By Peter McBride
Pics: Peter Mc Bride, @monomotoza & @tonfitiina
Royal Enfield has been around in S.A. with a few models here and there, including sidecar rigs and always competitively priced. However, barring a few enthusiasts the marque has never really stamped its mark on the South African motorcycling community. We’ve never really understood why, and we also never really understood why one of the ‘Big Hitter’ importers Distributors never picked up the brand – It is a brand that is really, really making waves worldwide in a big way.
That all seems to have changed now. A intrepid band of Royal Enfield enthusiasts have gotten together, formed a company named Motor Royale and have secured the import and distribution rights to Royal Enfield in South Africa and opened their first stand alone store in Cape Town this past weekend. Sabrina Schroeder of Moto Royale tells us, “Moto Royale is owned and operated by a diverse group of Royal Enfield lovers, encompassing the same entrepreneurial spirit upon which Royal Enfield itself was founded, this band of people set out to bring the joy which Royal Enfield brought to them, to the riding and future riding community of South Africa. With its roots firmly planted in the vibrant and creative city of Cape Town, Moto Royale will operate its flagship store and headquarters for Royal Enfield South Africa from the Mother City.” For more information go check out https://www.royalenfield.com/za
At the launch of their Cape Town headquarters they also unveiled the new to the global motorcycle market for 2025 and just released in South Africa, the Bear 650. It is a Street Scrambler with sixties soul, and powered by Royal Enfield’s 650cc parallel twin engine. Featuring Dual-purpose chunky tyres and upside down forks, paired with a full-map navigation Tripper DashTM️. The retail units are due to arrive in May this year, we were told.
We asked our mate Peter McBride to go see what they are all about. Moto Royale went all out for the launch. An almost perfect Saturday morning greeted us for the official Re-Launch of Royal Enfield (RE) in South Africa. At the Shiny new RE dealership on Victoria Road in Woodstock (for those of us not too familiar with Cape Town, that’s about 10 minutes from the V&A Waterfront) for the first time in south africa RE have a bespoke dealership to call home, with dedicated workshops, sales floors, kit and accessories and a righteous coffee bar.
Royal Enfield is a brand all of us South Africans are aware of. But most of us don’t know too well. When someone says RE we all immediately think of the Classic 500 that has been the hallmark of the brand until now. I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that Royal Enfield has developed a wide range of bikes, keeping their heritage and style in the forefront of the design, while at the same time embracing new niches in motorcycle culture. Mark Spiller, Head of Marketing for RE in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Gave us a short talk on the history of RE , developments in manufacturing, design and their vision for South Africa. Two interesting side notes from RE’s colourful history is that they developed and Patented the Cush drive and Swing arm suspension in 1912 and 1948 respectively. The main take away from his message is that RE plans to expand into South Africa over the next 5 years. With dedicated dealerships in most large metros and then smaller accredited service centres in smaller towns to ensure backup is available countrywide. With 1100 dealerships outside of India and 1 000 000 motorcycles manufactured annually by the brand. It’s going to be good for the South African motorcycle market to have another strong brand establish itself on our shores.
Moto Royale is the company representing and distributing RE in South Africa With Adam Mcallum and Sabrina Schroeder leading the Management team. Included under the umbrella of the dealership is RETZA. Royal Enfield Tours and Rentals . with guided tours available for everything from a 2 hour coffee and scenery trip to the top of signal hill in CT to a trip to the Himalayas. A very interesting development for the many many adventure riders who want to tick off a Himalayas trip on their Adventure ride bucket list
We headed out along famous scenic Cape Town routes en-masse from the new dealership to get a little bit better acquainted with the brand. It was not a real test ride or bike review, but more of a shop launch and brand awareness campaign and we do hope to feature more of these bikes with proper reviews in coming months.
