Imagining a new look for Royal Enfields

Chris Bartlett has an eye for the retro style of Royal Enfield motorcycles. A frequent contributor to Flickr, he recently posted a slideshow of cleverly imagined variations on his own Royal Enfield Bullet.

So far, none of these schemes is real. Bartlett tells me he used the Adobe PhotoShop program to try to help him decide whether to go with a black seat on his bike. Becoming inspired, he tried out the painted tank logo of the new Royal Enfield Classic 500s, painted hubs and rims and whitewall tires as well.

PhotoShop is a program Bartlett uses often in his imagineering work for Epic Games. You can read more about him here.

I've selected just four of his designs (there are more) and labelled them A, B, C and D. Let's see. I think I prefer A. Or, maybe D. Or... well, they're all good.


While he was at it, Bartlett took a picture of a Military model Royal Enfield and adjusted the monochromatic Olive Drab paint job. Imagine a yellow Military! You can see what it would look like in his slideshow.

PhotoShoping designs is a challenge (I've tried it) but still easier than doing the job for real. Bartlett recently fitted a "Model A" style stoplight to the rear fender of his bike, only to have it fall off on a ride.