Glory Day: The Super Meteor at Thruxton

This Royal Enfield Super Meteor set the pace in 1957.

 A sunny June day in Britain, and the silence of the Southampton countryside is broken; but not by the roar of fighter planes at the old RAF airfield at Thruxton. 

This is the sound of a 700cc Royal Enfield Super Meteor at speed. 

The Royal Enfield immediately jumps to an 80-yard lead over pursuing Triumph, Norton, BSA and Velocette competitors. 

It's the National Nine-Hour Race of June 29, 1957. 

Royal Enfield's performance that day was best summed up by reporter Roger Maughfling, in The Motorcycle News, Wednesday, July 31, 1957. 

His article was entitled "Nine Hour Super Meteor."

Bear that in mind: the racers at Thruxton that day ran for nine hours, at speeds that could exceed 100 mph. To win they would have to complete more than 200 laps of the airfield.

The runway portions of the course —naturally the fast straightaways — were by 1957 rough and weedy from lack of maintenance since the war.

The Motorcycle News applauded the "Nine Hour Super Meteor."
(Royal Enfield Owners Club Archive)

Here's Maughfling:

"One of the outstanding features of the recent Clubman's Nine-Hour race at Thruxton was the performance of the Royal Enfield Super Meteor entered by Lawton and Wilson, of Southampton, and ridden by Derek Powell and Brian Newman. Had it not been for a leaking fuel tank the Royal Enfield would most likely have scored an easy outright win.

"As it was, despite some twenty minutes lost effecting temporary repairs (not entirely successful) and the subsequent need to stop for refueling at frequent intervals because not more than a gallon could be carried before leakage from the crack in the top of the tank became pronounced, the Meteor finished second in its class and third in the race as a whole."

Maughfling subsequently got the chance to try that very Super Meteor racer for himself. A stock Super Meteor was capable of close to 100 mph. He found the racer capable of more than 115 mph, despite clubman rules requiring full road equipment, including working lights. 

"I was told that the increased speed was due largely to the use of 9:1 compression ratio pistons (available from the factory) to cleaning out the ports and to ultra-careful assembly. Because of the race regulations even the carburetor was the stock instrument with a bore of only one inch," Maughfling wrote.

This was race winning speed, and, luckily, you can watch the race highlights in a 20-minute Castrol Motor Oil film from the period. (Scroll down to the end of this blog item to watch the race on YouTube.)

The period film captures the courage and heartbreaking effort the leather-clad racers of the day put in. One rider pushed his motorcycle a mile in hope that a repair in the pits could put him back in the race.

It was a long and hot day. And then it started to rain.

Of the 43 starters, only 21 finished. The Royal Enfield Super Meteor was one of them.

Here's some of the play-by-play from the film:

"Powell's big Royal Enfield is going like a bomb. It's almost certainly the fastest machine out today. 

Super Meteor in the lead.

"And Derek is riding in beautiful style. He's taking advantage of a clear track ahead and quite effortlessly widening his advantage over... the 500s. While the others are at Club Corner Powell is way along the curves leading up to Windy...

"It's a quarter-to-one and Derek Powell is still leading handsomely on his 19th lap. He's averaging well over 70...

Momentary distraction for cameraman.

"One hour gone and Derek Powell leads... 

"After an hour and 20 minutes Powell has a break and Newman presses on with the Royal Enfield."

Change of riders for Super Meteor.

"The Powell Newman Royal Enfield is still in trouble with a split tank. It's leaking like a sieve. Another tank is fitted but it's a botched up one that sprang a leak in practice. They're still second in their class but have covered only 73 laps...

Another fuel tank fitted, but it leaks too.

"Four o'clock the track is awash (with rain) and speeds drop... Another fill-up for the Powell-Newman Super Meteor...

"It's past 8:30 and the sun sinking low. Powell and Newman, Royal Enfield are third...

Hanging on for third place.

"It's been a really tough race!"

Super Meteor is flagged in third.

Now watch the whole show on YouTube.

Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 bares all

Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650: Essentially a cruiser.

 What do you see when you look at a motorcycle? More importantly, perhaps, what do you want to see? What adds to your appreciation of the motorcycle? 

Royal Enfield design chief Mark Wells helped unveil the new Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 last week in Milan, Italy. He gave the international press gathered to see the new motorcycle a lesson in how to appreciate the looks of the new motorcycle. 

He looked at the Super Meteor 650 on the stand at EICMA and began his description with the word "Essentially..." 

