[pradipk]

Originally Posted by narayan

When you said card - I am wondering - if dealers would accept the entire payment on card ? Many people in the target market will have a card with a far higher limit.

Quite a few banks offer EMI at competitive rates on large ticket card spends with flexibility to pre-pay. Wondering if anyone is thinking on these lines.

I doubt if they accept cards. You have rightly mentioned on the capabilities but buying options using card is not there with any of the auto players. I remember Tata's offered buying Nano as "commodity" with a swipe of credit card but no others.

I think allowing card payment was one quick way to confirm bookings. To my surprise booking by cheque option wasn't there.

[musclecar]

I booked an Interceptor Chrome yesterday too. While many people say it better to stay away from RE's first gen products but this time I believe they have outdone themselves. The bikes look and feel solidly built and I suspect a long waiting period too. Let's hope the bikes prove to be good and change the perception about RE's quality.

[Mafioso]

Originally Posted by Hammer & Anvil

*First impressions RE650*

Then in Jan end the deliveries will start to the common man.
KTM is in a soup
Benelli is in the same soup
Jawa is getting added to the soup
Anyone in the 2L+ category is in the soup.
position

I guess you have wrong assumptions, people opting for sportier naked bikes will not be impacted with this classic tourer, I agree that the pricing is amazing, but still a person who loves the mad acceleration and the technology on KTM will blink at the Interceptor or GT. Time will prove who is one soup!

[neil.jericho]

When Royal Enfield unveiled the 650 twins at EICMA 2017, I was super excited about the bikes because I felt the company was right on track to take over the affordable lower middle weight motorcycling segment, worldwide. All my whatsapp groups were buzzing with the launch of the bikes and in this age of cynical - oh this is missing, oh power is too low, oh weight is too high armchair motorcycle experts, the enthusiasm on the 650 twins was a refreshing change. Go to any international motorcycling forum and you will find that almost everyone is unhappy about the rising cost of motorcycles, the corresponding skyrocketing insurance rates and overall cost of ownership. So could Royal Enfield be the harbinger of much needed change? Yes, the same Royal Enfield that hurriedly launched the Himalayan without fuel injection (which meant that it wasnt BS4 compliant), poor build quality (cracked chassis anyone?) and other character building niggles, now suddenly became the great big hope. Was it too much to expect?


The test rides for the international media were a few weeks ago and both the Indian and international media had high praise for the 650 twins. Yes there were comments about the front end being slightly flightly at high speeds but other than that, the reviews for what is a low output twin cylinder motorcycle was very positive indeed. Now all that was left to be showcased was the pricing and it appeared as though everyone and their grandmothers had an opinion about what the price should be, with numbers veering from the realistic (~ Rs 2.7L ($ 3,750) for the Interceptor and Rs 3L ($ 4,160) for the GT)) to the completely improbable (Rs 2.34L ($ 3,250) which would put it uncomfortably close to the RE 500s). Meanwhile I had reached out to a friend of mine who works in Royal Enfield to find out how I can attend the launch event and he suggested I come to St Mary's Motors at Kaloor, Cochin at 18:00.


Webcast
The showroom had arranged for seating for around 50 people with a presentation screen and big speakers in the lobby of the building in which the showroom was located. Cochin had a total of 3 showrooms with the webcast setup - St Mary's Motors, the company showroom at Edapally and Kaizen Motors at Vytilla. The lobby was airconditioned and we were provided with a welcome drink as well. The plan was for Sid Lal to announce the pricing over the webcast and then the bikes were to be unveiled to us inside the showroom. There were quite a few people who came in before the actual start time of 18:30 but the presentation ended up starting only at 18:45.

This is how the setup looked from the back of the seating arrangements


A box of snacks were provided with a bottle of Appy as well after a while.

There was quite a good turnout in the St Mary's showroom. While I am a big fan of what Sid Lal has done in terms of turning around the company, Im not all that keen on his by now trademark rambling presentation style. Yesterday though, he had some good points that were dreadfully boring for the enthusiasts who were waiting for the pricing announcements but on the other hand, were very positive for shareholders. He touched upon the much improved manufacturing processes, vendor quality, doing very well in dealer and customer satisfaction surveys (conducted by JD Power Survey no less), opening showrooms in India and abroad (Bali even!), improvements in servicing, 1000 point check lists for new bikes, rides being conducted by showrooms etc. Those are very reassuring things to hear for someone sitting on the fence on the new 650s. Oh, and those two advertisements were spot on in terms of generating excitement and grins, give the advertising agency a raise RE!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ij11UaweOU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhlMLVRpupo

Pricing
Finally they got around to the big reveal and the moment Sid Lal announced the price of Rs 5.5 L, I was sure that they were having some fun with the audience and that it was going to be the combined price. And thats exactly what it turned out to be. There was a huge round of applause at this price announcement though the reception in Goa seemed to be quite muted. The Rs 2.49 L announcement of the base Interceptor was very well received and the lowered price of Rs 2.33 L for the states of Karnataka and Kerala for the base offerings to counter the higher road tax was greeted very enthusiastically by the crowd in the room. For reference, I want to point out that since the Kerala courts have come down strongly on handling charges, a company like Kawasaki has a higher ex showroom price in Kerala (basically the handling charges are added on top of the actual ex-showroom charges) whereas RE has gone the other way and announced lower ex showrooms to ensure uniform 2.99 L on road pricing across the country. What a well thought through move from RE! The questions from the crowd that were part of the webcast were pretty silly though. Now, all that was left was for us to check out the bikes in person.


So where were the bikes?
Unfortunately, there was a logistical problem that meant that the RE team had to mobilize its resources to arrange for alternate transportation to get the bikes to the 3 showrooms in Cochin. So while the webcast finished by around 19:45 or so, we had some time on our hands till the bikes got to the showrooms. I used this time to wander around the showroom and spotted a seat that I was sure would be for the 650s. It is priced at Rs 3,500 and it felt quite good. I wonder if it would be a direct fit on the GT 535s.

I took this time to photograph a few of the other bikes in the showroom as well. That Stealth Black Classic with ABS is a looker!

Meanwhile, the crowd patiently waited outside and in the store and the buzz from the pricing obviously meant that everyone was keen to see the bikes in person. I saw one booking made even before the bikes arrived! More details in the next post.

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by Engine_Roars

I was dreaming about interceptor since yesterday. I almost planned to rob a bank to book one. Today, on my way to gym, I saw one new RE Classic being attended by a mechanic. It was new because It looked new and it was one of the new colors. Now, I am not sure if I should still go ahead and rob the bank. I still am drooling but not sure.

While it is ok to be more careful while spending our hard earned cash on something that is yet to be proven, it is certainly not right to judge an all new product like this.

What could the Classic 350 and the Interceptor 650 share in common? Maybe just the brand and its logo. They are totally different machines in every other sense. A broken-down Tata Indica on the road should not influence a person's decision of buying a Tata Hexa or booking a Tata Harrier.

Whats worse still, we do not even know the reason behind why the new Classic was there - maybe an after-market horn or exhaust or seat causing some trouble? It might even be a puncture.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by pradipk

I doubt if they accept cards. You have rightly mentioned on the capabilities but buying options using card is not there with any of the auto players. I remember Tata's offered buying Nano as "commodity" with a swipe of credit card but no others.

I think allowing card payment was one quick way to confirm bookings.

I recently bought an approx 1.4L bike Entirely by Card. The dealer wanted 2% extra for this. As I had already negotiated the bike price down by 9k. I agreed to go with splitting the difference and paying 1% extra for card usage. The card was giving me 1.5% cash back last month when I purchased.

[neil.jericho]

This post will be contain more photographs and the corresponding observations as compared to the previous post. Finally around 21:00, the truck with the bikes arrived and the patient crowd burst out into loud shouts of joy. Ive never seen people more happy to see a truck in my life!

There was a palpable excitement in the air as everyone, including the RE staff and customers, were eagerly waiting for a first sight of the bikes.

My first glimpse of the twins

The GT was carefully loaded off the truck and carried up by the RE staff and this was followed by the Interceptor, all this while the crowd politely and impatiently clicked pictures and made way for them.

Once in the showroom, there was so much buzz and energy as the crowd waited patiently for the RE team to announce the on road pricing in Kerala. The price of Rs 2.99L for the base Interceptor was greeted with rapturous applause, talk about a winning strategy. The bikes were started for a quick throttle gunning to give the audience a feel of what it sounded like and then the potential customers were allowed to come up on stage and get a feel of the bikes.

Prices being announced


Big pop for the Rs 2.99 L on road pricing

I was very interested to check out the fit and finish of the twins, despite all the people patiently hopping on and off the bike while posing for photos. Here are some of the things I noticed.

The GT comes with blackened out round RVMs. The GT 535 came with oval ones. The Interceptor though comes with chrome RVMs.

