’ m not going to sit here and spout about how fast and powerful the Shotgun is because it is restrained by the LAMS rules , so nothing that complies is super-fast or arm-wrenchingly powerful . What the Royal Enfield Shotgun does is deliver a fashionable Bobber-styled bike that sits nice and close to the upper limits of what is permitted on a Learner or Restricted licence . That being said , it certainly doesn ’ t require a doctorate in mechanical engineering to feel that it wouldn ’ t be a major undertaking to extract a little more attitude from the 648cc powerplant if you wanted to . Giving it the motorcycle equivalent of a nasal decongestant to help it breathe the way it seriously feels it would like to would both disqualify it from the LAMS stable and see it breathe up top much better , should you decide that you wanted a Shotgun with more kick - on your full licence , naturally . Tipping the scales , with 90 % fuel load , ( who does that ? Fill it up ...) at a solid 240kg , it is no twig but it sits pretty well on the tarmac and it neither looks nor feels puny . What it does , though , is look more contemporary in its peer group than the models Royal Enfield have produced before . That , in itself , is a glimpse inside Royal Enfield ’ s future marketing strategy more than anything . While holding a virtual cult following in India and with many expats and new fans abroad , the departure from the quirky traditional styling , care of Adrian Sellers and his team behind the catch-cry ‘ Inspired by custom , for custom ’ that is being rolled out with the Shotgun is intriguing .

BIG GUN HAS A NEW TARGET ... Getting your head around a company that started manufacturing motorcycles in the UK in 1901 and in India since 1955 and , from our point of view anyway , quietly built up its customer base in India before embarking on a more serious export concept in recent years makes the numbers a bit mind-boggling . Think 3200 bikes ... per day ! Yup , this year , Royal Enfield will produce over a million motorcycles . It is a big entity in global terms and is eyeing-up the international scene . Currently the domestic market inhales 80 percent of their bikes but that 200,000 exported is expected to climb

58 KIWI RIDER