Essentially, it's a cruiser. Unapologetically a cruiser. 

"But it had to be a Royal Enfield. And so we also worked very hard to incorporate some really key Royal Enfield design cues," he said. 

Rising line of frame from back to front, wraps down and around.

He talked about the "rising line" of the frame from back to front. 

He pointed to "this design cue that goes all the way back to our Bullet, all the way back to the late 1940s, this shape of the frame that goes down and around the back of the tool box.

"This very strong hour glass figure," he said, moving has hands and arms around the tank as if describing the form of a human female.

"The proportion of the bike just works."

He pointed toward the screen on the wall, where there was a projection of early sketches by Adrian Sellers, group manager for industrial design, and his team.

Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 seems to reach forward.

"You can see it gives the sense of that dynamic, that sense of motion and movement forward, right from the start," he said.

I found these sketches arresting. Stripped of the distractions of color and chrome, the sketches in particular helped me appreciate the Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 my "mind's eye."

I'm no designer, no artist and no philosopher so I hope I'm not talking nonsense. Here's what I'm trying to say:

When I was a boy, I couldn't appreciate the look of motorcycles. The sound, speed and power of motorcycles were visceral, but I didn't know what to look at when I looked at a motorcycle.

Really, I was looking, but not seeing. Even today, confronted with some modern motorcycle's jumble of angles and intakes, I sometimes draw a blank. "What do people see in that?" I wonder.

Super Meteor 650 looks all the business from the front.

Mark gave me permission to reproduce here the Super Meteor 650 sketches. To me, they capture the real excitement of the new Royal Enfield Meteor 650.

"Very very proud of this sublime motorcycle," he wrote, on his Instagram account.

Yes. I see that.

How to dress your Super Meteor 650

Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 in Celestial Red and fitted with the Grand Tourer Genuine Motorcycle Accessories kit. 

 As befits an American style cruiser, you can have your new Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 fancy, or fancier yet. 

A press release from Royal Enfield North America describes some of the ways you'll be able to buy the Super Meteor 650, starting as early as Summer 2023 in the U.S. 

There are two models. 

The Super Meteor 650 is the solo tourer variant and will be available in five colors: Astral Black, Astral Blue, Astral Green, Interstellar Grey and Interstellar Green. 

The Super Meteor 650 Tourer is the grand tourer variant and will be available in two colors: Celestial Red and Celestial Blue. 

Either model can be dressed up with  "an extensive ecosystem of Genuine Motorcycle Accessories that accentuate its touring capabilities," the press release boasts. The three motorcycles unveiled at EICMA Nov. 8 display some of your choices, it explains. 

The Celestial Red Super Meteor 650 Tourer (at the top of this article) is equipped with the Grand Tourer accessories kit, including the deluxe touring dual-seat, touring windscreen, passenger backrest, deluxe foot pegs, long-haul panniers, touring handlebar and LED indicators.

Super Meteor 650 in Astral Black with Solo Tourer Genuine Motorcycle Accessories kit.

The Astral Black Super Meteor 650 (above) is equipped with Solo Tourer Genuine Motorcycle Accessories kit, including bar-end mirrors, deluxe foot pegs, solo "finisher," LED indicators and machined wheels.

"Finisher" accessory for solo-seat Super Meteor 650

The "finisher" is a smart looking piece of bling that finishes off the top of the rear fender when a pillion seat is not fitted on the solo bike. It could serve is a tie down for a sleeping bag or waterproofs, but is not meant to be a luggage rack.

The Interstellar Green Super Meteor 650 at stage center is displayed in the standard format.

Interstellar Green Super Meteor 650 in standard form still drew a crowd

Standard or not, all Super Meteor 650 variants feature a catalog of "attention grabbing features."

As the press release puts it:

"Created in conjunction with Harris Performance, the all-new chassis provides a low center of gravity for high-speed stability and easy maneuverability that is confidence inspiring for all levels of rider. Upside-down forks, LED headlamps, a state-of-the-art turn-by-turn navigation system, redesigned engine covers and a premium fit and finish."

The Super Meteor 650 is centered around the 648cc parallel-twin motor of the Royal Enfield INT650 and Continental GT 650. Its all-new chassis was "developed for comfort and a long, effortless glide down long highways," the press release promises.

What more could you want?

Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 cruises

Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 will come in two flavors, seven colors.

 UPDATE: The Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 will begin arriving in North America as early as summer 2023, Royal Enfield North America stated in a press release Nov. 9.

