Royal Enfield 650 Twins: All you need to know about Continental GT, Interceptor launched in US

Royal Enfield 650 twins (Image source: Royal Enfield)

Two of the most awaited motorcycles from Royal Enfield's stable have just been launched in an event in California, the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650.

While the Continental GT replaces the discontinued 536cc Continental, the Interceptor is essentially an all-new motorcycle.

Calling these bikes twins comes naturally to Enfield and that's because of the number of components both motorcycles share. In fact, if you swapped out just the handlebar, fuel tank, seat and footpegs, you could go from Interceptor to Continental and vice-versa.

Royal Enfield says that the configurations stays the same globally and that means whatever we have seen at the California launch is going to make it to the Indian market as well.

Another component that can hold the 650 twin moniker is the heart of the machine. An air/oil cooled fuel injected 648cc parallel twin making 47 bhp at 7,250 rpm and 52 Nm of torque peaking at 5,250 rpm is mated to an all-new 6-speed manual transmission. Royal Enfield also says that 80 percent of that torque is available from as low as 2,000 rpm. Another first for a Royal Enfield motorcycle is the inclusion of a slip-assist clutch.

The biggest question most people have is in terms of vibrations. Essentially, twin cylinder engines already dampen out vibrations because of their firing order. But Royal Enfield has taken a step further with the use of a counterbalanced crankshaft and a 270-degree firing order.

Both bikes get a steel tubular double-cradle frame developed in conjunction with Harris Performance team and is supported by 41 mm front forks with 110 mm travel and twin coil-over gas-charged shocks with 88 mm of travel. The rear shock is preload adjustable up to five stages.

Royal Enfield uses 18-inch aluminium spoked rims coupled with Pirelli Phantom Sportcomp tyres that was developed specially for the bikes. Stopping power will come from twin piston Bybre calipers by Brembo coupled with a 320 mm disc up front and a 240 mm disc at the back. Dual channel Bosch ABS is set to come standard and this makes sense considering the new rules regarding brakes that effect come April 2019.

As we all know the Continental GT replaces the old Café Racer, something that was trending a while ago. But this time, the tank is a little shorter and the clip-on handlebars are a little higher making the riding position slightly more upright.

The Interceptor, on the other hand, is an homage to the old Interceptor available between 1960 and 1970. It sports an old-school handlebar and teardrop shaped tank that blends beautifully into an old-school flat seat.

To retain the classic feel of both bikes, Royal Enfield decided to exclude LED elements by using halogen bulbs inside a round glazed headlamp unit.

With India set to receive the bikes by the end of the year, prices have not been revealed yet. However, US price tags are set at USD 5,700 for the Interceptor 650 and USD 5,999 for the Continental GT.

Considering both bikes are manufactured and exported from India, expect a far lower price, probably under the Rs 3.5 lakh range.