planet Sputnik accomplishes is not "evocative" but actually creative. It's not so much a betrayal of what the past was really like as it is a sort of imposition of current (commercial) concerns on the past. It's mostly"right" but it's still somehow "off."

And that's probably a good thing. If the recreations were too period perfect they would be objectionable as a falsification of the past.

The ironic thing to me is this: Royal Enfield's brand new, old fashioned, long-stroke, Brit-style, single-cylinder Continental GT is more authentically an artifact of the 1960s than the faux Rockers they have posed with it.

Royal Enfield Continental GT is a proud throwback

On hallowed ground: Royal Enfield Continental GT at Brooklands.

By introducing its Continental GT cafe racer in the United Kingdom, Royal Enfield virtually committed the cliche of "carrying coals to Newcastle."

India's Economic Times faces the issue in an article entitled "Why Royal Enfield's Siddhartha Lal is betting on British market."

"It was an audacious launch," The Economic Times writes, of Eicher Motors CEO Siddhartha Lal's introduction of Royal Enfield's Continental GT at the famed Brooklands race track.

The made-in-India Continental GT is a "nostalgic throwback" to the British-made Continental GT of 1965, The Economic Times writes. For England, the motorcycle is also a reminder that Royal Enfield is "a great brand that it virtually ceded to India..."

Lal innocently suggested to the world's press, gathered for the Sept. 11, 2013 launch, that the new Continental GT is mostly a pleasant and stylish answer to traffic congestion in countries like the UK. And it might be. But the Economic Times sees a bit more:

"Still, there is an unmistakable pride and chutzpah in plying a British brand that was saved by India back to the Britons. But in a century where Indian entities have salvaged Tetley and Jaguar Land Rover, that should hardly come as a surprise.

"In fact, Lal is looking even further afield to America for Continental GT, and the irony of doing that — going up to 500 cc, even as Harley-Davidson is puttering down to 500cc for the Indian market — is not lost on bike aficionados."

But it's all to the good for consumers and, in the end, The Economic Times can not resist this very clever kicker:

"Evidently, there is vroom for everyone."

Royal Enfield Continental GT is a 'brilliant' buy

Mike O'Reirdan modified his Royal Enfield Continental GT. No mud flaps!
(Photo by Manoj Bankal)

The new Royal Enfield Continental GT cafe racer is in the United States, and Mike O'Reirdan of New Jersey has had his long enough to learn what he likes about it, and even modify what he didn't. He offered these impressions and photos:

"OK, well now I have had it for a bit, I am beginning to feel that not only did I make a good decision in buying the GT, it was a brilliant one.

"The bike itself as standard comes pretty well equipped: great brakes, Brembos, excellent tires, Pirellis, nice shocks, Paioli, and a superb frame as designed by Harris in the UK.

"There are some downsides but to be honest they are both easily and inexpensively remedied.

Motor cover plate from Hitchcocks celebrates how special the GT is.
(Photo by Manoj Bankal)

"The silencer as stock is dreadful; I describe it as sounding like a farting hamster, but that took 10 minutes' work and one week's wait to fix. I bought a Motad from Hitchcocks in the UK and now it sounds like a real 'big single,' which it is. That was probably the biggest change I made.

A bike for a sunny weekend.

"I have removed the black flap extensions to the mudguards. I removed the air brake that is the rear number plate mount.

"Out of sight I installed a  Power Commander and K&N air filter to match the Motad. The engine starts very easily on the button, but the kick start is curiously set up so that it does not engage early on and as such it is hard to start in the traditional manner.

"It handles well. As I went out to the Meeting of the Nortons recently, I was on some nice twisty roads and although I am still running it in, it was an enjoyable ride. Going around bends it feels rock solid.

"When I arrived, they asked me to park the GT in the middle line with all the nice old bikes. They were not all British, but all were interesting one way or another. Obviously the GT has all the right lines, and next to Commandos, a Gold Star, BSAs and lots of others, it holds its own.

Royal Enfield Continental GT is all business from this view.
(Photo by Manoj Bankal)

"The GT is not a bike I would ride to work — I take it out to the bike club and out on a nice sunny weekend — but it is a very nice bike. At $5,999, people cannot believe what you get for the money and I do think that given decent marketing, it should sell very well.

Hitchcocks heel guards now grace Mike's bike.
(Photo by Manoj Bankal)

"A little more power probably will not go amiss and I am going in search of that. I am told that Hitchcocks have some tuning parts in the offing and there are some quite competent Enfield tuners in the U.S. I am lucky to have Leon Stanley of Cycle Icons just down the road in Trenton."

Royal Enfield Continental GT needs a flyscreen; maybe

Yes, something is missing from the new Royal Enfield Continental GT.