 Royal Enfield, born in Britain, best known today for the Brit-style motorcycles it makes in India, unveiled its promised Super Meteor 650-twin -- a cruiser -- Tuesday, in Milan, Italy. 

"I never really took myself for a cruiser guy," managing director Siddhartha Lal told journalists present. 

"I think this will make a cruiser rider out of me." 

Can the Super Meteor 650 make cruiser riders out of Royal Enfield customers? 

It can, Royal Enfield told the crowd at EICMA -- because the Super Meteor 650 is not just another cruiser. 

Siddhartha Lal said it is Royal Enfield's very own take on cruising itself.

"We have a different world view of how motorcycles should be... how we think about motorcycles is not typical... we ride ourselves, all of us... we understand the pain and the pleasure and the joy of motorcycling... And that's what informs us in making our motorcycles," Lal said.

"Royal Enfield has actually a rich history in cruisers as well. In Royal Enfield UK in the 1950s we were making cruisers. In modern day Indian Royal Enfield there was first the City Bike and after that was the Lightning," he said, as he stood in front of a photo of a 1997 Royal Enfield Lightning 535.

Siddhartha Lal remembers Royal Enfield's Lightning 535.

"That's the one when I was 16 I was like Oh My God this is gorgeous," he said.

He traced Royal Enfield's cruiser history through the Thunderbird and today's Meteor 350 single-cylinder cruiser. The new (and highly successful) Meteor 350 demanded a Big Brother.

Mark Wells, Royal Enfield chief of design, talked about what they were trying to create:

"What is a cruiser? What does a cruiser mean? For us and I think for everyone who rides a cruiser it means getting on a bike and looking out to the horizon, looking out to the vanishing point, looking across a massive vista and thinking I want to ride there; I've not got a plan but over there looks great. I'm going to get on the bike and I'm just going to go.

"It's that sat-down and that feet-forward hands-up and relaxed riding position and just letting the world go past you, letting the scenery move through you, moving through the landscape... that's the very essence, the kind of architype of a cruiser."

"Just endlessly munch through the miles."

Mark Wells relates Super Meteor 650 design to past, future.

He introduced a video entitled "Cruising at its purest" that showed the Super Meteor 650 moving through lush scenery to relaxing music.

The Super Meteor 650, Wells said, is a natural outgrowth of the parallel-twin 650 platform; the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT came first, but in fact the 650 with its low-down torque was perhaps even better for a relaxed cruiser.

Otherwise, however, the Super Meteor is a clean sheet of paper design, he said. He pointed to a new main frame, new suspension geometry, tank, swinging arm, side panels, up-side-down forks and LED headlight. Here are the full Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 specifications:

Official Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 specifications.

As Lal told the EICMA gathering, Royal Enfield made parallel-twin motorcycles in Britain in the 1950s. They weren't American style cruisers, but they certainly grew into attractive, powerful, and long-legged motorcycles in their day. (The original Royal Enfield Super Meteor, of 1956, was Royal Enfield's first 100-mph machine.)

The new Super Meteor 650 will be available "across Europe" in Spring, 2023, the press was told. Royal Enfield North America repeated the predicted Spring 2023 arrival date on its Instagram account @royalenfield_na

It's coming to America.

Here's the YouTube video of the unveiling.

Royal Enfield Super Meteor on 2015 calendar

Here is a Royal Enfield 2015 calendar. Click on it to make the dates readable.

Here's a Royal Enfield themed 2015 calendar for you.

The calendar features the classic 1956 Royal Enfield brochure illustration showing a lucky young couple touring on their Royal Enfield Super Meteor. This 692cc twin was a new model that year. It came with an improved motor, offering 40 horsepower.

"At last Enfields had a 100-mph machine, for on test Motor Cycling managed to exceed the magic ton by one mph," wrote Roy Bacon in "Royal Enfield, The Postwar Models."

The Super Meteor featured new bodywork that some critics thought made it look heavier than the 700 Meteor it replaced. Perhaps the illustrator made both the man and woman in the picture super-model thin to compensate!

According to the sales brochure, the Super Meteor features "robust swinging arm spring frame of entirely new design... The battery, air cleaner and toolbox are housed in a streamlined container with quickly detachable covers."

It's that big central container that gave the Super Meteor the heavier look. The big divided box under the seat had the tools and air filter on the left and the battery on the right.

