Royal Enfield Constellation

ROYAL ENFIELD’S CONSTELLATION is a beefy beast with the personality and aggression of a Pontypool rugby prop forward from the Sixties – big hearted and ready to trample the opposition. The 692cc engine is squeezed into a frame derived from the 350 Bullet, and this punchy and muscular motorcycle is a piece of late 1950s brutalism, covered in chrome.

The Constellation was born out of the range of twins Royal Enfield launched in 1948 with their 500 Twin that grew into the touring 692cc Meteor in 1953, which in turn was joined by the sportier Super Meteor before the Constellation arrived in 1958, having at first been an export-only model branded as an Indian Apache for the US market.

Why a 700? The engine of the Constellation was essentially two 350 Bullets, with two separate cast-iron barrels and twin alloy heads. There was barely an inch of spare space around the mill, though you could remove the tappet covers and set the valve clearances without