UK trade fair Expo 2018 - Euro 4 has not led to the end of the air-cooled motorcycle engine
Held over three days in January this UK motorcycle fair is restricted to professionals in the motorcycle industry. Occupying two halls at the Stoneleigh Park exhibition centre there was plenty to see.
Many riders like the simplicity of the air-cooled motorcycle engine. Without the addition of water cooling the weight of the motorcycle can also be kept low. A more accurate description would be air and oil cooled as the engine oil is a part of this cooling system. Many forecasters were certain that Euro 4 would see the end of this on larger motorcycles. The new Royal Enfield 650cc proves this is not the case. The Interceptor 650cc was designed and developed at Enfield’s new research and development centre in the UK. As with Triumph’s range of “classics” the Street Twin and Bonneville this is a “lookalike” of the 1960s Interceptor. Unlike Triumph, Enfield’s design team has developed an engine that has only air and oil cooling. The oil cooler is a pretty big one, but the whole design is still very simple. The modest power output places the new Enfield in EU licence category A2. It seems certain that with such a new design Enfield are confident that they will be able to adapt it further when Euro 5 comes into force. – Currently this is scheduled for 2020 although some aspects are still to be solved. Enfield never really went away. Production in India of the 350cc Bullet single continued when the parent factory in the UK ceased to exist.
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