Flying Flea C6 First Ride Review: Dressed to Impress

We have an electric Royal Enfield before the launch of GTA 6! 10 years ago, you couldn’t have imagined this in your wildest dreams. And yet here I was up at 5 AM, standing on the porch of a hotel in Bengaluru, waiting to ride the Flying Flea C6. There were 10 of them parked in a line waiting to be mounted by eager journalists, all of whom wanted to know just what Royal Enfield had cooked up.

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At first glance, I was surprised by the fact that, for a motorcycle that looked so delectably small, the Flying Flea had a lot of substance in terms of styling and technology. But is there more than what meets the eye?

Flying Flea C6 First Ride Review: Design - Old world charm meets modern decor

Visibly, Royal Enfield wanted the C6 to look like the original Flying Flea from the 1940s. But they also couldn’t forget that this motorcycle was going to be on showroom floors in 2026, and not air-dropped from planes like in World War II. At that, the makers have done a great job of traversing a neo-retro bridge that spans over 80 years.

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The use of basic shapes like circles for the lights and instrument cluster, the minimalist body work and seat, and the narrow tyres give it an unmistakable classic look. But at the same time, the lights being LED, the cluster being digital, a handful of buttons on the handlebars, and the presence of alloy wheels remind you that this is indeed a modern motorcycle.

To address the elephant in the room (pun intended), the Flying Flea is a small motorcycle. While I liked the overall petite stature of the motorcycle, there are many who would agree that it’s a motorcycle that’s too small for its own good. Especially, if you are a traditional Royal Enfield fan who likes their motorcycles on the larger side.

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Flying Flea C6 First Ride Review: Riding - Modern tech delivers an old-school experience

As I hopped onto the Flying Flea C6 and started riding on the streets of Bengaluru, a sense of familiarity erupted inside of me. I was riding an EV, and yet it didn’t immediately feel like one. It offered a measured response to my inputs, and if you show intent by wringing open the throttle, the C6 shows you what even as little as 21 PS can do when the motorcycle weighs just 124 kg!

It is properly zippy, and on the empty Bengaluru streets that we were encountering in the early hours of the morning, it felt like a strong shot of espresso. Despite the motorcycle knowing how to show you a good time, it knows how to behave as well. It's easy to keep the C6 moving with gentle throttle inputs without feeling the need to put your foot down.

The C6 also comes with riding modes. You get a Rain mode for managing traction in slippery conditions. Having tried it on a patch of dry gravel road, I was left impressed by not only how smoothly the system intervenes in tricky road conditions. City mode caps your top speed to 70 km/h, but the Flying Flea still feels quick on its feet in this mode.

In Highway mode, the Flying Flea C6 gives you the whole spread to feast on, meaning you get the full 115 km/h indicated top speed at your disposal. The acceleration, however, is still not at its most rapid setting. For that, you need to enter Performance mode. When it is engaged, the C6 feels like a proper pocket rocket.

Our test bike also had a Custom mode, which will not be available on the initial batch of customer motorcycles. It will be added through an OTA update at a later stage. Custom mode allowed us to tweak the ABS and Traction Control presets across four settings - Off (Rear ABS only), Low, Mid and High. Furthermore, the Power Output, Throttle Mapping, Regen (Coasting), and Regen (Braking) could be adjusted over a spectrum of ten settings. Honestly, that is some flagship superbike-level tech on a small electric motorcycle.

As for the ride and handling manners, the C6 is quite sorted. Once you mount the motorcycle, the setup behaves like any other motorcycle despite having the unique-looking girder fork. Overall, the Flying Flea C6 is set up on the firmer side, but it doesn’t really eat into your comfort. Instead, the C6 behaves with a sense of maturity in the way it tracks the tarmac, and honestly, it gives you that ‘money well spent’ feeling. However, I do have one gripe when it comes to the riding experience, and it’s the seat. The bicycle shape is doing it no favours, and within twenty kilometres of riding the motorcycle, you start feeling uncomfortable. The pillion seat is even smaller, and ultimately, it is just a part of the aesthetic with very little practical value.

Flying Flea C6 First Ride Review: Features – Packed to the brim

The Flying Flea C6 comes loaded with features, which feels a bit unnatural as this has never been the natural trait of Royal Enfield motorcycles. The round instrument cluster might look familiar (it is like the Guerrilla 450 and Himalayan 450), but it runs on a different OS. Apart from the Riding Modes that can be accessed from the cluster and changed using a rotary toggle switch on the left handlebar, the digital cluster also features support for Google Maps. However, you will need to keep your phone screen on for this if you use an iPhone.

To make life easier for the rider, you also get cruise control, a wireless phone charger and a regular C-Type USB charger. To help with parking the motorcycle, especially on challenging terrain like an incline, there is a crawl mode that allows the motorcycle to move forward or in reverse. On the safety front, the Flying Flea C6 has lean-sensitive ABS and switchable traction control.

Lastly, it’s an EV, and you will need to charge it. The charging cable is lighter as it does not have the bulky ‘box’ in the middle making it a lot more convenient to carry. You simply must connect the motorcycle to a 16 Ampere wall socket. According to Royal Enfield, the Flying Flea C6 can charge from 20 to 80 per cent in 65 minutes, with the full 0 to 100 percent taking about 2 hours.

Flying Flea C6 First Ride Review: Verdict - Peppy, Eager and Refreshingly Simple

As far as first attempts go, the C6 is a great starting point. But the pricing is not easy to digest. At Rs 2.79 lakh (ex-showroom), you are bringing home a conversation starter that is delightful to ride but is ultimately sacrificing on practicality and comfort.

The range is another matter. I rode the C6 for 55 km in early morning Bengaluru traffic. I covered that distance in about 3 hours and in that time, I consumed about 65 per cent of the battery. This was under a mix of riding conditions. At best, my assumption is that you are looking at about 100 km of range in the real world. So, while the Flying Flea C6 is quite fun to ride, it won’t always be the default choice for a long ride.

Hence, the Flying Flea C6 is great as a second motorcycle in your garage and for those who want a small, nimble motorcycle to zip about town.