The Royal Enfield Harrier chopper

Here’s an interesting footnote in the history of Royal Enfield, the Harrier chopper.

The Royal Enfield Cycle Co ceased trading in 1967 and the workforce was made redundant 31st January of that year. The subsequent history of Royal Enfield bicycles is something of a black hole, probably as it’s a sad story of slow decline and eventual demise. Following the closure of the bicycle factory the business was sold to Brown Brothers, the well known wholesalers of bicycle motorcycle and general motoring parts and accessories, who had been in business since 1889. Brown Brothers sold bicycles under the Vindec brand. It appears that the main interest for Brown Brothers in the purchase was the Royal Enfield Revelation shopper bike (see the history of the Revelation on Tony Hadland’s blog) which had been a low key success for the Enfield Cycle Co. Brown Brothers subsequently offered the Revelation as the Vindec Vogue along with the Royal Enfield branded original.

This little backdrop leads us to the Royal Enfield Harrier which was also sold as the Vindec High Riser. The High Riser came out in 1972, an obvious attempt to cash in on the success of the Raleigh Chopper which was first offered in 1969. The High Riser was offered at £32 against £38 for the Chopper – Vindec had always been a discount brand.

I have to admit that I wasn’t aware of the Harrier until I came across this eBay listing:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165884513192 All pictures within this post are taken from the listing. There appears to be a number of Vindec High Riser survivors but this is the only Harrier I have come across.

It’s a rare beast and I hope it finds a sympathetic home.