New Royal Enfield Despatch BikesJuly 2015 Royal Enfield Bullet | 500cc | RE | Military bikes There are three new limited edition 500cc Royal Enfield Bullets headed for production. Two models are destined for the Indian home market, and one is destined for export. The Bullet immediately above will be marketed as the Desert Storm model. It's aimed exclusively at the increasingly affluent Indian consumer. Just 200 will be manufactured. The Bullet immediately below will be marketed as the Squadron Blue model. It's also aimed only at the Indian consumer, and 200 will also be built. We'll get to the third option presently. 
The official idea behind the bikes is to "pay homage" to the soldiers of "World Wars" (and presumably to make a little money too). According to Royal Enfield: "Each of these [400] motorcycles carries a unique camouflage pattern made possible by a hydrographic print transfer achieved by hand." We don't know if that means every bike has an individual camouflage pattern, or if the uniqueness refers to a single camouflage design limited to the complete production run of each model. But we suspect the latter. 
▲ Does this look cheap and nasty? Or just cheap? Or just nasty? Royal Enfield clearly thinks that this livery is what its home market wants, but it's making us liverish. Officially, you won't see this one (or the blue example above) in the UK or Europe. But one or two will probably arrive via the back door. The tech spec looks like standard RE Bullet fare, so you'd be buying purely on looks and maybe investment potential. But is there really any significant investment to be had from a modern Royal Enfield Bullet (as opposed to an original British built bike)? We doubt it. Not in the foreseeable future, anyway. Then again, RE just might have hit upon something worth leaving in the crate for a few decades. Our guess is that the more serious/dedicated military bike buff would demand something far more serious (i.e without all the chrome and bling). And that's where the Battle Green model fits in (image immediately below). This one is the third new limited edition model in the trio, and it's arguably the most attractive (but it's still a little too shiny in places for our taste). Like its stable mates, it will be supplied with an Italian leather saddle; but in this instance, only 100 examples will be built. 
▲ Royal Enfield's new limited edition Battle Green edition "military homage". You can have it in camouflage, or you can buy the standard Battle Green model (picture immediately below) in ... well, green. 
▲ We prefer this standard Battle Green model for its simplicity. But all that chrome and polished aluminium alloy desperately needs dressing down and a bucket of mud. What's with the stupid headlight peak, anyway? Note that Royal Enfield already has a "Battle Green" model in its arsenal (image immediately above). You can check out the more obvious differences between this bike and the new limited edition offer. To improve its cachet, Royal Enfield is also fielding a large range of biker essentials including wallets, T-shirts, belts and suchlike. And some of it looks not too bad at all. If you're interested in any or all of this, you can "book" your limited edition bike after 15th July 2015, or buy your standard Battle Green example today and/or pick and mix from the rest of the merchandise. Talk to your local Royal Enfield dealer. UK prices for the limited edition bikes haven't yet been announced. — Big End | 
