british motorcycle and bicycle manufacturer . for the indian motorcycle manufacturer see royal enfield india . enfield cycle co. ltd. industry motorcycles bicycles lawnmowers successor royal enfield india founded 1893 as enfield manufacturing co. ltd. headquarters chennai india key people founders albert eadie and robert walker smith products royal enfield clipper crusader bullet interceptor wd re super meteor website www.royalenfield.com royal enfield was the brand name under which the enfield cycle company founded 1893 owned by eicher motors manufactured motorcycles bicycles lawnmowers and stationary engines . the first royal enfield motorcycle was built in 1901 ; the original british concern was defunct by 1970 . the enfield cycle company is responsible for the design and original production of the royal enfield bullet the longest lived motorcycle design in history . like other motorcycle manufacturers such as bsa the enfield cycle company began business as a weapons manufacturer most famous for the enfield rifle . this legacy is reflected in the company logo disputed discuss a cannon and their motto made like a gun . in 1955 enfield cycle company partnered with madras motors in india in forming enfield of india based in chennai and started assembling the 350cc royal enfield bullet motorcycle in madras . the first machines were assembled from components imported from england . starting in 1957 enfield of india acquired the machines necessary to build components in india and by 1962 all components were made in india . royal enfield produced bicycles at its redditch factory until it closed in early 1967 . the company s last new bicycle was the revelation small wheeler which was released in 1965 . 1 better source needed production of motorcycles ceased in 1970 and the original redditch worcestershire based company was dissolved in 1971 . 2 enfield of india continued producing the bullet and began branding its motorcycles royal enfield in 1999 . a lawsuit over the use of royal brought by trademark owner david holder was judged in favour of enfield of india who now produce motorcycles under the royal enfield name . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 first world war 1911 1921 1.2 inter war years 1921 1939 1.3 second world war 1939 1945 2 postwar model g and model j and ex military c and co 1946 1954 3 springframe bullets 350cc 1949 1970 4 500 twins meteors super meteors and constellations 1949 1963 5 250 cc models 6 royal enfield interceptor 7 enfield indians 8 enfield india since 1949 9 see also 10 references 11 external links history edit george townsend set up a business in 1851 in redditch making sewing needles . in 1882 his son also named george started making components for cycle manufacturers including saddles and forks . by 1886 complete bicycles were being sold under the name of townsend and also ecossais . albert eadie joined the company and its name became the eadie manufacturing co in 1896 based in snow hill birmingham . 4 royal enfield quadricycle in 1893 the enfield manufacturing company ltd was registered to manufacture bicycles adopting the branding royal enfield . by 1899 royal enfield were producing a quadricycle a bicycle modified by adding a wrap around four wheeled frame retaining a rear rider saddle with handlebars having a front mounted passenger seat driven by a rear mounted de dion engine . 5 after experimenting with a heavy bicycle frame fitted with a minerva engine clamped to the front downtube enfield built their first motorcycle in 1901 with a 239 cc engine . a light car was introduced in 1903 powered by either a french ader v twin or de dion single cylinder engine . in 1906 car production was transferred to a new company the enfield autocar co ltd with premises in sparkbrook birmingham . the independent company only lasted until 1908 when it was purchased by alldays & onions . 4 in 1907 enfield merged with the alldays & onions pneumatic engineering co. of birmingham and began manufacturing the enfield allday automobile . by 1910 royal enfield was using 344 cc swiss motosacoche v twin engines or large displacement jap and vickers wolseley engines . 6 1913 enfield 425cc in 1912 the royal enfield model 180 sidecar combination was introduced with a 770 cc v twin jap engine which was raced successfully in the isle of man tt and at brooklands . first world war 1911 1921 edit in 1914 enfield supplied large numbers of motorcycles to the british war department and also won a motorcycle contract for the imperial russian government . enfield used its own 225 cc two stroke single and 425 cc v twin engines . 7 they also produced an 8 hp motorcycle sidecar model fitted with a vickers machine gun . inter war years 1921 1939 edit 1923 royal enfield 225cc in 1921 enfield developed a new 976 cc twin and in 1924 launched the first enfield four stroke 350 cc single using a prestwich industries engine . in 1928 royal enfield began using the bulbous saddle tanks and centre spring girder front forks one of the first companies to do so . even though it was trading at a loss in the depression years of the 1930s the company was able to rely on reserves to keep going . in 1931 albert eddie one of the founders of the company died and his partner r.w. smith died soon afterwards in 1933 . second world war 1939 1945 edit royal enfield 250 cc type 11f during world war ii the enfield cycle company was called upon by the british authorities to develop and manufacture military motorcycles . the models produced for the military were the wd c 350 cc sidevalve wd co 350 cc ohv wd d 250 cc sv wd g 350 cc ohv and wd l 570 cc sv . one of the most well known enfields was the royal enfield wd re known as the flying flea a lightweight 125 cc