The stunning similarity in design inspiration of the new Royal Enfield Continental GT and the original, 1965 Continental GT is instantly apparent.

Seeing the Royal Enfield cafe racers, new and old, displayed together during the press launch in the UK, my reaction was that only one thing was missing from the new one.

The flyscreen.

It had been that flyscreen, along with clip-ons, rear sets and cranked exhaust pipe, that had made the original the idol of teenagers in 1965 — when I, too was a teenager.

Now Dart Flyscreens Ltd. of London has gone to the trouble to create a flyscreen for the new Continental GT.

The Dart flyscreen on the new Continental GT.

"The original 1960s Continental came with a flyscreen as standard," Dart's website reasons. "What better partner for your modern Continental GT than a Dart flyscreen? In the same way that the modern bike uses up to date technology whilst retaining its period charm, the Dart’s top quality injection-moulded polycarbonate screen and laser-cut fittings serve to enhance an already handsome bike."

The website quotes a price of $124.95, including delivery, in standard or dark tint.

Just right? Or maybe a bit too small?

How easy is it to fit? According to the FAQ "you'll need a couple of spanners or Allen keys, 20 minutes and that's it. The screen uses the standard headlamp brackets and if it's carefully fitted, you won't even need to readjust the headlamp."

Maybe for you. It might take me longer. But is it worth it? Again, from the FAQ:

The rider's view.

"When you're riding a naked bike, your body provides a big target for wind blast. Flyscreens work by taking most of the wind from this area, giving your body an easier time. You still get wind around the helmet area (but that's why you bought the bike, yes?), but you don't get the fatigue in the same way."

OK. Sounds good. But, oddly, although I think it's a clever idea, I'm not personally crazy about the way the flyscreen looks on the new bike in Dart's photos.

Best looking angle is head-on.

With its hunched, shoulders forward stance, the new Continental GT seems to overpower the little plastic plate.

A seemingly larger, more curvaceous Italian flyscreen is listed for the Continental GT by NfieldGear at $139.95. Some might prefer it.

NfieldGear flyscreen differs in shape.

But you know what I would really like? Here's a photo of an original 1960s Continental GT fitted with the then optional Speedflow fairing, with transparent nose.

The original Continental GT with Avon Speedflow fairing.

Gimmie one of those and I will feel like a teenager again.

Aftermarket exhaust for Royal Enfield Continental GT

New  muffler looks great and sounds great on the Royal Enfield Continental GT.

Clever "Before" and "After" videos show what an aftermarket exhaust can do for the look and sound of Royal Enfield's new Continental GT.

Carpy's Cafe Racers in Anaheim, Calif. posted the two videos to show off its new stainless steel exhaust system for the Continental GT.

Of course the small print specifies that this system is "not for use on public roads." Ahem. So, remember, that, OK? I know. It's so easy to forget!

Especially when you click on these two videos. The difference is dramatic.
Carpy is a Southern California customizer who loves cafe racers but, for the sake of price and parts availability, works with modern "metric" motorcycles rather than costly vintage British bikes. Not that he doesn't love the old Brits:

"But my bread and butter has been the good old CB750 Honda," he writes. "I know to some purist it’s not their cup of tea, and I totally understand this, but what I do with the stock bike is give it a slight British styling that Honda should of brought out back in the day.

"We enjoy designing many parts and now I am getting into the Brit stuff once more and the Royal Enfield is a fun and affordable bike to have these days."

Royal Enfield Continental GT takes on the competiton

MotorcycleUSA.com compared the Royal Enfield Continental GT to Japanese competitors.

Hold your fire; the Royal Enfield Continental GT "lost" the comparison test with the Yamaha SR400 and Suzuki TU250X conducted by Adam Waheed on MotorcycleUSA.com

It's a thorough test, complete with individual videos of the three motorcycles and charts showing torque and horsepower curves. The Continental GT was rated high on looks, character and handling and nicked for fit-and-finish issues, an imperfect transmission and an occasional stall. It also carried the highest price of the three.

Thorough as it is, the article won't change anyone's mind. You won't be surprised to learn that Yamaha and Suzuki offered Japanese quality, better fuel economy and lower prices. In fact, the two Japanese motorcycles were so consistent they tied for first place.

"Affordable urban transportation" is the phrase used for the Suzuki. Be still, my heart.

For me — and likely for you if you are reading my blog — the Royal Enfield emerged the clear winner.

Do just one thing: start the video  that covers the Royal Enfield Continental GT. Watch and listen just until the Continental GT runs.

Hear THAT? The sound tells you everything you need to know. Go on to watch the videos for the Yamaha and Suzuki if you want. They sound exactly as you know they will, because if you've lived in the United States you've listened to thousands of Japanese motorcycles going by.

They sound OK. Their motors are running, always a good thing.

The Royal Enfield Continental GT sounds tremendous.