Jump around!

What a tiny, quiet little thing! We’re talking about the Flying Flea C6 from Royal Enfield, an electric motorbike weighing just 124 kilograms. And it’s such fun to ride. To explain: for someone who normally rides a full-size Bavarian motorbike weighing in at 230 kilos, the C6 is the epitome of compact agility – and a real ‘flea’. Which brings us straight to the bike’s unusual history.

During the Second World War, it was nicknamed the ‘Flying Flea’ and served the British airborne troops as a means of transporting messages and orders between scattered units. The official designation for this compact motorbike was the Royal Enfield WD/RE. It was delivered to its destination by parachute and in cargo gliders; in other words, for parachute drops, it was placed in a special protective cage. The WD/RE had an air-cooled, single-cylinder, two-stroke engine with a displacement of 126 cubic centimetres; its top speed was around 72 km/h, and it actually weighed just 59 kilos. It must have been a strange sight, seeing the motorbikes tumbling down from the sky.

After the war, the motorbikes were, quite naturally, used for civilian purposes; they were simply there, so people rode them. And more than eight decades later, Royal Enfield is using the name once again. In November 2024, the Indian company launched Flying Flea as a standalone electric brand. The C6 has been on sale in India since April 2026, and is now available here in Europe too – and the price is as modest as the motorbike itself: the C6 costs an unrivalled 5,990 euros.

The first thing that catches the eye is the trapezoidal fork on the front wheel – a small nod to the WD/RE. The frame is made of forged aluminium, whilst the lithium-ion battery casing is made of a magnesium alloy; the battery itself is a load-bearing element of the vehicle’s structure.

It takes some getting used to the absence of the familiar engine noise, vibrations and gear changes, of course, but the Flying Flea more than makes up for this with its manoeuvrability. It’s also so narrow that you can manoeuvre through tight gaps where you’d get stuck with a boxer engine.

There are five riding modes to choose from: City, Rain, Highway, Sport and Custom. You can give City mode a go if you’re not in too much of a hurry. If, on the other hand, you turn the dial on the left handlebar straight into Sport mode, you won’t be able to wipe the grin off your face.

Royal Enfield quotes a range of 104 kilometres based on the urban WMTC test cycle. How far you actually get depends, amongst other things, on the outside temperature and your own riding style (cue Sport mode …). The built-in charger is said to take 65 minutes to charge the battery from 20 per cent to 80 per cent. Charging from 10 per cent to 90 per cent takes approximately one hour and 35 minutes.

So, let’s talk a bit more about modern conveniences: the Floh has a round, 3.5-inch TFT touchscreen, a USB-C port delivering up to 27 watts, and a wireless smartphone charging pad on the tank – if you want to call it that. However, you shouldn’t lean on the cover whilst riding, as it tends to pop open quite easily. You don’t need a traditional ignition key; instead, it comes with cruise control, hill-start assist and traction control. The regenerative braking can also be adjusted. Last but not least: in what’s known as Bidirectional Crawl Mode, the C6 moves forward at up to 6 km/h or backwards at 3 km/h using electric power. Thanks to its generous ground clearance, this makes it easier to negotiate kerbs and steps. But to be honest? You can manage manoeuvring just fine anyway, because, as we’ve already mentioned, the ‘Floh’ is really very light.