I love Royal Enfield Motorcycles. I think they are exactly what motorcycling should be about — bikes that are affordable, fun, reliable and stylish.

A bit of history — Royal Enfield is the oldest motorcycle brand in the world still in production. The first Enfield Motorcycles were assembled in Redditch, England in 1901. The legendary Enfield Bullet has been continuously in production since 1948 — the longest production run of any motorcycle. (The marquee goes back even further, to 1931.) In the 1950’s, after the Indian government decided that the Bullet was the best motorcycle for the Indian Army, they initially ordered 800 Bullets from the UK, and began to assemble the Bullets in India under license from Redditch. By the mid-1960’s, all components were made in India, and the Redditch based Enfield was formerly dissolved in 1971 (following sales to Norton Villiers and Velocette). But Enfield India continued manufacturing the Bullet and continues to do so to this day. In 1999, Enfield India began branding their motorcycles as Royal Enfield and, over the past 20 years, have greatly expanded their production and market share in Europe and the United States.

I own two Royal Enfield Motorcycles. The first — a 2011 Royal Enfield Classic 500 — was a wedding gift from my amazing wife. It is fun. It is beautiful. I just turned 12,500 miles on the odometer and it has never let me down in 10 years of ownership. In other words, it is a quintessential Royal Enfield.

I love my Classic 500 so much that I just bought another Royal Enfield — the new Interceptor 650 Twin. I think the Interceptor might be the perfect around town bike. It’s comfortable, plenty quick (way quicker than the Classic 500 thumper), gets great gas mileage, and looks awesome (if you like the classic motorcycle style of 1970’s, as I do). In fact, it looks and feels remarkably similar to an air-cooled Bonneville, but for half the price. Brand new, the Interceptor came in at just over $5000 — an incredible bargain. And the popular 400cc Himalayan and new Meteor 350 are even cheaper. These days, Royal Enfield is a major player in the motorcycle market, and with the combination of quality, style and value they offer, it’s easy to see why.

Hell, even Santa rides a Royal Enfield…