The GT gets a blackened out headlight unit. The Interceptor gets an all chrome one.

The horns on both bikes are suspended from the top of the frame. The GT 535 has them placed at the bottom.

No Piaoli rear suspension.

A closer look at the rear suspension

Good fit and finish.

Some ugly welding was visible. Not a deal breaker for me.

Is this to prevent your pants from touching the engine? I didnt notice the rubber unit placed between the fins that the GT535 has, to ostensibly prevent vibrations.

A closer look at the welding of the exhaust.

Nice quality again.

The GT had a black rear unit.

The Interceptor had a grey one.

Nice footpegs on both bikes.

The blackened out clamps on the GT. The GT535 got a grey colour one. I like the RE logo on the clamp.

The stock twin seat on the GT looked very nice and plush.

The view of the GT's clocks. The chrome rings were known to fall off a few GT535s. I hope that doesnt happen with the twins.

Quality of switch gear is good.

I absolutely love this silver colour on the Interceptor.

Ive run into the 30 picture limit for a post, so onwards onto the next post.

[dass]

Originally Posted by pradipk

I doubt if they accept cards. You have rightly mentioned on the capabilities but buying options using card is not there with any of the auto players. .

I brought my TB350 in January with a full payment made on my credit card. No extra charges were demanded or paid. This was in whitefield motors, Bangalore. They even have a NEFT option, but I went with the card.

[neil.jericho]

Continuing with my observations and the corresponding photos.

Here's a closer look at the Interceptor's clocks. Once again, I hope those chrome rings dont fall off!

Front disc brake.

Remember how the GT had a blackened out headlight? This is the Interceptor's all chrome unit.

Remember how the GT got a blackened out round RVM? This is the Interceptor's chrome round RVM.

I really like how they have two different formats for the RE logo on the Interceptor ...

... and the GT.

I sat on the Interceptor and loved everything about it. Except for the fact that I felt the engine cover might foul with my right foot while on a ride. I need to do a proper ride to check this. You can see how the right foot is visually covered by the engine guard in this photo.

Here's a side view of the same (without my foot!)

What the left side of the bike looks like. Keeping this shining is going to be a tough job.

The under view of the clocks.

The crowd was very nice to each other and politely let others take turns and check out the bikes and take photos.

Since I will be collecting my bike from service today, I will get a chance to check them out in depth so I didnt want to deprive others of the opportunity. Hence I didnt check out the GT535 myself, will do so today.

The other bikes from the truck.

Some of the interesting machines in the parking lot.

Thanks to the helpful staff at St Marys Motors who had organized the event well. The delay in the bikes getting there was out of their control but they did the best anyone could have done and got the bikes to the eager customers as quickly as they possibly could. The crowd was patient and understanding and played a big role in the events success as well.


Some of the enthusiasm from yesterday has worn off by now but my goodness, Im still amazed by the pricing and apparent quality of the twins. And today, Jawa announced the launch of 3 new bikes. What an exciting two days. What a time to be a motorcycling enthusiast. And more importantly, what a time to be a motorcycling enthusiast in India.

[keroo1099]

This is my story (Technik Indiranagar)

Saw the Bike
Sat on the Bike
Started the Bike
Booked the Bike

(Interceptor 650)

Sometimes impulsive decisions just feel so right, and this is one of them. It's not that I didn't examine the bike closely (also did some weird moves to peer under the bike) and here's what I found:

1. I just couldn't spot a badly finished weld, or a panel that was off.
2. The only bit that was below par for me was the finish of the switch gear, but the switches themselves had a nice weight and clicked neatly into place.
3. Lovely burble from the exhausts, not a bullet thump, but nice.
4. Nice comfy position for my 6' frame
5. No vibes when revved. I didn't have the heart to rev a brand new showroom bike, but countless others did and I managed to feel the handle bars on half throttle, and felt nothing substantial.
6. Very little heat from the engine with all the above revving. I could easily touch the engine cover without getting singed.
7. Lovely detailing of the mini windscreen in brushed metal.
8. Engine uses fully synthetic oil 15W-60, with a 10K service interval
9 100 bookings till this afternoon
10. 3.2L oil capacity on a regular oil change. Becomes 3.9L on a full flush.
11. Was told fuel tank capacity was 13.2L

To me, the bike comes across as a no nonsense well put together bit of kit, and is a huge improvement in perceived quality from RE.

Job well done.

PS: I ride a 1982 CI 350, so please take my comments with a pinch of salt.