1956 Royal Enfield Super Meteor had curvaceous new frame and big box for messy bits.

The new look was well in line with the "enclosure" style being introduced on competing brands of British motorcycles at the time.

Ironically, the "look" that endures on Royal Enfield Bullets from India today is the older angular frame with separate air filter box, two toolboxes and battery box, all circa 1955.

Click here to download a pdf of this calendar.

Happy New Year from this Royal Enfield Motorcycles blog.

Royal Enfield Super Meteor takes on the 5000 Curves

Bob Murdoch and Olive the Super Meteor complete the 5000 Curves.

Bob Murdoch, owner of several Royal Enfields, recently completed the 5000 Curves timed endurance trial on "Olive," his 1959 700cc Royal Enfield Super Meteor.

The 5000 Curves is described by the organizing MCPiston club as "No scores! No official speeches! No sponsor obligations! Sheer riding pleasure! The route is the challenge!"

Limited to 120 motorcycles, it follows "a long, demanding, challenging and feasible route" of approximately 500 kilometers through the Cantabrian Mountains of northern Spain.

Feasible? The club also calls it "daring." And demanding. If you hit a check point before it opens or after it closes, you're out.

Trials legend Sammy Miller, left, welcomed finishers.

"It was a particularly tough 331 miles this year," Bob wrote me, "setting out at 08:15 and finishing in the dark at 08:30 back at the hotel, having got my card marked at the five unmarked checkpoints during their one hour open 'window.'

"Check out www.mc piston.com; you'll see the website of the tiny motorcycle club in the north of Spain that hosts the four-day rally for pre-1980 bikes. Surely one of the best classic bike events in Europe.

"This year was my fifth time and third successful entry in the 5000 'Curvas' that is always on the Friday. A real test of man and machine, man being the generic term, because some ladies revel in the masochism too!

"Toulouse has become the last staging post for our merry group of old bikers each September (two from Toulouse, one from central France, two ride down from northern England and Mike who comes all the way from Copenhagen riding most of the way except for one stage by train) before crossing the Pyrenees into Spain.

The merry band, with Bob and Olive second from right.

"I suppose we must clock over 12,000 miles between us in 10 days. The riding there on old bikes is a real adventure and as exciting as the rally. I usually set the pace with the slowest machine, while the others... usually ride 1970s Triumph Tridents.

"However, next year may be different because I've just treated myself to a Rickman Metisse Interceptor that should thread through those serpentine mountain passes with more ease than the Meriden triples. We'll see.

"After the rally, Olive was ferried back to Portsmouth via Santander, and ridden to Bristol where she now lives, and very much in need of new brake linings and a back tire. I always underestimate how much material those mountain roads scrub off the bike.

Vintage motorcycles take on ancient mountain roads of Spain.

"My family moved back to UK in August. I'm still in Toulouse but will join them in December, when my new job starts back in the Airbus UK site."

Transplanted Royal Enfield twin looks neat

The V-twin motor Aniket Vardhan proposes for his Royal Enfield Musket is certainly an elegant way to put 700cc power into a Royal Enfield Bullet. Carberry makes a 1,000cc V-twin for the Bullet. Beautiful, but not easy, making your own engine.

So, suppose you want a Royal Enfield twin in your Bullet; why not just put in an existing one? Royal Enfield (in England) mass produced vertical twins in the 1950s and '60s. Apparently some are available outside of the motorcycle they came in. "Shiner" alerted the Royal Enfield Yahoo group to this 1993 Bullet for sale on eBay in the UK.

It has a 700cc Royal Enfield Meteor twin installed.

"I think it looks quite tidy," Shiner commented. "Sadly, I've not got the spare change this week."

Mileage is given as 27,500. Miles or kilometers? Who cares? (Note: it's miles, according to the label on the odometer.)

The seller writes: "Here's something a little unusual for you. It's a 1993 Enfield India Bullet with a 700 Meteor engine in it and a Goldie silencer fitted...

"The benefit of it being a Bullet is that all the bits to keep it going are available, but this bike has a bit more power about it... The bike is ready to go. It's not something you see every day and is a practical old bike really.

"So, buy this if you want to get the old boys scratching their heads at the local Enfield club, or at the local rally, or buy this if you want a reasonably priced, but reasonably quick and practical classic."

The seller is Reaney And Son Classic Motorcycles, based in Dronfield, Derbyshire. He adds this bit of dry wit: "I don't want somebody saying that it's not original after the auction, because I already know it's not original, thanks."

