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Royal Enfield Bullet

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85-617: The Royal Enfield Bullet was an overhead valve, single-cylinder, four-stroke motorcycle initially made by Royal Enfield in Redditch , Worcestershire England. It was later produced by Royal Enfield at Chennai , Tamil Nadu , India, a company originally founded by Madras Motors to build Royal Enfield motorcycles under licence in India. The Royal Enfield Bullet has the longest and unchanged production run of any motorcycle having remained continuously in production since 1932. The Bullet marque

170-447: A flathead engine a push rod is not necessary. The overhead cam design typically allows higher engine speeds because it provides the most direct path between cam and valve. Valve clearance refers to the small gap between a valve lifter and a valve stem that ensures that the valve completely closes. On engines with mechanical valve adjustment, excessive clearance causes noise from the valve train. A too-small valve clearance can result in

255-517: A 350 Crusader. However, unlike their 'one-piece cranked' smaller sibling the New Bullet had a built-up crank and the traditional Bullet bore and stroke dimensions under a Crusader cylinder head. These bikes are difficult to identify as being different from the Crusader. Look for a ten finned barrel on a Crusader and you will have found a New Bullet. By necessity, the toolbox air intake slot is also

340-707: A better emission control system. Royal Enfield has officially confirmed that they will cease production of their 500cc engine. The majority of their sales comes from the 350cc models and the demand for the 500cc models started to decline in the Indian markets especially after the introduction of the 650 twins. It is to be discontinued in India from March 31 since the Bharat Stage VI emission norms will make them unviable. The company will upgrade its line up of 350cc motorcycles instead for Indian markets and promote its 650cc motorcycles as its primary export drivers. In 2022,

425-582: A chopper style cruiser from Royal Enfield Motors. Also seen was the introduction of a disc-brake on the front wheel as a factory option domestically in India and standard on all exported models. After ever-tighter European emission specifications forced the Bullet Standard 350 to end 2007 as its last model year in the European Union. The 500s had been fitted for some time with an induction pulsed pump to draw in fresh external air and mix it into

510-446: A compact magazine with limited page-space. With the merger came the opportunity to change into newspaper format. Harry Louis, editor of Motor Cycle, stated in the last magazine format dated 3 August 1967: "You'll get it a day earlier, on Wednesdays. The printing will be by the latest process, web-offset, which gives much brighter reproduction of pictures than has been possible in the past. With about twice as much space as in this issue,

595-668: A custom Bullet using Egli's central tube frame constructed from nickel-plated chromium-molybdenum steel, and a longer stroke crankshaft (105 mm) engine with special main bearings, dry clutch, timing belt primary drive, and 36 mm Keihin flat-slide carburettors. Other custom versions of the Bullet are the Musket, made in Ohio, and the Australian designed Carberry. Four-stroke engine A four-stroke (also four-cycle ) engine

680-538: A drop-in replacement for the cast-iron block original engine (with a design dating from 1955). The first bike with this engine was launched as the Bullet Machismo 350 . This engine did not sell well in the Indian market; many prospective buyers were surveyed as saying that it didn't sound the same as the old engine, lacking the 'thump' noise of its predecessor. The engine did succeed in the Thunderbird model,

765-459: A four-stroke single-cylinder motorcycle, this model was the first to feature the Bullet name. It was different in a number of ways from its successors (which are now familiar): it had an inclined engine with exposed valve gear featuring four valves per cylinder with 350 cc and 500 cc options. In 1933, a 250 cc option was also added to the range. Its frame was also considerably different, having centre-spring girder front forks, being among

850-497: A fully floating big-end bearing. The headlight assembly was enclosed with the speedometer and ammeter into a nacelle, which also served as the attachment of the front suspension as well as the handlebars. An otherwise similar model, but with an engine displacement of 499 cc, made its debut in 1953. The prototype had done well in a performance trial and went on to win the trophy at the 1948 International Six Days Trial , two Bullet riders won gold medals. In 1952 Johnny Brittain won

