Flying Flea launches Royal Enfield’s electric future | We head to EICMA in Milan, Italy, to get the lowdown on the historic brand’s EV future... Photos: Kel Buckley/Royal Enfield
Royal Enfield used EICMA to ring in a new era of electric bikes, previewing what will be an all-new sub-brand of EVs launching for the 2026 model year. Called Flying Flea, the sub-brand is set to support the historic marque’s transition into the EV space…
The Flying Flea FF.C6 was unveiled to a selection of the World’s press the day before EICMA 2024 kicked off.
The name draws on the moniker used on a military motorcycle designed to be parachuted into battle during the second World War. We know all future Flying Flea EVs will use alphanumeric model names – kicking off with the C6 and the S6 – and while few specifications were officially announced at the Italian launch event we attended, a lot of information can be gleaned from the physical machine BikeReview was given access to in Italy.
“A lot of information can be gleaned from the physical machine BikeReview was given access to in Italy.”
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A New Brand
Shown in the flesh at both a preview event the night before the official unveiling, and on the large Royal Enfield stand in the hallowed halls of EICMA, the C6 presents itself as a lightweight electric bike with a premium finish and plenty of signs that say it will be the most electronically advanced bike ever to roll off a Royal Enfield production line.
“We’re keeping it very simple. Easy to interpret and easy to decode,” explained the CEO of Eicher Motors Siddartha Lal
Using a C to represent the C6’s classic styling, the second model slated to fall under the Flying Flea banner was unveiled via a video at the preview event. Called the S6, denoting its scrambler design cues, it runs dual-sport tyres on wire-spoked rims and uses a conventional telescopic fork in place of the C6’s girder design.
The most electronically advanced bike ever to roll off a Royal Enfield production line…
Because both models use the same numeric model designation, we know they’ll both share the same battery spec and belt-driven powertrain, even though the specifics of such are still largely unknown. That simplistic nomenclature makes it easy to remember, says Royal Enfield, but we suspect it was also chosen to further disassociates the Flying Flea sub-brand from the petrol-powered offerings from RE.
“We’re keeping it very simple. Easy to interpret and easy to decode,” explained the CEO of Eicher Motors Siddartha Lal, which owns Royal Enfield, during a Q&A round table with the assembled journalists at the EICMA unveiling. “So tomorrow if you have a C4, you’ll know exactly what it is; a step down from this.”
“The goal is to have something that is around 100 kilos.” Mario Alvisi on the girder-style front-end of the FF.C6.
Meet the C6
Drawing on the design cues of the firm’s V-twin KX concept unveiled six years ago at EICMA, the C6 adopts a girder-style front fork system. And while Royal Enfield was quick to say the design was chosen to help achieve a premium feel – something it says is missing from today’s small-capacity EV options – the man tasked with bringing the Flying Flea sub-brand to life, Mario Alvisi, told me it was as much a weight-saving decision as it was a styling one. “The goal is to have something that is around 100 kilos,” he revealed, saying that as well as the unconventional fork, this is helped by the magnesium battery case and forged aluminium frame.
While looking for weight-saving strategies is far from a new thing when it comes to motorcycle design, the Royal Enfield big wigs are saying the Flying Flea range will have unrivalled range capabilities compared to other electric offerings in the commuter sector.
Ex Ducati Scrambler Brand Director Mario Alvisi, now Royal Enfield Chief Growth Officer, EV, is the man tasked with bringing the Flying Flea brand to life.
It’s a capability Lal refers to as ‘city plus’, saying “this is not for long distance…[but for when] you want to do extra, when you want to go a little bit out. For a cheeky ride up on those hills.
“That’s what we understood and discovered. Because as soon as you go long distance, [you get] all the battery-pack issues; it becomes big, heavy, expensive, all of that. So that’s what we’re bringing on the table. Lightweight, city plus.”
“Drawing on the design cues of the firm’s V-twin KX concept unveiled six years ago at EICMA, the C6 adopts a girder-style front fork system.”
