The concept of the V-Twin was conceived by Paul Carberry and brought to fruition by Paul and Ian Drysdale (Of the Drysdale 750-V8 and 1000-V8 fame). 

The basic premise was to create a “classic” style 1000cc British V-Twin utilising as many standard Royal Enfield parts as possible. All this to attain a well mannered torquey cruiser with the look, feel and sound expected from a bike with traditional British bloodlines but with enough technology to make it a practical every day work horse - at a reasonable price. The design premise included keeping production and maintenance costs down with a worldwide availability of spare parts. 

The 55 degree vee angle was chosen for the combination of style, balance and mechanical simplicity.  One consideration was to allow the hydraulic lifters to be accommodated above the standard Royal Enfield cams without modification to the barrels.   Any vee angle tighter than 55 deg also requires heavy modification of the Royal Enfield heads for carburettor clearance.  The standard Enfield primary drive cover has also been retained.  The Enfield clutch is “beefed up” and a bigger engine sprocket is fitted to utilise the extra performance of the V-twin.