I think everyone would be in favor of the remaining Meteor engines remaining in the remaining Meteor motorcycles. But, if a motor is available by itself and feeling lonely, what a nice home a Bullet would make.

In its history, Royal Enfield has made both V-twins and vertical twins. The V-twins came first, and will always evoke the gilded times before World War II. The vertical twins were post-war models and looked bulky and muscular in comparison.

Still, I like the look a lot.

Trio of great Royal Enfields going on sale

The first of a remarkable collection of Royal Enfield big twins is up for sale on eBay. It is a 1965 Royal Enfield TT Interceptor, one of 979 built, the seller says. He goes on to advise that "a buyer should have grown up with British motorcycles, kick starting and shifting on the right side." That is a refreshing change from the usual eBay warning that the buyer should not be a deadbeat!

William T. Bolstad of Kalispell, Mont., was nice enough to tell me a little bit about his Royal Enfields and his "long time relationship with British motorcycles."

It started "in 1956 when I rode my first motorcycle while a freshman at UCLA, an AJS 33CS (if I remember correctly). My first motorcycle was a 1966 Triumph 500, maybe the 500SC high pipe model—could not afford a Bonneville. I rode it a few years including a few falls in the desert.

"I took a break from motorcycles to race ocean racing sailboats out of Long Beach, including a third in the 1973 La Paz race. I also restored a 1957 Mercedes Benz 300SL roadster and did well in various car shows—a seriously fast car.

"I moved to Montana and started restoring old British motorcycles including Triumphs—Bonnevilles, TT's and Tridents—also, Norton N-15CS and P-11 Ranger.

"I always had wanted a Royal Enfield as they were a finely built OLD BRIT. (In 1997) I found an ad for the blue 1965 TT located in New York and bought it. What a pleasure when it arrived, everything I could have hoped and expected. A bit of a learning process to figure the combination for starting a cold engine, but had it running within an hour after unloading from the delivery van. I rode it in Montana a few summers, including the Going-to-the-Sun Highway (Glacier Park). Had to wait, upon occasion, for friends on their Triumphs."

This is the motorcycle for sale now on eBay. Bolstad says it was totally restored by Essex Motorsports in Darian, Conn. at a cost (in 1993-'94) of $12,000. Bolstad is only its second owner. Mileage now totals about 16,340 miles.

"I have ridden this motorcycle 1,934 miles and it performs perfectly. I have had the magneto rebuilt and replaced the original points with adjustable points from a Vincent. Tires are Metzlers and are as new, paint is perfect (no dings/scratches) chrome, fenders, wheels, mufflers perfect, tachometer and speedometer work as they should, as does the ammeter. Excellent oil pressure.

"Oil could use changing," he allows—again, not your usual eBay ad!

Bolstad says he is selling because age has taken its toll, but he rode the motorcycle this week, after not having started it for two years. "Put in a new battery tickled both carburetors and three-four kicks and the Interceptor started... Rode it down the road and back and the shifting was clean and crisp as it should be."

How did he end up with more than one Royal Enfield?

"I figured if one Royal Enfield was good two would be better. I found a restored/rebuilt 1966 Interceptor in Ontario, Canada and bought it. A bit of an issue getting it across the border—seller had to drive it to Niagara Falls and put it on a truck to Montana, where it arrived safely. Another very nice Interceptor and RED this time. I varied my riding between the two, equally fun to ride. I continued to restore other motorcycles, mostly Triumphs, and then I found the 1960 Super Meteor on eBay, in January, 2002."

And that's where the story he describes as "obsession" begins.

The Super Meteor was in Australia. Bolstad bought it and had it shipped to a friend in Long Beach, Calif. There it was uncrated, gas and oil were checked, and it started in just a couple kicks.

"I live in Northwestern Montana; the Super Meteor was in Southern California; and the parts were in England. Through this triangulation and the overall project many new friendships began."

The fenders were rusted with extra holes to fill, nuts had been forced onto studs and some were rusted on. None were saved. In a bid to make it "better than new," Bolstad was "faxing orders to England weekly like some purchasing clerk."

"The restoration had taken on signs of a mission/obsession, not a hobby," Bolstad says.

He discovered the Super Meteor had been delivered to London in January, 1960 as a side car model painted polychromatic burgundy. How it got to Australia he doesn't know. It is now better than new, with paint, chrome, cad plated nuts and bolts and "excess polishing."

They're all beautiful bikes. It's great that Bolstad is sharing them with the world, and their stories, too.