935-470: A green background colour, was known as "The Green 'un". Many issues carried the strapline "Circulated throughout the World". The covers eventually used a variety of different background colours after 1962, with a name-change to Motor Cycle . Noted for detailed road tests of contemporary motorcycles and articles on readers' bikes, the magazine had regular features, including "Current Chat" and "Letters to

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1020-460: A little higher. Other variations from the unit 250 include a 46 tooth rear sprocket, an outrigger bearing on the primary side crankcase a four plate clutch, and wider gear cogs. The petrol tank is similar to the earlier unit range item (not the Clipper tank) but has a larger cut out on the underside to clear the taller motor making it 1/4 gallon light on capacity. A New Bullet was modelled for sale to

1105-431: A lot of internal noise in the engine. As a result of work spanning several years, a new set of engines was introduced. These were the unit construction engines (UCE). The 350 cc UCE found use in the domestic model Thunderbird TwinSpark in a configuration with two sparkplugs per cylinder, with an integrated 5-speed left-shift gearbox. It has not been featured on any of the Bullet models, domestic or otherwise. By 2011,

1190-422: A new range of models from Royal Enfield that featured them, along with a saddle-type fuel tank. However, common to motorcycles of this period, it had a rigid rear-end, necessitating a 'sprung' seat for the rider, which resulted in the iconic look of the motorcycle that is much replicated today, even though the sprung seat is unnecessary in modern models. After competition success the 350 cc Royal Enfield Bullet

1275-521: A readers' write-in 'Help Club', technical articles, stripdowns and repair sequences, new model analysis, practical road riding, accessories, clubs and rallying. As a magazine-format, space was limited and although road-race and off-road sport reportage was always present, Motor Cycle enjoyed a reputation more as a technically based periodical. 1967 saw a merger with some elements of underperforming rival Motor Cycling which had already changed to broadsheet newspaper format in 1962, leaving Motor Cycle as

1360-493: A replica of the Lenoir engine in 1861, Otto became aware of the effects of compression on the fuel charge. In 1862, Otto attempted to produce an engine to improve on the poor efficiency and reliability of the Lenoir engine. He tried to create an engine that would compress the fuel mixture prior to ignition, but failed as that engine would run no more than a few minutes prior to its destruction. Many other engineers were trying to solve

1445-408: A specialist road-race and road-test reporter and successful endurance racer – continued-on with the merged staff from 1967 bút left by 1971 to establish a road-race school – Dixon Robb Racing – in conjunction with successful 1950s and 1960s racer Tommy Robb . By 1973 Dixon had established his own retail concern – Dixon Racing – with a shop at High Street, Godalming . Specialising in importing to

1530-583: A turbine system that converted waste heat into kinetic energy that it fed back into the engine's transmission. In 2005, BMW announced the development of the turbosteamer , a two-stage heat-recovery system similar to the Mack system that recovers 80% of the energy in the exhaust gas and raises the efficiency of an Otto engine by 15%. By contrast, a six-stroke engine may reduce fuel consumption by as much as 40%. Modern engines are often intentionally built to be slightly less efficient than they could otherwise be. This

1615-425: A year as a 'glossy' it was closed. Some former staff established Motor Cycling Weekly , in a newspaper format, during late November 1983. Echoing the change in 1967 when Motor Cycle ceased as a Thursday publication to match rival Motorcycle News on Wednesdays, Motor Cycling Weekly was pitched to reach the newsstands on Tuesday, having the strapline "First with the news...and first every week!". Issues were sold in

1700-413: Is a contact surface on which the cam slides to open the valve. Many engines use one or more camshafts "above" a row (or each row) of cylinders, as in the illustration, in which each cam directly actuates a valve through a flat tappet. In other engine designs the camshaft is in the crankcase , in which case each cam usually contacts a push rod , which contacts a rocker arm that opens a valve, or in case of

1785-480: Is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either direction. The four separate strokes are termed: Four-stroke engines are the most common internal combustion engine design for motorized land transport, being used in automobiles , trucks , diesel trains , light aircraft and motorcycles . The major alternative design

