New Enfield 750 imminent

MCN have seen what appears to be a finished version of Royal Enfield’s new Continental GT750 undergoing testing in the UK, having already previously spied it being tested in Spain last year (pictured here).

Sources at the time suggested it would be released in March 2017 and based on the finish of model we have seen, we don’t think it’s far away.

The beating heart of the new Continental GT is an air-cooled 750cc parallel-twin, which is expected to produce 45-50bhp putting it in the same territory as the Harley-Davidson Street 750 (47bhp) and Triumph’s similarly-styled Street Cup (54bhp).

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Also new are the upswept twointo- two exhausts, as all Royal Enfields have previously been singles, and judging by the GT750s rather tasty exhaust note we expect it to have a 270-degree firing order.

Although we couldn’t see the exact tyre and wheel sizes on the test mule, the rear tyre appeared to be larger than the 500’s, which is logical enough with the 750-twin expected to deliver nearly twice as much power to the rear wheel as the current 500cc single. The 500 Continental GT runs on 110/90 R18 and 130/70 R18 tyre and rim combination, while our glimpses of the new bike suggest it could be rolling on 17inch rims, which would be likely to use 120 section front and 160 section rear tyres.

‘Judging by the tasty exhaust note, it’s got a 270-degree crank’

The last time we saw the bike it was being tested on carburettors, but since then Royal Enfield have produced a full range of Euro4 compliant bikes, including the new Himalayan, so it’s fair to assume the new Continental will be ready with fuel injection from birth.

Although Royal Enfield didn’t deny the existence of the new 750, they also couldn’t confirm an expected release date or price – but did reveal that the new Euro4 Himalayan will arrive in dealers this summer, and that they expect it to cost less than the £5999 we originally expected.

 

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