When pushed further on what that range might be when the bike hits the market in 2026, Alvisi described it as “Very good,” adding, “it’s perfect to go in LA from Marina del Rey to Ventura and come back.” Which by our calculations is something in the region of 250km.
“It’s perfect to go in LA from Marina del Rey to Ventura and come back.” Which by our calculations is something in the region of 250km.
Other specifications we can glean from walking around the bike is the impressive level of electronic rider aids compared to anything else rolling of the Indian-based production lines. As well as ABS, which Lal let slip will be lean-angle sensitive, the switchblocks reveal there’ll be switchable power modes, which makes sense in terms of battery preservation and achieving those city-plus goals, with both traction control and cruise control joining the list.
There’s a TFT screen, LED lighting all round and the tyres, which are the same 90/90-19 size front and rear, are called Energy Ride EV and are produced by CEAT and fair to assume made specifically for the Flying Fleas.
Eicher Motors purchased a €50 million ($80m) stake in successful off-road EV brand Stark back in 2022, which Lal said is reaping enormous benefits…
Fact Finding
When Lal refers to understanding and discovering, he’s talking about the extensive market research the brand has been undertaking during the six years he revealed the new platform has been under development. Consultation with no less than 5000 consumers helped shape the finished C6 you see here and future Flying Flea models, with Royal Enfield drawing on the experience of past, present and future two-wheeled EV owners.
And let’s not forget Eicher Motors purchased a €50 million ($80m) stake in successful off-road EV brand Stark back in 2022, which Lal said is reaping enormous benefits in terms of technical and production know-how. But that know-how is only really useful if its used to create a product that people actually want which, to our minds, is what’s separating Royal Enfield’s attempt to crack the two-wheel EV market and the so many others that have tried before it.
Consultation with no less than 5000 consumers helped shape the finished C6 you see here and future Flying Flea models.
It’s the reason that Royal Enfield has decided not to go down the path of removable batteries, despite the ability cancelling out some of the biggest disadvantages of EV ownership, which is recharging. It also flies in the face of one of the biggest developments in the two-wheel EV space, the recently formed Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium to which big brands like Honda, Yamaha, KTM and the Piaggio Group are all committed to.
Royal Enfield has decided not to go down the path of removable batteries…
“We spoke with more than 5000 people, and many of them already have something with a removable battery,” explained Alvisi. “Basically, they told us they bought the vehicle because of the removable battery, but now they are not using the removable battery. And if they can buy a new product now, they won’t buy a removable battery for two reasons.
“Many of them feel pain to carry a heavy battery. The threshold is like 30 pounds (13.6kg), over that weight, people don’t want to remove the battery. Second is that there is a problem with batteries being stolen … especially for vehicles that you park on the streets. We did a lot of research and technically also we found that there are a huge number of compromises on removable batteries,” he added, citing packaging as a big one.
The other decision Royal Enfield has made based on consumer feedback instead of industry trends and standards is around charging.
“We want to have something that is easy to charge everywhere and in a fast way and with an affordable price,” Lal says. “But that was very much a core requirement for consumers that we understood that they want it onboard, they don’t want to be carrying [a fast charger] in their backpack. They want it onboard. So, it’s packaged in, boom, done. And it has to be a universal protocol.”
The Waiting Game
The C6 showed plenty of signs that it’s production ready, right down to the optional accessories that turn the single-seater C6 into a pillion-ready motorcycle. But the strategy around making would-be Flying Flea owners wait another 12 months to get their hands on a bike wasn’t based around the people who want it, but instead around the anti-electric cohort of which there are many.
Lal said. “Last night I saw the comments … some people love it, some people are like, what the hell is this piece of sh#t?
“We can’t hold the company back from what it should be doing for the sake of a few people who, you know, may be very old school and not appreciate stuff like this … that’s one of the reasons why we’ve actually shown this bike now as opposed to closer to the launch,” Lal said. “Last night I saw the comments … some people love it, some people are like, what the hell is this piece of sh#t?
“So, now they’ve seen the Flying Flea, they’ll get used to the idea. So when we actually do launch the bike next year, it’s not an alien idea to people.”
2026 Royal Enfield Flying Flea FF.C6 Gallery
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