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1870-467: Is closer to the top. Diesel engines by their nature do not have concerns with pre-ignition. They have a concern with whether or not combustion can be started. The description of how likely Diesel fuel is to ignite is called the Cetane rating. Because Diesel fuels are of low volatility, they can be very hard to start when cold. Various techniques are used to start a cold Diesel engine, the most common being

1955-424: Is designed to provide efficiency at the expense of power density , and is used in some modern hybrid electric applications. The original Atkinson-cycle piston engine allowed the intake, compression, power, and exhaust strokes of the four-stroke cycle to occur in a single turn of the crankshaft and was designed to avoid infringing certain patents covering Otto-cycle engines. Due to the unique crankshaft design of

2040-592: Is even older and has passed 75 years of continuous production. The Royal Enfield and Bullet names were derived from the British company which had been a subcontractor to the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield , London. The Bullet has evolved from a four-stroke engine with exposed valve-gear to the latest all-alloy unit construction engine with electronic fuel-injection . Introduced in 1932 as

2125-536: Is limited by the chemical composition of the fuel. There are several grades of fuel to accommodate differing performance levels of engines. The fuel is altered to change its self ignition temperature. There are several ways to do this. As engines are designed with higher compression ratios the result is that pre-ignition is much more likely to occur since the fuel mixture is compressed to a higher temperature prior to deliberate ignition. The higher temperature more effectively evaporates fuels such as gasoline, which increases

2210-609: Is necessary for emission controls such as exhaust gas recirculation and catalytic converters that reduce smog and other atmospheric pollutants. Reductions in efficiency may be counteracted with an engine control unit using lean burn techniques . In the United States, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy mandates that vehicles must achieve an average of 34.9 mpg ‑US (6.7 L/100 km; 41.9 mpg ‑imp ) compared to

2295-431: Is not immediately available due to the need to sharply increase engine RPM, to build up pressure and to spin up the turbo, before the turbo starts to do any useful air compression. The increased intake volume causes increased exhaust and spins the turbo faster, and so forth until steady high power operation is reached. Another difficulty is that the higher exhaust pressure causes the exhaust gas to transfer more of its heat to

2380-414: Is regarded as the first car. In 1884, Otto's company, then known as Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz (GFD), developed electric ignition and the carburetor. In 1890, Daimler and Maybach formed a company known as Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft . Today, that company is Daimler-Benz . The Atkinson-cycle engine is a type of single stroke internal combustion engine invented by James Atkinson in 1882. The Atkinson cycle

2465-400: Is that the temperature rise of the compressed charge can cause pre-ignition. If this occurs at the wrong time and is too energetic, it can damage the engine. Different fractions of petroleum have widely varying flash points (the temperatures at which the fuel may self-ignite). This must be taken into account in engine and fuel design. The tendency for the compressed fuel mixture to ignite early

2550-581: Is the two-stroke cycle . Nikolaus August Otto was a traveling salesman for a grocery concern. In his travels, he encountered the internal combustion engine built in Paris by Belgian expatriate Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir . In 1860, Lenoir successfully created a double-acting engine that ran on illuminating gas at 4% efficiency. The 18 litre Lenoir Engine produced only 2 horsepower. The Lenoir engine ran on illuminating gas made from coal, which had been developed in Paris by Philip Lebon . In testing

2635-412: Is ultimately limited by material strength and lubrication . Valves, pistons and connecting rods suffer severe acceleration forces. At high engine speed, physical breakage and piston ring flutter can occur, resulting in power loss or even engine destruction. Piston ring flutter occurs when the rings oscillate vertically within the piston grooves they reside in. Ring flutter compromises the seal between

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2720-479: The BS6 Bullet 350 starts at an ex-showroom price of ₹ 1.27 lakh (US$ 1,500) in India. The Next Generation Bullet 350 launched on September 1st, 2023. It has a retro style and is priced at ₹1.74 lakh (US$ 2,090) in India. In January 2024 Royal Enfield Bullet 350 was launched in two new colors- Military Silver Black and Military Silver Red. Swiss motorcycle tuner and Royal Enfield distributor Fritz W. Egli made

