That was the message of Royal Enfield President Rudratej ‘Rudy’ Singh at a ride day organised for Aussie media late last year. He was visiting the country to build the profile of the brand, which is enjoying renewed popularity Down Under: a massive 63 per cent sales hike in the first three quarters of 2016 compared to 2015. He was also previewing RE’s soon-to-be-released adventure bike, the Himalayan, and getting us excited about the company’s plans to manufacture a whole new line of modern motorcycles – without giving away any details at all, dammit (although I’m sure I heard someone whisper ‘twin’).

But for our ride it was the traditional models, old-school singles that are big on simplicity and charm, modest on performance and technology. They were lined up and waiting for us in the carpark: the Classics in their delicious shades of mint, milk tea and liquorice; the Continental GTs in British racing green and red, and the Bullets, in colours that make you think of Dad’s old ties and handkerchiefs. I went for one of those.

In India these bikes are considered large capacity – think of them as the Harleys of the subcontinent – and the Bullet definitely has a cruiser-like comfort with its long, low bench seat, tall ’bars and mid-mounted controls.

The starter brought the engine to life easily, with a sonorous note, like the bassline in an acapella song. The motor itself is pleasantly agricultural, tugging you along in tractor-like fashion right through each gear. There’s little difference between taking off in first or second, while third is good for most round-town duties and will go as high as about 95km/h before you start bouncing off the rev-limiter. In fourth and fifth you still get good push at those speeds, right past 100km/h, but that’s not really what this bike is about. For a start, the classic bodywork and upright posture is particularly susceptible to buffeting. Plus, at higher speeds you start to feel it wouldn’t be great if something unexpected happened. The brakes pull the bike up well enough, but don’t have the bite of more modern systems.

At first sight you might assume the Bullet would be heavy and hard to manoeuvre, but it handles brilliantly, helped by the 19-inch wheels. It was a joy to ride around the bends on our peninsula run and, amazingly, was an ace at tight turns in the city too.

Like all Royal Enfield’s current range, the Bullet gets the learner tick of approval, and I learnt some important things on this bike. Mainly, that you’ll get the most out of a motorcycle by riding it in the situations it was designed for. The ride event, for example, was all about medium speeds, sparse traffic, superb water views and good bends. In other words, relaxing. And man, you could have poured us off our seats by the end of the day. It might not be as smile-inducing, however, when you’re trying to lane-filter with those widish ’bars and mirrors in a peak-hour jam, or riding at high speeds into icy wind and rain. Choose the right tool for the job, natch.

It’s true that you can’t start the Bullet with the sidestand down, even in neutral, but you can when it’s on the easy-to-use centrestand, and it’s a good way to warm the bike up. Does it need warming up, since it has EFI? Well, yes, a bit. On the left switchblock you’ll find a lever that looks like a choke but is in fact a rev increaser. There’s also a kickstarter, which does work and is a bit of a hoot. By the end I was kickstarting it regularly for the novelty value.

Novelty, charm, character … sometimes they are excuses for lack of performance and quality, but after riding around on the Bullet for a couple of weeks, my inner cynic was lying back in a hammock and conceding that behind the usual marketing, Royal Enfield might actually be onto something. If the company can preserve these simple pleasures as it moves into the world of high-performance motorcycles, it will have a winner. And hopefully it continues making the Bullet – I’ve now tried all the current range and its ergonomics, handling and styling make it my pick of the bunch. If you’re set on getting an Enfield, give it a try.

Servicing

First service 500-750km

Service intervals thereafter, every 3000km

Pros

Relaxed ergonomics

Handling

Unique style

Cons

Vibrations

Hard seat

TEST MARK VENDER PHOTOGRAPHY ALIVE, ROYAL ENFIELD MEDIA DRIVE DAY