Royal Enfield Club

The push-bike version of the classic British-turned-indian motorcycle

Royal Enfield is a name much more frequently associated with motorcycles, and those into twisting rather than pedalling will undoubtedly be familiar with the story of a classic British marque that was eventually sold to India, where it became even more legendary.

The first chapter of the story mirrors that of many British bicycle companies. A factory that made steel components – in this case needles – capitalises on the late-victorian bike boom and designs and produces its own. As the internal combustion engine begins to take over, it moves into powered transport – quadricycles and tricycles and in 1901 the first motorcycle, which was a sturdy bicycle with a small engine positioned behind the stem.

Although the original needle company and bike brand that followed were based in Redditch, the Enfield name came from an order to supply parts for guns to the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, Middlesex. The military gun head badge and the strapline ‘built like a gun’ originate from this – and this Club model from the early 1960s bears both.

The cycle manufacturing part of the business continued in Britain for a decade longer than Royal Enfield’s motorcycles. The last Royal Enfield bicycle made before the Redditch factory doors closed in 1967 was the small-wheeled Moulton-style Revelation. Production of the classic 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet had started in Madras in 1955.

There are plenty of Royal Enfield bicycles still around but not many are in such good original condition as this Club which, according to Golden Age Cycles, still has its original paint and decals. Components are period correct: Williams chainset, Huret rear derailleur, Weinmann brakes and Bluemels mudguards.

There’s no doubt the Royal Enfield motorcycles stole the limelight and are still massively popular, but that only makes a bicycle with the name that much more interesting – and although neither valuable nor collectible, they still have their place in British bike history.