2805-669: The Miller cycle . Together, this redesign could significantly reduce fuel consumption and NO x emissions. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Starting position, intake stroke, and compression stroke. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Ignition of fuel, power stroke, and exhaust stroke. The Motor Cycle The Motor Cycle was one of the first British magazines about motorcycles . Launched by Iliffe and Sons Ltd in 1903, its blue cover led to it being called "The Blue 'un" to help distinguish it from its rival publication Motor Cycling , which, using

2890-746: The Scottish Six Days Trial on a Royal Enfield Bullet and in 1953 he also won the International Six Days Trial without losing a single point. In 1949, the Indian Army ordered Royal Enfield Bullets for border patrol use and the company decided to open a factory in Madras . In 1955, the 350 cc Bullets were sent from the Redditch factory in kit form for assembly in India, but Enfield India Ltd. soon developed

2975-590: The fuel economy improvements the Atkinson cycle can provide. The diesel engine is a technical refinement of the 1876 Otto-cycle engine. Where Otto had realized in 1861 that the efficiency of the engine could be increased by first compressing the fuel mixture prior to its ignition, Rudolf Diesel wanted to develop a more efficient type of engine that could run on much heavier fuel. The Lenoir , Otto Atmospheric, and Otto Compression engines (both 1861 and 1876) were designed to run on Illuminating Gas (coal gas) . With

3060-602: The 500 cc model was discontinued in 1961. In 1962, the UK company was sold and the Bullet discontinued and in 1967, the Redditch factory closed. Finally, in 1970, Royal Enfield closed down completely. Additional to the 'separate gearbox' Bullet the Royal Enfield Redditch factory produced approximately 250 'unit construction' (integral gearbox) Bullets bikes known as 'New Bullets'. Produced in five batches of fifty between 1963 and 1965 these models were essentially

3145-433: The Atkinson, its expansion ratio can differ from its compression ratio and, with a power stroke longer than its compression stroke, the engine can achieve greater thermal efficiency than a traditional piston engine. While Atkinson's original design is no more than a historical curiosity, many modern engines use unconventional valve timing to produce the effect of a shorter compression stroke/longer power stroke, thus realizing

3230-489: The Bullet design; the original foot-brake is on the left-side while the gearchange is on the right (as was the custom with British bikes). Accordingly, the Bullet Machismo 350 was equipped with this left foot change gearbox and a big hit in the foreign markets as it was rich in design and the first chrome model on an Enfield. However, the 'left-shift' gear change provoked a backlash from Indian Bullet customers, forcing

3315-463: The Bullet marque was split up into two. The Bullet Standard 350 featured all the increased manufacturing quality and reliability but was maintained in the traditional 'Bullet' look, available only in black. A new model, available in more colours and chrome accents, CDI electronic ignition , and gas-charged shock absorbers - but with the same engine and gearbox as the Standard - was launched. This model

3400-656: The Editor" where many of the key issues relating to British motorcycling of the day were debated. The contributors often signed their pieces with pseudonyms such as Torrens (Arthur Bourne, one of the Editors) and the famous Ixion (Canon B.H. Davies). From 1962, 'The' was dropped from the title, being then simply known as Motor Cycle . Regular features developed such as 'On the Four Winds' by Nitor and 'Racing Line' by David Dixon in addition to many different trends, with

3485-620: The Indian arm due to its commitment to supply the Indian Army. Thus the British and Indian lines diverged, never to meet again. Between 1956 and 1960, the British Bullet was released in several models, including a 350 cc Trials "works replica" version, a 350 cc "Clipper" model and in 1958 the Airflow version. This model had full weather protection from a large fibreglass fairing and included panniers for touring. The design

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3570-532: The Indian economy, no need for improvement was apparent, and the brand survived into the 1990s essentially as a domestic Indian commuter bike. Equivalent bikes in the market were the Yamaha RD350 and the Yezdi . Both bikes enjoy a cult following in India but have been out of production for decades. However, this could not prevent the erosion of the bike's market once the economy was sufficiently opened up to allow

