A Royal Enfield motorcycle trip to Redditch, UK

A made-in-India Royal Enfield visits the birthplace of the brand in the UK.

Riding a Royal Enfield to Redditch may be nothing unusual for a resident of the UK, but it strikes many who live elsewhere as an interesting thing to do someday.

It seems like a worthy pilgrimage of sorts and that is what the Business Standard Motoring website entitled its story on the subject:

"Royal Enfield Pilgrimage."

Writer Sachin Rao borrowed a 2011 Royal Enfield G5 Bullet for a journey up the scenic route from Ripley, in Surrey, to the once industrial metropolis of Redditch, where Royal Enfield motorcycles and bicycles were formerly built by the thousands.

Today Royal Enfield motorcycles are built in Chennai, India, the last place Rao had ridden one, 10 years before. He found the 2011 Bullet reassuringly more modern but still a worthy choice for "modern nostalgics who want the memories of yesteryear without the troubles."

Ride along with Rao as he describes his trip. He did it much as I would have wanted to, stopping at the new Royal Enfield pub for refreshment.

For the most definitive possible (as far as I know) tour of Royal Enfield factory sites in Redditch, see blogger Jorge Pullin's excellent series of articles at this link in his My Royal Enfields blog.