motorcycle designed to be dropped by parachute with airborne troops . in order to establish a facility not vulnerable to the wartime bombing of the midlands an underground factory was set up starting in 1942 in a disused bath stone quarry at westwood near bradford on avon wiltshire . many staff were transferred from redditch and an estate of prefabs was built in westwood to house them . as well as motorcycle manufacture it built other equipment for the war effort such as mechanical predictors for anti aircraft gunnery the manufacture of such high precision equipment was helped by the constant temperature underground . after the war the factory continued concentrating on engine manufacture and high precision machining . after production of royal enfield motorcycles ceased the precision engineering activities continued until the final demise of the company . postwar model g and model j and ex military c and co 1946 1954 edit postwar royal enfield resumed production of the single cylinder ohv 350cc model g and 500cc model j with rigid rear frame and telescopic front forks . these were ride to work basic models in a world hungry for transport . a large number of factory reconditioned ex military sv model c and ohv model co singles were also offered for sale as they were sold off as surplus by various military services . 8 springframe bullets 350cc 1949 1970 edit royal enfield in madrid spain in 1948 a groundbreaking development in the form of rear suspension springing was developed initially for competition model trials models modern enduro type machines but this was soon offered on the roadgoing model bullet 350cc a single cylinder ohv . this was a very popular seller offering a comfortable ride . a 500cc version appeared shortly after . a later 1950s version of the bullet manufacturing rights and jigs dies and tools was sold to india for manufacture there and where developed versions continue to this day . 8 500 twins meteors super meteors and constellations 1949 1963 edit in 1949 royal enfields version of the now popular selling parallel twins appeared . this 500cc version was the forerunner of a range of royal enfield meteors 700cc super meteors and 700cc constellations . offering good performance at modest cost these sold widely if somewhat quietly in reputation . the 700cc royal enfield constellation twin has been described as the first superbike . 9 250 cc models edit royal enfield crusader the 250cc class was important in the uk as it was the largest engine which a learner could ride without passing a test . in the late 1950s and early 1960s royal enfield produced a number of 250 cc machines including a racer the gp 10 and a scrambler the moto x which used a modified crusader frame leading link forks and a villiers starmaker engine . 11 12 the clipper was a base model tourer with the biggest seller being the crusader a 248 cc pushrod ohv single producing 18 bhp 13 kw . re gt with flyscreen re gt with avon speedflow nosecone fairing in 1965 a 21 bhp 16 kw variant called the continental gt with red grp tank five speed gearbox which was also an option on the crusader clip on handlebars rearset footrests swept pipe and hump backed seat was launched . it sold well with its race styling including a fly screen resembling a race number plate which doubled as a front number plate mount . 13 re turbo twin the avon speedflow full sports fairing was available as an extra in complementary factory colours of red and white . 14 other variants were the olympic 11 and 250 super 5 notable for use of leading link front suspension all the other 250 road models had conventional telescopic forks and the 250 turbo twin fitted with the villiers 247 cc twin cylinder two stroke engine . the royal enfield gp production volume racer was first raced in the manx grand prix in september 1964 . developed in conjunction with royal enfield racing manager geoff duke 10 the first public appearance was at earls court show in november 1964 . using a duplex tube frame leading link forks and one piece tank and seat unit the 250cc two stroke single engine was similar to other small capacity race machines offered from rivals greeves cotton dmw and particularly villiers 15 16 which provided the engines for these marques and many other manufacturers and bike builders including the starmaker competition engine used for the scorpion racer and sprite scrambler . 11 royal enfield interceptor edit royal enfield interceptor motorcycle main article royal enfield interceptor during the onslaught of the japanese motorcycle manufacturers in the late sixties and early seventies the english factories made a final attempt with the 1962 ; 1968 17 series i and series ii . made largely for the us market it sported lots of chrome and strong performance completing the quarter mile in less than 13 seconds at speeds well above 175 km h 105 mph . 18 it became very popular in the us but the classic mistake of not being able to supply this demand added to the demise of this last english made royal enfield . 19 the redditch factory ceased production in 1967 and the bradford on avon factory closed in 1970 which meant the end of the british royal enfield . after the factory closed a little over two hundred series ii interceptor engines were stranded at the dock in 1970 . these engines had been on their way to floyd clymer in the us ; but clymer had just died and his export agents mitchell s of birmingham were left to dispose of the engines . they approached the rickman brothers for a frame . the main problem of the rickman brothers had always been engine supplies so a limited run of rickman interceptors were promptly built . 20 as far as the motorcycle brand goes though it would appear that royal enfield is