3655-464: The Japanese motorbikes. The bike's high fuel consumption (its main competition was from bikes with superior and more economical 100 cc engines) caused a descending spiral of sales until the company, near bankruptcy, was bought out by Eicher Motors , a tractor and commercial vehicle manufacturer. Under the newly appointed CEO of Enfield India, Siddhartha Lal , Eicher undertook major investment in

3740-637: The UK tuning products for the rapidly expanding Japanese superbike range, he established a long-standing arrangement with Yoshimura , with products initially concentrated on the Honda CB350 , CB500 and CB750 machines. By the end of the same decade, Dixon Racing became the UK concessionaires (importer) for the early Bimota frame kits – 'KB1' for Kawasaki 1000 , 'SB1' for Suzuki 1000 and 'HB2' for Honda 900 donor engines. Dixon died in 2013. Motor Cycle Weekly continued as newspaper-format until 1983 when it reverted to magazine-format. After less than

3825-525: The actual four-stroke and two-stroke cycles is not a simple task. However, the analysis can be simplified significantly if air standard assumptions are utilized. The resulting cycle, which closely resembles the actual operating conditions, is the Otto cycle. During normal operation of the engine, as the air/fuel mixture is being compressed, an electric spark is created to ignite the mixture. At low rpm this occurs close to TDC (Top Dead Centre). As engine rpm rises,

3910-444: The addition of electric start as an option on some models, while standard on others. In 2007 and 2008, a limited edition, heavily accessorised 500cc lean-burn Machismo 350 and 500 was produced where the motorcycle features 20.85 Nm of torque at 3000 rpm, unique 19 -inch wheels, 280 mm front disc brake & the same engine chassis configuration being exported to Europe, USA & Australia. The Machismo 350 and 500 were discontinued due to

3995-597: The ailing firm. This was started with a lawsuit to secure the trademark and intellectual property rights of the defunct British Royal Enfield, in the hands of the Holder family since the British Royal Enfield's bankruptcy proceedings in 1970. After winning a trademark lawsuit, the company name was changed to Royal Enfield Motors. Many management and production changes were made, with the production process being streamlined and excess capacity redistributed. Without

4080-426: The air has been compressed twice and then gains more potential volume in the combustion but it is only expanded in one stage. A turbocharger is a supercharger that is driven by the engine's exhaust gases, by means of a turbine . A turbocharger is incorporated into the exhaust system of a vehicle to make use of the expelled exhaust. It consists of a two piece, high-speed turbine assembly with one side that compresses

4165-421: The army and carried panniers and a 'speedo-only' style of the casket. According to RE data, 232 of these bikes were produced, making them a scarce and desirable machine today. Enfield India Ltd. continued production of the 1955 Bullet design almost unchanged, re-introducing it to the British market in 1977 under the name 'Enfield'. This was a period of stagnation for the Bullet. Due to the protectionist nature of

4250-452: The bore diameter is larger than its stroke length is an oversquare engine, conversely, an engine with a bore diameter that is smaller than its stroke length is an undersquare engine. The valves are typically operated by a camshaft rotating at half the speed of the crankshaft . It has a series of cams along its length, each designed to open a valve during the appropriate part of an intake or exhaust stroke. A tappet between valve and cam

4335-548: The company to not only continue the Bullet Standard with the traditional system but even on the Electra, it was offered only as an option, leading to the Electra four-speed (traditional) and Electra five-speed (left-shift) variants. Sales figures indicated that Indian Bullet customers had shunned the new gearbox, foregoing even the attraction of five-speed transmission to keep the gearshift traditional. However, it became standard fitment on all exported models. New developments included

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4420-436: The current standard of 25 mpg ‑US (9.4 L/100 km; 30.0 mpg ‑imp ). As automakers look to meet these standards by 2016, new ways of engineering the traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) have to be considered. Some potential solutions to increase fuel efficiency to meet new mandates include firing after the piston is farthest from the crankshaft, known as top dead centre , and applying

