CAFÉ RACER 76: Royal Enfield 535 Cafe Racer

Since its first appearance at the International Auto Expo in Delhi, the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cafe Racer has been touring the international motorcycle expo circuit. Originally sporting some fairly high end components this version has had some changes that would lower production costs suggesting it is much closer to the bike that Royal Enfield will be offering to the public next year. The movements of the bike around the globe also suggest that Enfield's primary market for the machine will be on foreign shores, with it's latest appearance taking place at the Long Beach Motorcycle Show in Los Angeles.

The 535cc motor is the same Unit Construction Engine used in the Royal Enfield Lightning which will produce around 30bhp in this set up. Although you're not going to be smashing the Ton (100mph) in record time the Continental GT Cafe Racer will be the most powerful motorcycle in the Enfield lineup. This will undoubtedly have Enfield fans scrambling for their wallets and when combined with this new direction in style could earn the company a lot more interest from US and European buyers.

With only a handful of factory built Cafe Racer styled bikes on the market the Enfield Continental GT may well be the closest alternative to buying a vintage Cafe Racer. Enfield are renowned for the fact that their technology and design has hardly changed for decades so they had a great starting point for the GT. An all new double cradle frame designed specially for the GT has been combined with a revised version of the Thunderbird swingarm along with the Thunderbirds larger forks to produce handling characteristics that are in keeping with it's Cafe Racer appearance. Enfield have also used high performance, gas filled shocks on the bike which were originally Ohlins but now look to have been swapped for a cheaper brand to keep production costs down.