Now let’s get to the bikes that we did manage to ride on the day, we had an opportunity to take some of the bikes for a quick spin from the dealership up to the top of signal Hill and then to Bakoven just past Camps bay for a quick coffee and then back to the Dealership. While it was not enough time to do a proper test it gave us a good chance to ride three or four of the bikes and get a good idea of where the brand has moved from the days when the 500 classic was the only model available in the line up. I managed to get my hands on at least one of every bike in the 650 , 450 and 350 line up and I was very pleasantly surprised. The major take away from all the bikes and their most important feature can be summed up in one word “ accessibility” !.
The bike I was most interested in getting my hands on was the Himalayan 450. The adventure bike in the range that could fulfill an important niche in the market. With Showa suspension that is set up for travel/commuting in mind. It has a punchy motor that handles the highway and urban commuting sections well. Most importantly in my opinion is a seat height that makes it usable for people under 6 foot in height. A massive problem with the vast majority of adventure bikes on the market is that they are just too tall. Julia Klim, an instructor with THINK Motorcycle Academy, was on the ride and at 168cm( 5 foot 5 inches) tall was fairly representative of a huge segment of the motorcycle market that battle with traditionally tall adventure bikes and she was able to sit on the bike with both feet flat on the ground , with the ability to pick it up off its stand and move it around with relative ease. I think this bike will nicely fill the role of people looking to buy a small capacity adventure bike that will help them learn, is not a fire breathing 120 hp plus monster, but has a motor that is still strong enough to keep things interesting once you have found your feet and your skills have progressed to intermediate levels. As well as a fun second bike for the more accomplished riders who might want a smaller capacity bike for commuting or fun trips. Keep your eyes peeled for a much more comprehensive test on this bike in the future.
The Shotgun 650 was the bike I was able to ride on the day with the 650 power plant and it really really impressed me. The influence from Harris performance, a world famous english performance engine and frame designer that Royal Enfield brought onboard to design the 650 power plant and chassis, was immediately apparent. The 650 parallel twin is oil cooled, silky smooth , has a nice torquey midrange and accelerates enthusiastically, but with a smooth linear power curve. No big steps in power delivery give it a nice predictable ride. This is a bike I look forward to testing much more comprehensively as well as the other varieties on offer in the 650 range. Like the Interceptor, continental GT and the super meteor.
On the Day the very exciting 650 Scrambler was officially launched to the public. With aesthetics on point. It has the aggressive scrambler ergonomics we have become familiar with from the Triumph and Ducati varieties . The 650 power plant is a gem and the frame has been beefed up to cope with the demands of off road riding. Showa suspension again finishing up the package.
The last bike I managed to get my hands on for the day was the classic 350. I could not help but smile and smile the whole time I was on this bike. It’s a 350 single so don’t expect it to make your arms long. But if you have ridden the 500 classic and enjoyed it, the 350 classic will make all the sense in the world to you. If you take the raw, old world heritage of the 500 classic and really polish it up, fans of the movie Spinal Tap will understand me when I say if you “ turn it up to 11” you get the 350. You are still riding a classic 1950’s era bike but with nicely dialled suspension that soaks up all the bumps, all the vibration is gone and the noise from the motor is classic enfield. A very interesting balance has been struck between old world charm and modern up to date chassis and engine refinement.
Again from my perspective the important thing that all these bikes offer is accessibility. Pricing is very reasonable, and with the way the market is set up at the moment in South Africa there is an abundance of high end, ultra high spec performance bikes available for top dollar and there is equally an abundance of cheap and cheerful, lower spec bikes that are not really much use for anyone except delivery riders with very little in the middle.
I believe Royal Enfield are going to fill an important niche in south africa , high quality bikes, at very reasonable prices for people who are new to the industry or have just graduated from a beginner bike and want a low pressure , reliable and easy step up onto a bigger stronger bike that is not going to terrify them and alternatively for the more experienced guys who have ticked all the boxes they needed to with 1000 cc plus scud missiles and are looking for something with a little more character and versatility.
Keep up to date with any and all developments at https://www.royalenfield.com/za
