The Bullet - made like a gun

I started out drawing New Plymouth's 1 million dollar tree, the gnarly 150 year old Ombu tree, one of only three in New Zealand when an Indian couple pulled up for a coffee.  I say pulled up, but as you can see there is no pillion, so one was following in the car.  It started to spit so I moved across to the bike and began umbrella sketching.

Royal Enfield was formerly the brand of the British Enfield Cycle Company.  It started in India for the Indian Army when 350cc bikes were imported in kits from the UK and assembled in Chennai (formerly Madras).  After a few years the company started producing the 500cc Bullet.

Intriguingly the Bullet derives its name from the original links with the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, London.

In 2013 a new factory opened in Chennai.  Royal Enfield now sells motorbikes out of India to more than 50 countries and surpassed Harley-Davidson in global sales in 2015.