Royal Enfield’s paratrooper-themed 500 Classic, the Pegasus, dropped into RE dealers today and fans turned out to greet them, including delighted new owners. ARR was there at Motorcycle Revolution in Adelaide to witness the event.
Unlike the hapless British chaps who lobbed into the laps of waiting German troops in Arnhem in 1944 with their ‘Flying Fleas’, today’s ‘invasion’ was met with mighty grins from new owners and admiring onlookers who saw the elegant military themed bikes ‘fly’ off the showroom floors at eight RE dealerships around the country.
“As a former serviceman myself, this Royal Enfield was exactly what I needed to come out of the motorcycle wilderness and back into the saddle,” said a grinning John Wauchope as he looked longingly at his new machine, serial #50393. John’s last bike was a 500cc Velocette and he’d seen a few Royal Enfields around town and instantly took a liking to the classically-styled motorcycles.
Indian-born Binoj was there too pick up #50465. He’d seen the UK launch on TV and made a beeline to Motorcycle Revolution to put down his deposit.
“This excited guy came into our store and asked ‘Are you getting the new Pegasus?’” recalls RM sales manager Jon Guidera, “and the bike was so new I had to ask ‘what’s a Pegasus?’. He didn’t ask about price or colours, he just wanted one!”
All that is history and a now beaming Binoj was perhaps the first customer in Australia to place an order for this distinctive motorcycle, limited to just 1000 units worldwide.
For the full story of the Pegasus and its connection to the historic Arnhem landing in WWII, see our earlier post.
Words: Roderick Eime
