• NEW USERS: If you haven't received your Confirmation Email: There has been an ongoing issue with the forum's send mail function and many new users haven't received the email to confirm their registration. I've done my best to manually process these, so there's a good chance if you've signed up in the past 30 days that you've already been validated and can proceed with posting on the forum (don't forget to introduce yourself!). If you still can't get in, please use the Contact Us link on the bottom of any page to send me a message and I'll process you manually. Thanks for your patience! ~Jerk

Anyone else desperately desire the 120th anniversary bikes?

I personally think these are two of the most desirable bikes ever made. Stunning!
Bummer is, only 60 total bikes will be available in the US.

Hopeful this link works. If the bikes don’t show up, refresh the page and then maybe they will show up. If not, just go to the US Royal Enfield web site.

 

HaveACuppaTea

Finally made it
Location
Scotland
Not having a pop at Royal Enfield India as I like what they do and I think they have every right to use the name, but they don't have 120 years of heritage.
Why can't they just be proud of the heritage they do have?
 
I would assume they are celebrating 120 years of Royal Enfield, not Royal Enfield India. And since their bikes say “Royal Enfield” and not “Royal Enfield India” on the side, they might as well celebrate that.
 

Eatmore Mudd

Moderator
Staff member
Not having a pop at Royal Enfield India as I like what they do and I think they have every right to use the name, but they don't have 120 years of heritage.
Why can't they just be proud of the heritage they do have?
Meh, they were a partnership subsidiary until HQ died.
If Ford corporate imploded today and the only production line left was a pickup truck line in Mexico would it not be Ford ?
 

Morgan60

Well travelled
Location
USA
My buddy is all hot to buy the GT model. I think they look good but I already have a 650 and a 535 Continental GT so I’m going to wait for the 650 Super Meteor for my next RE bike to add to my stable.
 

HaveACuppaTea

Finally made it
Location
Scotland
I would assume they are celebrating 120 years of Royal Enfield, not Royal Enfield India. And since their bikes say “Royal Enfield” and not “Royal Enfield India” on the side, they might as well celebrate that.
Meh, they were a partnership subsidiary until HQ died.
If Ford corporate imploded today and the only production line left was a pickup truck line in Mexico would it not be Ford ?
Semantics really. Partnership subsidiary, or built under licence?

My point is that it seems to be a common thing these days to appropriate heritage that really there is no right to. I guess the marketing men like to add something on top of the product to help the sell. For me it's a negative because it feels like a bit of a scam.
Enfield India are approaching 70 years old. They have a history and heritage of their own and I think they can be rightfully proud of what they have accomplished. The bikes they are making right now are fantastic and they are continuing to develop new models. I think they should shout about that. Be proud of that and not try and claim a spurious direct link to the first 50 odd years of the Redditch company.
 

petespace1

Well travelled
Location
Aus
Semantics really. Partnership subsidiary, or built under licence?

My point is that it seems to be a common thing these days to appropriate heritage that really there is no right to. I guess the marketing men like to add something on top of the product to help the sell. For me it's a negative because it feels like a bit of a scam.
Enfield India are approaching 70 years old. They have a history and heritage of their own and I think they can be rightfully proud of what they have accomplished. The bikes they are making right now are fantastic and they are continuing to develop new models. I think they should shout about that. Be proud of that and not try and claim a spurious direct link to the first 50 odd years of the Redditch company.
Not slamming you or anything but just thinking out in writing … (like thinking aloud?)

So when Mini claim their heritage should they only go back to when BMW bought them?

Is it the history of the brand or ownership?

And VW with Audi … etc ?
What about Rolls Royce should they have their history cut to when BMW bought the brand (after the thing with VW / Bentley)? What was it in 2003 ? 🤔

Oh I forgot I think Fiat owns Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and numerous other brands ?
 
Last edited:

Eatmore Mudd

Moderator
Staff member
Not slamming you or anything but just thinking out in writing … (like thinking aloud?)

So when Mini claim their heritage should they only go back to when BMW bought them?

Is it the history of the brand or ownership?

And VW with Audi … etc ?
What about Rolls Royce should they have their history cut to when BMW bought the brand (after the thing with VW / Bentley)? What was it in 2003 ? 🤔

Oh I forgot I think Fiat owns Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and numerous other brands ?
Does your surname and genealogy become invalid when your parents pass away ?
 

HaveACuppaTea

Finally made it
Location
Scotland
Not slamming you or anything but just thinking out in writing … (like thinking aloud?)

