It’s been long rumoured that Royal Enfield has been working on a twin cylinder motor. In fact Siddartha Lal, MD & CEO Eicher Motors had himself hinted that the iconic Indian two-wheeler manufacturer is working on a high displacement motorcycle. Pictures of a Royal Enfield twin cylinder engine housed in a Continental GT has been posted by Bikeportal.in. According to reports the new twin-cylinder engine will have a displacement of 750cc and will share the basic construction with the 375cc motor that will power the upcoming Royal Enfield Himalayan adventure tourer motorcycle. From the pictures it is evident that the new 750cc engine is a prototype given the crude finishing and the mill will be parallel-twin as opposed to a V-twin layout as predicted earlier. The parallel-twin layout means that the new 750cc engine will require less space and from the picture above we can see how easily it gets accommodated inside the Continental GT’s frame.

Instead of electronic fuel injection, the 750cc motor features carburettors which seem to be a move to keep cost low. But we feel the above is just for testing purpose and the production motorcycle will feature fuel injection keeping in mind the strict European emission regulations and Royal Enfield’s global aspirations. Given the larger displacement, air-cooling has been given a boot in favour of an oil-cooler which is a welcome addition. It will be safe to assume that the Royal Enfield 750cc motor will generate in excess of 40PS with a torque rating of around 60Nm. This will make the new Royal Enfield 750cc motorcycle the largest displacement and most powerful motorcycle in its portfolio replacing the Continental GT which has a 535cc single-cylinder motor.

Given the fact that the new 750cc parallel-twin motor was spotted testing in the Continental GT, we can expect the Chennai based two-wheeler giant to launch a higher displacement cafe racer in the near future. Also the fact that the double cradle frame will be employed in the upcoming Royal Enfield Himalayan adventure touring motorcycle, one can see the versatility of the frame. It isn’t clear whether the first Royal Enfield 750cc motorcycle will be a cruiser, cafe racer, adventure tourer or something else but it is clear that it would be housed in the double cradle frame developed by Harris performance. The Royal Enfield 750cc motorcycle is expected to make its debut at the 2016 Auto Expo with a launch by mid 2016. Given the global aspirations of Royal Enfield, the 750cc motor seems to be a perfect recipe for success but the Chennai based two-wheeler giant will have to refine the new engine and improve its reliability, two parameters where Royal Enfield’s don’t have a great reputation. As for Bullet fans we can say that the future seems to be bright and powerful. Harley-Davidson should be worried with this development as the Street 750 will finally have a worthy competitor at an even more aggressive price point.