With the debut of the first electric motorcycle from Royal Enfield scheduled for the fourth of November, speculations regarding what it will be called have been doing the rounds for a long while. A recent teaser video showing the the motorcycle’s silhouette floating with a parachute, a hint to the original Royal Enfield Flying Flea.
For those unaware, the Flying Flea, officially known as the WD/RE, was an innovative motorcycle made during the Second World War that could be airdropped by parachute behind enemy lines. Once it landed, all a paratrooper had to do was unscrew the single wing nut, lift the bike out, rotate the handlebar 90 degrees, kickstart and go, all in a matter of seconds! Ironically, the Flea was originally a German design, namely the DKW RT100, but that’s a story for a different day.
Weighing in at 56 kg, the 125cc motorcycle had a three-speed, hand-change gearbox and, thanks to a low compression piston, its engine could run on the poorest quality fuel. This motorcycle did play a significant role during the war, and the surviving few were refurbished and sold to the public. Now, for Royal Enfield to bring back the Flying Flea moniker, there is an attempt to signify the beginning of a very interesting journey.
Heading towards a new future in electric mobility, Royal Enfield has been actively developing and testing concepts like this and the electric Himalayan, that we know of. Royal Enfield is working on two distinct EV architectures, and while one is being developed entirely in-house, the second platform is being developed in collaboration with European startup, Stark Future.
It will be intriguing to hear a Royal Enfield motorcycle with an electric whine instead of the standard thump, but we’ll reserve judgement till we see it in the flesh. So stay tuned for more updates on the debut, on the fourth of November.