So when Mini claim their heritage should they only go back to when BMW bought them?

Is it the history of the brand or ownership?

And VW with Audi … etc ?
What about Rolls Royce should they have their history cut to when BMW bought the brand (after the thing with VW / Bentley)? What was it in 2003 ? 🤔

Oh I forgot I think Fiat owns Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and numerous other brands ?
Well with Mini it seems pretty clear to me. Current Mini has absolutely nothing to do with the car designed by Alec Issigonis and released in 1959. That was a model anyway (and it wasn't even called a Mini at first) and not a brand. BMW may have bought the 'rights' but they are totally unconnected.

As for when a company is bought as a going concern by another company? I see how arguments could be made in both directions, but I would mostly err on the side of continuity. But if there was a real change of culture, maybe continuity isn't enough. Loads of examples of that with a certain sports goods store buying up names and then putting those names on cheap tat produced in the Far East.

But back to motorcycles, look at the Mahindra Gold Star. Now whether that is a good bike or not, surely everyone can agree it has absolutely nothing to do the BSA company in any of its guises. They may have 'bought the rights' but it is nothing more than a marketing exercise. Some folk may be happy with that, but personally, I'd be more likely to buy a Mahindra Gold Star if it didn't use the BSA and Gold Star names. A Mahindra Bengal Tiger would be much more enticing.
 

HaveACuppaTea

Finally made it
Location
Scotland
All three are true. Same thing with Ford / Ford Werk, with Brembo / ByBre...
Not sure about that. ByBre are made by Brembo in overseas factories with cheaper construction, are they not? If Brembo goes bust next year, and the ByBre factories continued production and called themselves Brembo, could they legitimately celebrate their 70th anniversary in 2031? I don't think so. YMMV.
 

Andy131

Well travelled
Location
Manchester UK
Can't resist
Going to agree that the "New Mini" seems to have nothing connecting it to the car designed by Alec Issigonis, but BMW have bought the right to the name.
RE in India on the other hand continued to make the air cooled single thumpers long after the UK factories closed the doors, the modern stuff just seems an evolution of the design with modern engineering and modern production methods. Darn things are still air cooled and at first glance look decades older than they are - so for me RE can say they have a 120 year heritage.
But no a 120 anniversary model does nothing for me, mine has been bought to ride not polish, fun money not an investment.
 

Rigger

Finally made it
Location
McPherson, KS
Not at all. Buy and ride for the love of the bike. Not to be able to show off. A regular bike of the same model will perform just as well without that silly 120th anniversary badge. 🤷🏾‍♂️
I personally think these are two of the most desirable bikes ever made. Stunning!
Bummer is, only 60 total bikes will be available in the US.

Hopeful this link works. If the bikes don’t show up, refresh the page and then maybe they will show up. If not, just go to the US Royal Enfield web site.

 
Not at all. Buy and ride for the love of the bike. Not to be able to show off. A regular bike of the same model will perform just as well without that silly 120th anniversary badge. 🤷🏾‍♂️
I guess I will file that under “To each his own”. I am a motorcyclist because I like to ride. I am also a motorcyclist because I like to tinker, modify and work on motorcycles. And I am a motorcyclist because of the beauty I find in the machines, in other words, I like to look at them with a fascination for the aesthetics and the mechanics involved. And those two 120 year anniversary bikes are what I see as even more aesthetically pleasing version of already aesthetically pleasing motorcycles. Regardless of what sticker is on the side.
 
But no a 120 anniversary model does nothing for me, mine has been bought to ride not polish, fun money not an investment.
I am always amused by statements like “…mine has been bought to ride, not polish”. Whether or not it is meant to be, it comes across as an almost arrogant, elitist put-down of people who like clean, polished and well detailed motorcycles and seems to assume there are only two mutually exclusive things to do with a motorcycle: polish OR ride. And your statement also seems to imply that a motorcycle can only be bought for “an investment” OR “fun money”. Just because someone takes pride in their bike and polishes it does not mean they are thinking “investment”.

I live in the very NW part of Washington State and will actually have far more days available to polish during the winter than I will to ride the thing. So, it is indeed possible to both have a clean, polished motorcycle and ride it and it is even possible to have fun on that polished motorcycle, all while looking like you take pride in the vehicle your hard earned money was spent on.

To sum up: some like having and maintaining beautiful motorcycles and some don’t care if they are riding around on what looks like a clapped-out rolling heap of garbage. To each his own.
 
Top Bottom