Royal Enfield Classic 500 launched in Squadron Blue

After recently adding nine new paints to the existing colour catalogue, Royal Enfield has added yet another shade of blue. Called Squadron Blue, the matte paint is exclusively available on the Classic 500, and can be bought from any RE dealership across the country.

The colour, said to be (RE’s words, not ours) inspired by the Indian Air Force and is the company’s way of paying homage, sort of like the Despatch Edition that came last year. Although unlike that, the Squadron Blue gets a single-tone pain and no camouflage look, either.

Mechanically the bike remains unchanged, with a 499 cc engine powering it. The UCE unit makes 27.2 PS and 41.3 Nm of maximum torque. It’s launched at a premium of Rs 5,000 over the regular Classic 500.

A short bit of history here: Royal Enfield has been supplying its bikes to the Armed Forces, starting from the order of 800 units the company received back in 1952. The company was then located in Britain, but eventually the operations shifted to India. Royal Enfield now has its manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu, India. It currently sells a variety of bikes: standard Bullet and Electra, retro-styled Classic, Continental GT Café Racer, and Thunderbird cruiser. The recently announced and showcased Himalayan adventure tourer will go on sale next month. And unlike other bikes here, it gets a new 411 cc engine.