Fury 175 to Fantabulous scooter: FORGOTTEN Royal Enfields of India

Royal Enfield is the oldest two-wheeler motorcycle brand in the world. The brand needs no introduction and it has been in continuous production since the early 1900s. Royal Enfield brand came to India in 1955 and since then, it has remained in production in our market. While all the Royal Enfield motorcycles are quite popular and easily recognisable, since its arrival in India, the brand launched quite a handful of motorcycles and two-wheelers are now forgotten. Which are these two-wheelers and bikes? Well, let’s find out.

Royal Enfield Fury

First launched in 1959, the Royal Enfield Fury is a rebadged version of the Zundapp KS175 from Germany. Zundapp went out of business in 1984 but in India, the Fury 175 became extremely popular, especially among the youngsters and enthusiasts. The bike came with a five-speed transmission and offered front disc brakes sourced from Brembo. The sleeveless hard chromed cylinder barrel was one of the many attractive and engineering highlights in the bike.

Royal Enfield Explorer 50

The Explorer 50 was another bike from Zundapp that was rebadged and sold in the Indian market. The bike was launched in the 1980s and was available only for a few years. The bike was extremely fun to ride and was powered by a 50cc engine. It had a three-speed transmission. In Europe, the bike was sold to the 16-year old Mokick license holders.

Royal Enfield Lightning

Royal Enfield Thunderbird, which is an extremely popular bike in the Indian market. Well, the Lightning was its predecessor. It was launched in 1997 and lived through the years to be discontinued in 2003. The touring-focussed bike came powered by a 535cc, single-cylinder engine that generated a maximum power of 26 Bhp and peak torque of 38 Nm. It offered a 4-speed transmission.

Royal Enfield Silver Plus

Royal Enfield also offered a step-through scooter in the market. Launched in the 1980s, the Silver Plus was the first step-through scooter from the brand and was one of the first two-wheelers in the Indian market. The bike came with a hand-operated gear shifted linked through a cable. It received the power from a puny 65cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled engine that sent the power to the rear wheel through a two-speed transmission. Royal Enfield later launched an upgraded three-step transmission with the bike too. This step-through was manufactured in partnership with Zundapp, the German company that we mentioned above.

Royal Enfield Fantabulous

Royal Enfield gave in to the ever-growing scooter market in India and launched its first and only scooter – the Fantabulous. The 175cc 2-stroke engine powering the scooter was sourced from Villiers. It offered a maximum power of 7.5 Bhp and came with a self-starter too!

Royal Enfield Taurus

Popularly known as the diesel Bullet, the Taurwas was the first diesel motorcycle in India that entered the mass production. The bike came powered by a 325cc, single-cylinder engine from Greaves with a direct-injection system from Lombardini. It generated a maximum power of 6.5 Bhp and peak torque of 15 Nm. The Tauras had a top speed of only 65km, mainly because of its hefty build and weight of 196 kg.

Royal Enfield Mofa

The Royal Enfield Mofa was a light-weight suspension-less 25cc moped. It never became as popular and was very underrated. It was designed in Morbidelli and is one of the smallest capacity two-wheeler ever launched by Royal Enfield in India.