4505-474: The efficiency of the compression engine. Higher compression ratios also mean that the distance that the piston can push to produce power is greater (which is called the expansion ratio ). The octane rating of a given fuel is a measure of the fuel's resistance to self-ignition. A fuel with a higher numerical octane rating allows for a higher compression ratio, which extracts more energy from the fuel and more effectively converts that energy into useful work while at

4590-502: The energy generated by combustion is converted into useful rotational energy at the output shaft of the engine, while the remainder being lost due to waste heat, friction and engine accessories. There are a number of ways to recover some of the energy lost to waste heat. The use of a turbocharger in diesel engines is very effective by boosting incoming air pressure and in effect, provides the same increase in performance as having more displacement. The Mack Truck company, decades ago, developed

4675-412: The engine's performance and/or fuel efficiency could be improved by improving the overall efficiency of the cycle. It has been found that even if 6% of the entirely wasted heat is recovered it can increase the engine efficiency greatly. Many methods have been devised in order to extract waste heat out of an engine exhaust and use it further to extract some useful work, decreasing the exhaust pollutants at

4760-560: The engines burst, nearly killing Diesel. He persisted, and finally created a successful engine in 1893. The high-compression engine, which ignites its fuel by the heat of compression, is now called the diesel engine, whether a four-stroke or two-stroke design. The four-stroke diesel engine has been used in the majority of heavy-duty applications for many decades. It uses a heavy fuel containing more energy and requiring less refinement to produce. The most efficient Otto-cycle engines run near 30% thermal efficiency. The thermodynamic analysis of

4845-524: The exhaust header to convert carbon monoxide into less harmful carbon dioxide, thus lowering emissions. When existing stocks of motorcycles were all sold the British-design engine Bullet became no longer available. All new models exclusively featured the AVL 'lean-burn' engine. The introduction of a five-speed, left foot change gearbox meant that Royal Enfield could 'fix' one of the long-standing quirks of

4930-405: The factory and produced complete motorcycles independently under licence. The 1955 model remained almost unchanged for years and Madras produced over 20,000 Bullets annually. In 1955, Royal Enfield carried out some retooling and redesign at their Redditch plant, in the UK, to modernise the Bullet, and in 1959 some changes were made to the gear ratios. These changes, however, were not incorporated by

5015-419: The first among British bikes to develop a fully incorporated swing-arm frame rear suspension. The "bullet" engine also used an aluminium cylinder head. A number of changes were implemented in order to bring the bike up to date. This model featured a vertical engine with an alloy head and higher compression. The frame was changed to a fully sprung design using a swing arm with non-adjustable hydraulic shockers at

5100-420: The first high-speed Otto engine in 1883. In 1885, they produced the first automobile to be equipped with an Otto engine. The Daimler Reitwagen used a hot-tube ignition system and the fuel known as Ligroin to become the world's first vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine. It used a four-stroke engine based on Otto's design. The following year, Karl Benz produced a four-stroke engined automobile that

5185-434: The intake air, and the other side that is powered by the exhaust gas outflow. When idling, and at low-to-moderate speeds, the turbine produces little power from the small exhaust volume, the turbocharger has little effect and the engine operates nearly in a naturally aspirated manner. When much more power output is required, the engine speed and throttle opening are increased until the exhaust gases are sufficient to 'spool up'

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5270-494: The large-scale Army/Law Enforcement orders to bail the company out, there was only the individual sales route in which the company had to perform if it were to survive at all. The company also faced the difficult task of catering to a very diverse market. To preserve the Bullet's nature and reputation as a classic British bike, as the Raja Gaadi, and to attract youngsters away from the newly appeared performance motorcycle market,

5355-454: The last magazine-format of Motor Cycle: "Besides bringing two famous, long-established publications together, we are uniting the star writers on both into one team operating from Dorset House. These enthusiasts who, basically all-rounders but with specialized interests when they punch their typewriters, form the most experienced, knowledgeable and liveliest bunch of motor-cycling journalists ever in our field." Some staff transferred over to

