Royal Enfield is launching its 650 cc twins - the Interceptor 650 and the Continental GT 650 - in the US market and other global markets this month, ahead of its launch in India in another month or two.
The Quint was invited to Santa Cruz in California to ride these twin-cylinder motorcycles on curated routes. Ahead of the rides, we got a deep-dive into the specifications of these new Royal Enfield motorcycles. Take a look.
The Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 has been built keeping in mind the original Interceptor 750 of the 1960's. It follows the classic cruiser styling. It comes with a 2,122 mm x 1,165 mm x 789 mm chassis common to both bikes. It has a wheelbase of 1,400 mm and a ground clearance of 174 mm. The seat height is 804 mm with an upright handlebar for the Interceptor. It weighs 202 Kg without fuel.
The bike sports 18-inch spoked wheels with Pirelli Phantom Sportcomp tyres (standard globally). It gets a 100/90 R18 tyre in front and 130/90 R18 at the rear. The rims are 36-spoke aluminium alloys.
Both the bikes sport 41 mm front forks with 110 mm of travel and twin coil-over pre-load adjustable shocks with 88 mm of travel at the rear.
The Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 gets clip-on handlebars and a more committed riding position because of the pushed back foot pegs. The seat height is 793 mm on the Continental GT, while other specifications are the same as the Interceptor.
The Continental GT would suit those buyers who like a more sporty riding position compared to the upright stance of the Interceptor.
The 648 cc parallel-twin, two-cylinder air-oil cooled engine develops 47 bhp of power at 7,250 rpm and 52 Nm of torque at 5,250 rpm although nearly 80 percent of torque is available from 2,500 rpm onwards. It features a 270 degree crank angle, which is what gives it a burbling sound, rather than a thump-thump, with fairly muted vibrations. It gets a Bosch closed-loop fuel-injection system and is capable of meeting Euro 5 norms.
The bikes feature sintered pads on the twin-piston Bybre calipers. They come with dual-channel ABS from Bosch. The front gets a 320 mm single disc and the rear gets a 240 mm disc.
The instrumentation has been kept fairly basic and simple. It gets two-pod analogue unit with tachometer and speedometer. The speedometer also houses an LCD display for fuel gauge, odometer and two trip meters. The tachometer has tell-tale lights for engine-check, battery, oil, ABS, high-beam and neutral.
The bikes feature a six-speed transmission with a slipper-assisted clutch. This will help with quick downshifts. The positioning of the levers are different for the Continental GT and the Interceptor 650 because of the foot peg placement.
The Royal Enfield twins will come with a three-year or 40,000 km warranty at launch. Service interval is 10,000 Km between services although the first service (with oil change) is to be done at 500 Km.
At the ride venue, Royal Enfield also had a full display for the heritage of these motorcycles. The Royal Enfield Interceptor 750 twin from the 1960's on display shows how close the new 2018 Interceptor looks in terms of detail to the original.
The Continental GT 650 borrows its inspiration from the original 1962 model GT 250 single. (The bike in the photo is a 1966 model that has been restored.) This design was revived in 2013 with the Continental GT 535 and the 2018 model also stays true to the design.
A comprehensive first-ride review of the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 and Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 follows soon on The Quint. Should you start saving up for it? We will let you know.
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