[R-Six]

Thank you for these detailed pictures and notes, Neil.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

The GT comes with blackened out round RVMs.

How did you find the quality and visibility of the new RVMs? Do you think they would be a little more stable than the current oval ones? Mine will vibrate into its glory as soon as I hit some decent speeds. I'm looking for a better option for the highways. The bar end mirrors I have are just plain useless.

I even saw a set of bar end mirrors as an RE official accessory for the twins in one of the videos shared earlier. When you were walking around the showroom while waiting for the twins, did you get a chance to look at those?

The stock twin seat on the GT looked very nice and plush.

Yes, looks much better than the twin seat we have on the 535s. Is it the same as the one you took a picture of?

[LazyGunner]

Originally Posted by narayan

When you said card - I am wondering - if dealers would accept the entire payment on card ? Many people in the target market will have a card with a far higher limit.

Originally Posted by pradipk

I doubt if they accept cards. ...

I think allowing card payment was one quick way to confirm bookings. To my surprise booking by cheque option wasn't there.

Ah, card payment - the (still?) tricky mode of payment in our country. They need to pay a commission of ~2% while accepting money through cards. I still was able to make a partial payment through card 3 years ago when I bought my C350 - without paying anything extra.

After waiting for 6 weeks post-booking, finally they called me and told my C350 was ready for delivery. Only after I went there with my wife and documentation began, they realized that they had not even deposited the cheque I had given them 2 days before the supposed delivery date. I was all excited to take my first ever Enfield home and I wouldn't let anything delay that. The dealer was accepting cards at 2% additional charges. (I know it's illegal) After I told them it's their mistake they agreed to take 50k without any additional charges. I went to the nearest ATM got 98k using mine and wife's debit cards(yeah, pre-demonetization times) and swiped credit card for 50k.

Also, I remember paying the booking amount 5k also using card - without any charges.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by R-Six

How did you find the quality and visibility of the new RVMs? Do you think they would be a little more stable than the current oval ones? Mine will vibrate into its glory as soon as I hit some decent speeds. I'm looking for a better option for the highways. The bar end mirrors I have are just plain useless.

I even saw a set of bar end mirrors as an RE official accessory for the twins in one of the videos shared earlier. When you were walking around the showroom while waiting for the twins, did you get a chance to look at those?

Thanks for the words of appreciation. I felt these were good in quality but I personally prefer the ones on the GT535 as they give a wider range of view. The ones on my GT535 used to be useless on highways but I realized the best thing to do is to lower the rubber cap at the back and tighten them as much as possible. Now they are actually quite useful. The RE bar end mirrors have good feedback but Im not convinced on the smaller real estate (less to see behind you as well) and the ability of the Indian public to not fiddle with it every time they see one in a parking lot.

Originally Posted by R-Six

Yes, looks much better than the twin seat we have on the 535s. Is it the same as the one you took a picture of?

The looked the same, Im not 100% sure at this stage. In comparison the Interceptor seat appeared to be a little shorter in length. My first impression (and I could be wrong here) is there might be Interceptor owners opting for this GT seat as its longer and would be better suited to larger pillions.

[damanbir]

I've been following this thread very closely, the pricing and complete package has me floored. I was in double minds between owning a used Bonneville A3/T100 or the new Interceptor but now will be going ahead with the latter.

Just for everyone's knowledge, booking have opened online through the website.

I am confused on the choice of colour, and boy is that a tough choice. All the colours look absolutely spectacular and suit the personality of the bike perfectly, a very sorted selection from the folks at RE.

I currently own a 2003 Electra 4S and a 2015 Standard 500 so pardon my excitement for being a fan boy. I'm 6'7'', just curious if it'll be too cramped for me (Like I have an Option )

Is there any news on the accessories list? I heard that an S&S exhaust is being developed.

[R-Six]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

lower the rubber cap at the back and tighten them as much as possible

I will give this a try. I actually use the original mirrors only when I'm doing longer rides. For my regular commute, I stick to the bar end ones that I have. Though quite small, it serves the purpose to some extent when adjusted to the correct position. But as you mentioned, setting it back to the desired place is a task I have to do almost everytime I take the bike out of the parking lot.

My first impression (and I could be wrong here) is there might be Interceptor owners opting for this GT seat as its longer and would be better suited to larger pillions.

From the online reviews, the Interceptor seats are even on the softer side. So if you are planning a long ride or anything more than a couple of hundred KMs, they might have to get some stiffer options.