5440-424: The mechanical parts of the engine. The rod-to-stroke ratio is the ratio of the length of the connecting rod to the length of the piston stroke. A longer rod reduces sidewise pressure of the piston on the cylinder wall and the stress forces, increasing engine life. It also increases the cost and engine height and weight. A "square engine" is an engine with a bore diameter equal to its stroke length. An engine where

5525-456: The new Motor Cycle brings you all the features you expect plus much more extensive coverage of sport and news." Traditionally, Motor Cycling had a sporting-bias whilst Motor Cycle had more of a technical grounding. Under the new venture Motor Cycle incorporating Motor Cycling , former Motor Cycling Editor Norman Sharpe was installed as the new editor with Harry Louis enjoying the title of Editor-in-Chief Louis stated in his first-page article of

5610-613: The new venture. Particularly successful was Mick Woollett who became sports editor, eventually progressing to editor of Motor Cycle which was later renamed Motor Cycle Weekly. Woollett then was involved in The Classic Motor Cycle and other projects under IPC magazines. The two publications continued as one in the newspaper format, initially under the name Motor Cycle Incorporating Motor Cycling under Motor Cycle publishers Iliffe Specialist Publications Ltd . Stalwart 'Motor Cycle' staffman David Dixon (1933–2013) –

5695-425: The old cast-iron engine had been completely phased out, including in the Standard 350 model. Now all Royal Enfield bikes are only available with the all-aluminium UC engine. The 500 cc UCE features fuel injection system , and has greater power than any Royal Enfield 500 cc motor. The 500 cc UCE, with an integrated five-speed gearbox, powers the current Bullet Classic model. Starting in 2009, this engine

5780-415: The piston speed for industrial engines to about 10 m/s. The output power of an engine is dependent on the ability of intake (air–fuel mixture) and exhaust matter to move quickly through valve ports, typically located in the cylinder head . To increase an engine's output power, irregularities in the intake and exhaust paths, such as casting flaws, can be removed, and, with the aid of an air flow bench ,

5865-421: The power output limits of an internal combustion engine relative to its displacement. Most commonly, the supercharger is always running, but there have been designs that allow it to be cut out or run at varying speeds (relative to engine speed). Mechanically driven supercharging has the disadvantage that some of the output power is used to drive the supercharger, while power is wasted in the high pressure exhaust, as

5950-472: The problem, with no success. In 1864, Otto and Eugen Langen founded the first internal combustion engine production company, NA Otto and Cie (NA Otto and Company). Otto and Cie succeeded in creating a successful atmospheric engine that same year. The factory ran out of space and was moved to the town of Deutz , Germany in 1869, where the company was renamed to Deutz Gasmotorenfabrik AG (The Deutz Gas Engine Manufacturing Company). In 1872, Gottlieb Daimler

6035-497: The radii of valve port turns and valve seat configuration can be modified to reduce resistance. This process is called porting , and it can be done by hand or with a CNC machine. An internal combustion engine is on average capable of converting only 40-45% of supplied energy into mechanical work. A large part of the waste energy is in the form of heat that is released to the environment through coolant, fins etc. If somehow waste heat could be captured and turned to mechanical energy,

6120-406: The rear, while the front used a brand-new telescopic fork of Royal Enfield's own design. This enabled the introduction of a dual seat made of simple foam with no large springs. Power transmission was via the same four-speed Albion gearbox as the previous model, with a unique 'neutral-finder' lever the rider could press from any gear other than first to shift to neutral. The crankshaft continued to have

6205-399: The ring and the cylinder wall, which causes a loss of cylinder pressure and power. If an engine spins too quickly, valve springs cannot act quickly enough to close the valves. This is commonly referred to as ' valve float ', and it can result in piston to valve contact, severely damaging the engine. At high speeds the lubrication of piston cylinder wall interface tends to break down. This limits

6290-502: The same motivation as Otto, Diesel wanted to create an engine that would give small industrial companies their own power source to enable them to compete against larger companies, and like Otto, to get away from the requirement to be tied to a municipal fuel supply. Like Otto, it took more than a decade to produce the high-compression engine that could self-ignite fuel sprayed into the cylinder. Diesel used an air spray combined with fuel in his first engine. During initial development, one of

