Flying Flea Electric Bike Can Climb Himalayas Like A BOSS: Royal Enfield Puts Out Video
Royal Enfield’s electric bike vertical Flying Flea has been in the news for quite some time. Over the past few months, we have leant some key details of the brand and its upcoming products. The C6 will be the first product to arrive with the Flying Flea badge. Royal Enfield has lately been testing the vehicle extensively. Previously, we saw it undergoing trials in the Himalayas, along with a pack of other upcoming Royal Enfield models. Now, the bikermaker has shared a video that shows the FF.C6 undergoing incline testing in the hills. As it turns out, it will be able to scale the tricky Himalayan landscape like a BOSS, even with a pillion!
New Clip Shows FF.C6’s Incline Testing
The video shows the team testing the FF.C6 prototype on the Himalayan roads. The testing begins at 7:30 am. A rider uncovers the C6, which is seen plugged in. He then gets it ready for the ride. We can see the vehicle’s circular all-digital rider display (like what you see on the Guerrilla). Two prototypes can be seen in the video. The riders gear up and take the motorcycles out.
They are seen riding through the scenic roads of Leh, initially with just the rider. Soon the team decides to test it with a pillion and see if the C6 proto does a good job in scaling the inclines effortlessly. The electric motorcycle is then seen carrying two adults, all geared up, and riding in the ECO mode. It doesn’t seem to struggle on uphill rides, even with two people.
The test rider then says on camera that he was able to maintain the speed on both uphill and flats, irrespective of the load. ‘Sports mode was very well-tuned. Riding on the curves, uphill or downhill, was a breeze. I didn’t realise when i started cruising at -three digit- speeds’ said the second test rider.
By noon, the team was halfway through the ride. The engineers then did detailed checks of the BMS, motor controller and VCU settings. They went through the logs to see if any of these needed fine tuning. Later that day, the team took the motorcycles on those sharp uphill runs, which Leh is famous for, where have unpaved paths instead of roads. They even rode to KhardungLa Top.
In the feedback session that followed, the riders unanimously agreed that they did not feel any lag in the motorcycle, despite having ridden it on sharp gradients. The video concludes by showing the end of tests, where the bikes are returned to the base and plugged in...
More About The FF.C6
We expect the Flying Flea C6 electric motorcycle to be out early next year. The C6 will have a classy design and retro proportions. Its concept was first showcased at EICMA. The prototype undergoing trials seems to be a closer-to-production form and more importantly, an evolution that does justice to the original concept.
The second product to come from Flying Flea would be the S6. One of the bikes featured in this video could be the S6. Both are based on Royal Enfield’s newly developed ‘L platform’ and will come in both single-seater and two-seater forms. Powertrain details are sparse at the moment, but we expect the Flying Flea models to come with a lot of torque.
The production models are expected to come with evolutions of Royal Enfield's signature girder forks. The battery packs, electric motors, ECUs, controllers, and most other key components have been developed in-house by the bikemaker. Royal Enfield even claims that the battery pack would use a new cell welding technique for added safety and battery health.
The all-electric duo will also use AI-based smart systems, and will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon QC2290 processor. We expect to find the likes of audio and haptic alerts on the production form.