Royal Enfield factory in Redditch partly demolished

In 2013 author Gordon May displays aerial photo of Royal Enfield's Redditch factory. Words "Royal Enfield" were dimly visible on roof behind photographer at left.

In 2013 I was privileged to take a brief walking tour of the former main Royal Enfield factory location in Redditch, England.

It was led by author, historian and Royal Enfield enthusiast Gordon May.

Redditch was headquarters of Royal Enfield for most of its existence in Britain. Gordon conducted our group past the  remains of the once immense works, pointing out the words "Royal Enfield" still visible on the roof of one building.

It was stirring to be where so much Royal Enfield history was written.

Although made in India, my own Royal Enfield Bullet enriches my life and there was a sense that somewhere in this cluster of red brick structures its ancestors were first bolted together.

In 2013 a round plaque placed by Royal Enfield Owners Club marked factory wall.

Progress is the enemy of old buildings. Sure enough, blogger Jorge Pullin reports that some of the buildings have fallen to new development. Photos and an account of his recent visit to the Redditch factory are on his blog, My Royal Enfields.

Former Redditch factory repair shops are seen in Google street view.
REOC marker is visible at right. These buildings are now gone.

The "Royal Enfield" sign on the roof is gone and the factory building that once displayed a plaque from the Royal Enfield Owners Club has been demolished.

Luckily, Jorge has an excellent collection of articles on his blog compiling his research into the various Royal Enfield factories.

It is only a shame that he has had to write a new chapter describing the demolition.

Google aerial view shows vacant lot where part of factory formerly stood.
"Royal Enfield" was still faintly visible on roof at bottom center in this 2017 aerial.

Royal Enfield profits climb as production soars

Royal Enfield motorcycles lined up at factory in Chennai, India.

Eicher Motors, maker of Royal Enfield motorcycles, reported a 33 per cent after tax increase in profit in the first quarter of 2012, The Economic Times of India reported.

Managing Director and CEO Siddhartha Lal called it the firm's "best ever quarterly total income" results.

The company's motorcycle business saw its sales climb by 41 per cent to 23,899 motorcycles over the year before, The Economic Times said. Royal Enfield produced and sold a record number of motorcycles in one month: more than 9,000.

Incorporated in India in 1955, Royal Enfield became a part of the Eicher Group in 1994. Royal Enfield exports its bikes to over 25 countries including the U.S., Japan, UK and Europe.

Royal Enfield USA president Kevin Mahoney put this in perspective in a post last month on the Royal Enfield USA Community Forums.

"The two-wheeler market in India has always been centered around small cc units. I am guessing that in excess of 10 million units will be sold there this year and almost all of them will be small cc. The same is true in any developing market. It is only a recent thing in India for the leisure market to even exist. It only came to be as money started to flow into India and people started to have disposable income.

"Any two-wheeler company worth its salt in the main market in India will make over 1 million units in a year. By comparison Royal Enfield will make 108,000 this year. This is up from the 25,000 we used to make year after year after year. Things have gone exceedingly well for Royal Enfield over the past several years. There are long waiting lists to buy a bike and bookings keep rising. They have enough cash to really fuel R and D and build a brand new state-of-the-art factory, which is under construction.

"The current plant has been steadily modernized. We still hand build a lot of the bike but that is by design and not default.

"We are a very small player in India and always will be. Who wants to compete in a market with huge companies selling what amounts to a commodity where margins are razor thin?

"By comparison on the world stage Triumph only made around 50,000 units last year. Harley, Triumph and most of the other brands are salivating over the Indian market and are trying to get in and get a foot hold. In the long run some of them will succeed but only when they either assemble or manufacture there...

"Through our prism  here in the U.S., Royal Enfield is a very small player, but on the global stage not so much."

Royal Enfield factory tour 2008

Just in time for 2009, here's a video of how Royal Enfield built Bullet motorcycles way, way back in 2008! I posted an earlier, incomplete version of this earlier in 2008 but my video editing skills weren't up to much. Here's a much improved version. Thanks for the video editing tutorial from my daughter Anna.

Our videographer for this visit is Kevin Mahoney of Classic Motorworks, U.S. importer of the Royal Enfield motorcycle. If you listen closely at one point you can hear him saying "I'm going to put this on a CD and put it on my web site." Hopefully, he will, so it can reach a wider audience. There are some very decent shots here and you get a feeling for the attitude of the workers on the line.

"They never seem rushed," Anna commented as we viewed it. Seems to me, you'd want them to take time making your bike. Enjoy.

Factory tour video technical difficulty

I apologize that the Royal Enfield factory tour video in the post below may not be working or not working well. The Jumpcut.com program I used to assemble the movie may have a glitch, or the problem may be me. If the video is not working for you, or is jumpy or the sound is bad, those of you who have Yahoo passwords might prefer to just go to the Jumpcut.com web site and see it there.

But give the video below a chance, first. It may work for you and is well worth a look. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Again, my apologies.

Royal Enfield factory builds the Bullet

Kevin Mahoney of Classic Motorworks shared this video of workers in Chennai, India, assembling the world famous Royal Enfield Bullet. The "home movie" captures the sounds as well as the sights inside the factory. Turn up your speakers to appreciate what it must be like working there. Even out on the test track the hammering from the factory is ever present.