Royal Enfield doesn’t just sell motorcycles. It sells a lifestyle. The world knows that and the world loves it because there’s an intent to let the people not just explore places on motorcycles but experience the things this planet has to offer. For over 120 years, Royal Enfield has been curating and churning out motorcycle experiences that have been appreciated and celebrated by the riders. While the brand has been at the forefront of bringing some life-changing rides, it has also played an important role in the world of racing.
Royal Enfield, over the years, has been involved in multiple races. In fact, it has won some legendary races like the International Six Day Trials, along with breaking the class speed record at the Speed Week in South Australia. Royal Enfield has also secured a podium finish at the Daytona America Flat Track. This led to the brand bringing in the world of flat-tracking to India through its Royal Enfield Slide School in Bengalaru. This clearly shows that the company wants to make its presence felt in the racing fraternity. But, recently, it took things to a whole new level with the Continental GT Cup.
The Continental GT, as a brand, has been quite popular since the days of yore. It was known for its British road and café racing culture in the 60s. The famous GT 250 was unveiled in 1964 and its certain traits gave it the ‘Britain’s Fastest 250’ tag. The combination of clip-on handlebars, flyscreen, swept-back exhaust and a bright red fiberglass fuel tank with Monza filler cap made the Continental GT the talk of the town. The same motorcycle inspired the GT 535 that was launched in 2014 and also the current generation GT. The current GT also made the brand famous by setting a new land speed record of 157mph at the famous Bonneville Salt Flats.
For Royal Enfield, the Continental GT Cup is a retro track-racing initiative where it wants to build and develop the sport in an accessible way. This racing initiative is basically a series of GT races with the finale to be held soon after. After hundreds of entries from riders all over the country, only a few have been selected to race in this GT series. Post this, Royal Enfield will also introduce track schools in various parts of India to build the sport and also provide accessible training to enthusiasts who wants to learn the art of racing or just improve the overall riding skills.
For the race and also for the training, the famous Continental GT 650 motorcycles are used. While the stock GT 650 can easily be ridden on a race track, Royal Enfield has gone ahead and made a few changes to the GT 650 to make it the perfect track too. With these changes, it gets a new name – the GT-R650. Firstly, the suspension setup was taken care of by installing a stiffer unit – both at the front and back. This allows the rider to have excellent handling capabilities at higher speeds. The overall seating ergonomics have been revised as well, thanks to lowered race clip-on handlebars. This change along with the rear-set footpegs allows the rider to tuck in behind that custom fairing and achieve greater speeds as quick as possible.
Now to make the most of the mods, Royal Enfield has also taken some unnecessary weight off the bike. The stock exhaust has been replaced with a stainless steel full-exhaust system that has dropped the weight and also increased the overall power output by 12 per cent. The race fairing allows some weight savings and has made it aerodynamically more efficient. The tyres too, have been replaced to offer maximum performance. The GT-R650 is fitted with a pair of soft compound tyres that have been manufactured by JK tyres.
The Continental GT Cup is bound to make a big difference to the motorsport world while enticing motorcycle enthusiasts. This platform will bring in new riders with excellent riding and racing skills that will allow many Indians to explore their true potential of motorcycling.
