Heavy flooding the previous weekend failed to deter crowds of current and prospective Royal Enfield enthusiasts from flocking to Blockley for the company’s annual Open weekend on 28/29 July 2007. In spite of dire weather forecasts for the Sunday the sun shone over both days, during the course of which approximately 1,750 people visited the headquarters of the Royal Enfield’s UK distributors, located near the Cotswold village of Blockley, to see the latest generation of Bullet motorcycles.
"Visitor numbers were around 10% up on last year, which reflects the increased sales we've seen in 2007," comments Sales Director Ben Matthews. "People had travelled from Devon to Derbyshire to take advantage of the free test rides on offer, including Royal Enfield’s Spanish distributor who wanted to try our UK-developed Clubman cafe racer."
The Severn Advanced Motorcyclists were kept busy as they accompanied 200 test rides over the weekend, while sidecar rides proved equally popular, particularly for riders’ partners and offspring, in the new Electra Classic/Watsonian GP outfit.
The Open Weekend presents a unique opportunity for enthusiasts to visit the factory from which Royal Enfield bikes are distributed in the UK and where Watsonian sidecars continue to be built, 95 years after the business was founded. Visitors had open access to the factory, where staff were on hand to explain the work in progress on various sidecars and Royal Enfield specials. A wide variety of genuine factory-approved performance and styling accessories were on show alongside the current range of Royal Enfield motorcycles, offering plenty of scope for customising.
Once again the Shipston-on-Stour Sea Scouts worked tirelessly to provide great quality sensibly priced home made food to all the staff and guests, raising much-needed funds in the process. Everyone was clearly in a good mood, because over £350 was collected for the County Air Ambulance Trust during the Open Weekend.
The Third Annual Royal Enfield Open Day will be on Sat/Sun 26/27 July 2008.
Details from Watsonian-Squire on 01386 700 907 or by visiting
www.royal-enfield.com.
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