The Sherpa and Hunter
It looks like Royal Enfield could expand its lineup with two new bikes in the future. The company has applied for the trademark of two new names for motorcycles. The names are Sherpa and Hunter. It’s unclear how RE plans to use these two names, but Indian Autos Blog and Car and Bike spotted the trademark filings, so you can bet the company will do something with it.
At this time nobody knows what the bikes will be. Royal Enfield sold a motorcycle called the Sherpa back in the 1960s so it could bring back that bike. The old Sherpa had a 178cc engine that was built by Villiers Engineering. That engine company was part of the Norton-Villiers-Triumph consortium. That ended in 1978. The classic Sherpa was a simple standard motorcycle, so there’s a chance the new bike could be that, too.
The rumor is that the Hunter name will be used for an adventure bike. It could be a smaller adventure bike than the Royal Enfield Himalayan. If that’s the case, don’t expect the company to sell it outside of the Indian market. The only complaint of the Himalayan that I’ve heard is that it lacks power. Personally, I’d love to see Royal Enfiled put the 650-twin engine into the Himalayan frame. It will be interesting to see how this develops.