6375-406: The same time preventing engine damage from pre-ignition. High Octane fuel is also more expensive. Many modern four-stroke engines employ gasoline direct injection or GDI. In a gasoline direct-injected engine, the injector nozzle protrudes into the combustion chamber. The direct fuel injector injects gasoline under a very high pressure into the cylinder during the compression stroke, when the piston

6460-498: The same time. Use of the Rankine Cycle , turbocharging and thermoelectric generation can be very useful as a waste heat recovery system. One way to increase engine power is to force more air into the cylinder so that more power can be produced from each power stroke. This can be done using some type of air compression device known as a supercharger , which can be powered by the engine crankshaft. Supercharging increases

6545-452: The speed of the flame front does not change so the spark point is advanced earlier in the cycle to allow a greater proportion of the cycle for the charge to combust before the power stroke commences. This advantage is reflected in the various Otto engine designs; the atmospheric (non-compression) engine operates at 12% efficiency whereas the compressed-charge engine has an operating efficiency around 30%. A problem with compressed charge engines

6630-407: The turbocharger's turbine to start compressing much more air than normal into the intake manifold. Thus, additional power (and speed) is expelled through the function of this turbine. Turbocharging allows for more efficient engine operation because it is driven by exhaust pressure that would otherwise be (mostly) wasted, but there is a design limitation known as turbo lag . The increased engine power

6715-423: The use of a glow plug . The maximum amount of power generated by an engine is determined by the maximum amount of air ingested. The amount of power generated by a piston engine is related to its size (cylinder volume), whether it is a two-stroke engine or four-stroke design, volumetric efficiency , losses, air-to-fuel ratio, the calorific value of the fuel, oxygen content of the air and speed ( RPM ). The speed

6800-438: The valves not closing properly. This results in a loss of performance and possibly overheating of exhaust valves. Typically, the clearance must be readjusted each 20,000 miles (32,000 km) with a feeler gauge. Most modern production engines use hydraulic lifters to automatically compensate for valve train component wear. Dirty engine oil may cause lifter failure. Otto engines are about 30% efficient; in other words, 30% of

6885-750: Was available only in the EU to satisfy emissions regulations, but as of 2010 it is available in the United States under two frame models, the Bullet Classic C5, or the Bullet G5, which looks similar and shares paneling with the earlier AVL Electra models. In 2011 a third export model, the B5, was introduced combining the newer 500 cc UCE engine with the traditional Indian domestic tank and frame. In 2017 Royal Enfield equipped Bullet 500 models with Euro 4 compliance which included ABS brakes for front and rear and

6970-577: Was bought by the British Army for dispatch riders and 3,000 were also supplied to the RAF during the Second World War . This model refreshed Royal Enfield's model line-up for 1939. It differed in cosmetic details, as well as in having two rocker boxes, which resulted in higher volumetric efficiency for the engine. The post-war models incorporated a hydraulic front fork, and Enfield were among

7055-503: Was called the 'Bullet Electra'. A major addition with the Electra was the Electric Start, which resulted in a bulkier engine package, and which was not without mechanical and reliability complications. The Electra 350 went on to become the best-selling Royal Enfield model, accounting for around half the company's sales. Alongside these developments, Austrian engine firm AVL was contracted to produce an all-alloy engine suitable as

7140-463: Was developed in partnership with British Plastics and featured as a series in The Motor Cycle magazine. The engines were the same and the only differences were in exhaust, seating, instrumentation, handlebars and fuel tank. Numerous technical improvements were also made, including moving to alternator charging (1956) and coil ignition (1960). The 350 cc model continued in production, but

7225-406: Was technical director and Wilhelm Maybach was the head of engine design. Daimler was a gunsmith who had worked on the Lenoir engine. By 1876, Otto and Langen succeeded in creating the first internal combustion engine that compressed the fuel mixture prior to combustion for far higher efficiency than any engine created to this time. Daimler and Maybach left their employ at Otto and Cie and developed

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