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[Richard230]

Royal Enfield is getting close to unveiling their new electric motorcycle, which is scheduled for November 4. My money is on a city commuter design to see how the local market will accept EVs: https://www.rideapart.com/news/737690/royal-enfield-electric-motorcycle-teaser/

[TheRan]

A spy shot

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new-bikes/2024/october/royal-enfield-electric-motorcycle-concept-spyshot/

[Richard230]

Well, that spy shot doesn't show too much about the bike, other than its unusual front suspension - which has me scratching my head a bit. 

[hotsauce]

Well, that spy shot doesn't show too much about the bike, other than its unusual front suspension - which has me scratching my head a bit. 

It shows the battery case, which to me doesn't look like it'll be more than 4 or 5 kWh. The bike also looks pretty light, so I wouldn't be surprised if they advertised an 80 mile city range, which would quietly be assuming speeds under 25mph and a rider weighing 135lbs.

As for the front suspension, they're retro-style girder forks. The industry switched to telescopic forks for a reason, so if functioning girder forks are on the production version of the bike, either its specs are such that there's no major performance hit to using a relatively obsolete technology for aesthetic purposes, or there's been a major engineering innovation that makes them a superior choice again. The former seems far more likely; I think they're using really cool retro looks to counter-balance underwhelming performance/range/speed.

Depending on pricing, I can see the bike doing well in India and other countries where urban low-speed commuting on something that looks cool is a huge thing. Here in the US I expect another chorus of "I can get a used Ninja 650 for thousands less"

[Fran K]

Well, that spy shot doesn't show too much about the bike, other than its unusual front suspension - which has me scratching my head a bit. 

Adjustable foot boards or pegs
levers at the handlebars both look hydraulic
kind of thin rear tire
it must be some kind of reduction gear to the front sprocket

The size of the liscence plate as it would be called here is huge, not sure what that stay bar and the rear fender are like.

[princec]

Not sure I'd describe girder forks as obsolete, just undeveloped for the last 100 years or so. K1300 and GoldWing both use them.

Would do well for 17yr olds in the UK if the price is right but unlikely to make an impact otherwise. Main problem with the Maeving is that it's only of a size and power that fits 17yr olds but costs exactly twice what they can afford.

Cas

[JaimeC]

The BMW and the Honda use a variation of the Hossach front end. Not the same thing as a girder fork...

[princec]

Looking closely at the pictures I'm not so sure it isn't a Hossack front end, just rearranged slightly. Need better shots.

Cas

[TheRan]

I'm not sure of the exact distinction between hossack and a regular girder fork, it seems to just be about moving the components rearward slightly.


However the Royal Enfield uses a girder fork with the linkages attached to the steerer tube, it just moves the shock from the front to having one either side.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/728181/royal-enfield-electric-flying-flea-coming-soon/

[princec]

I think fundamentally they all work the same way and have the same effect. Bit of an odd choice though - when it comes to motorcycles, manufacturers have painfully learned the long and hard way that motorcyclists don't like different. You can get away with changing one thing at a time and they don't notice, but try and do it all in one go and nobody will go near it. In this case - it's a BEV: quite enough innovation in one bike.

Cas

[TheRan]

I think they're doing it for two reasons, to set themselves apart from the likes of Maeving, RGNT, Super Soco; and because they're wanting it to look like the original Flying Flea. While companies like BMW and Bimota go for funky suspension designs to be futuristic Royal Enfield is going for the classical retro look, which is what they're known for.

[Richard230]

Here is a little more news regarding the RE Flying Flea: https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new-bikes/2024/november/royal-enfield-flying-flea-electric/

[princec]

Styling is spot-on, right up there with the Maeving. Really nice.

Cas 

[TheRan]

Yeah it looks great, and looks to be decent quality. My fear is that with all of the large dedicated (only used on this one model) aluminium castings the price is going to end up being quite high and not competitive with similarly specced bikes.

[Richard230]

Here is a "walk-around" video of the two RE electric motorcycle models. Nice looking bikes for an electric model, but I am still not sure they really needed to include that unusual front suspension at this time. That has got to add to the price of the bike, compared with an off-the-shelf front suspension that would be cheap and readily available in India. They are expected to hit the market sometime in 2026. No word about the cost at this early date, but it is bound to be expensive compared with other small ICE city bikes available in India. But I give Royal Enfield credit for going all-in with an electric motorcycle, unlike other major manufacturers that you could name: