Royal Enfield’s latest Bullet 500 has a real Fifties flavour, making it a perfect method of transportation for the Goodwood Revival.
You don’t have to buy a classic to get an authentic feel of Fifties and Sixties British bikes. I’m not talking about modern retro bikes, those such as Triumph’s Bonneville and Kawasaki’s W800, which bring back the look of the British parallel twin, but a more direct connection.
Royal Enfield is more about survival than revival, but the latest Bullet certainly will revive memories, as from a distance it’s almost indistinguishable from the first Enfield Bullets built in Redditch in 1955.
One of Royal Enfield’s most important Bullet customers during the Sixties was the Indian army, which found the rugged British singles ideal for the poor roads and mountainous terrain they often had to negotiate.
When Bullet production was due to cease in the late Sixties, a deal was struck to maintain a full supply of spare parts, and the entire production line was moved to Madras, now known as Chennai.