After a million speculations, spy-shots, hue and cry, the Indian company have finally taken the wraps off their newly developed machines running on 650cc parallel twin engines at the ongoing EICMA.

Christened as the Continental GT 650 and the Interceptor, they herald a new chapter for Royal Enfield, a company that until now made only 350cc-535cc single barrel machines.

Royal Enfield entered the motorcycle industry more than 116 years back in the UK. This makes it the world’s oldest motorcycling company in continuous production. And for the last decade, they have been giving us with simple and resilient machines that are ridden across some of the world’s most exciting terrains.

In a bid to create a niche market for themselves, the Bullet maker decided to step up their game both in the number of cylinders and capacity. With Harris Performance backing their engineering team and with the newly launched Royal Enfield Technology Center in the UK, RE has committed to foraying into a new middleweight category of bikes under their hat.

Enter the 650cc twins, the cafe-racer Continental GT 650 and the classic-retro Interceptor. Both of them share the same powertrain, chassis, suspension and braking units. But will carry completely different vibes with just a few subtle changes.

Both the machines will be powered by an all-new in-house developed 648cc parallel twin engine that features a single piece forged crank with a 270º firing order. This will provide a solid V-twin character which will echo from those 2-into-2 upswept exhaust canisters.

The engine is not built for speed, but for character that will provide an unrivalled experience while producing 47bhp and 38 lb-ft of torque. Ten hp more than the current Continental GT running on the 535 single cylinder mill.

It features Bosch fuel injection and air-oil-cooling. The six-speed gearbox provides a strong low and mid-range performance and comes equipped with a slipper clutch. Take that for modern.

Both bikes feature Pirellis on 18 inch laced wheels, a single 320mm disc at the front and 240mm disc at the rear - both equipped with ABS. Traditional 41mm upfront forks, with twin rear shocks handle the modulations.

Royal Enfield Continental GT 650

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2015 Royal Enfield Continental GT

2018 Royal Enfield Continental GT 650


Yes, you have definitely heard this name before. Royal Enfield currently has the Continental GT motorcycle running on a single cylinder 535cc engine. Hence the number '650' suffixed.

Apart from the obvious twin cylinder setup with two exhaust canisters, this bike gets quite a few changes compared to the 535cc Continental. The radiator now sits atop the twin cradle chassis, there is a new grab rail, the rear suspension gas shocks are inverted and the position of the chain and sprocket changes to the left of the motorcycle.

You can also make out that the subframe receives an extension that may accommodate a longer pillion saddle replacement and the fuel tank is shorter when compared to the original.

The instrumentation gets the same twin-pod setup but has an additional LCD screen in between. Bar-end mirrors are also replaced with the standard round ones Thank God for that. Those bar-end ones were of no use.

Even after all these updates, the Continental GT has managed to maintain the Cafe-Racer stigma and simplistic minimalism. The Continental GT comes in three colors; Ice Queen, Sea Nymph and Black Magic and weighs in at 437 lbs.

Royal Enfield Interceptor

If you wondering why the name 'Interceptor' strikes a chord, Honda used to make one recently. But the reason Royal Enfield chose to stick with this name is because of its rich heritage from five decades ago.

Many people may not be aware of this, but this name has already put on few Royal Enfields in the past, during its British period. 700 Interceptor, 692 Interceptor, and 759 Interceptor were the models, a sign of legacy and pride in the whole society.

Just like the Bonneville from Triumph, the Interceptor is designed to be a modern retro motorcycle showcasing the past of the oldest motorcycle brand. Round headlights, laced wheels, chunks of chrome thrown around, it's all in there.

The Interceptor gets dressed in a classic teardrop fuel tank like the Classic 500's and has a quilted twin-seat. The foot pegs will have a forward-set position for a relaxed ride and the wide braced handlebars make the riding quite upright.

The chassis setup of the Interceptor is exactly like that of the Continental GT 650. The Interceptor is available in Orange Crush, Ravishing Red and Silver Spectre and tips the scale at 445 lbs.

This move is to reach wider audience base in India and across the globe who are not shying to splurge on class leading products. Although no official word on the launch and pricing is out, we can speculate it to be placed in a premium price bracket of under ₹ 3-4 lakh ($ 4,500 - $ 6,200).

All we know now is that they will hit Europe and India in April 2018, and then follow suit elsewhere.

Reference

Royal Enfield Continental GT

Triumph Bonneville T100

Moto Guzzi V7 III