Exploring Royal Enfield's stunning V-twin Concept KX

Royal Enfield have shocked the world with the Concept KX - an 838cc v-twin tribute to a '30s classic

Royal Enfield stunned the world in Milan by unveiling this Concept KX bobber – a modern re-imagining of a 1930s Royal Enfield model. They say the project was started to show the talents of their design team who developed the whole bike in six months from scratch.

The original KX was an air-cooled sidevalve v-twin with a monstrous 1140cc displacement, while the new bike’s engine appears to be a little bit smaller if the ‘838’ engine badge is anything to go by.

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“Of all the models in Enfield’s history the KX is my favourite,” says Siddhartha Lal, CEO of Royal Enfield. “It’s from such a fascinating time in motorcycling history.

“It was before the English and American markets split into parallel-twins and cruisers, so it has style elements that we would associate with both. My personal favourite part is the tank; there are no other shapes like it out there.”

The Concept KX originally started life as two new machines (one classical, one futuristic) but the finished thing is a perfect combination of modern and classic styling cues.

The modern swooping girder fork with integrated headlight and nacelle is the perfect reimagining of the front end on the classic machine. The pancake style exhaust, single seat unit and flat tank also faithfully modernise the original KX, while Enfield’s job of hiding all the electronics is a masterstoke.

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A homage to the 1140 V-Twin #RoyalEnfield KX from the 1930s. The KX Concept just debuted at #EICMA2018. Let us know what you think about this concept in your comments below. #RidePure #PureMotorcycling

A post shared by Royal Enfield (@royalenfield) on Nov 6, 2018 at 8:06am PST

“It’s good to give the team something to do without the restraints of a production bike,” adds Lal. “I told them I like this one, then it was just a case of giving them the time and the budget. The work they have done is amazing, it went from idea to finished concept in less than six months.

“We actually drew up a few different designs that ranged from very classic tributes to the KX, to very futuristic modern reinterpretations. In the end the final design was somewhere in the middle of the two, with elements from both.”

Even the airbox is part of the frame, with the engine taking the strain as a stressed member. In what is believed to be a world first, the Concept KX also has a single-sided softail rear-end.

As gorgeous as it is, Enfield are currently being stubborn and sticking to the official line that this bike is purely a concept and is not destined for production. We’ve heard that one before a few times over the years… so fingers crossed something similar might appear in the near future.

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