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-   -   The Royal Enfield Interceptor & Continental 650. EDIT: Launched @ Rs 2.50 - 2.65 lakhs (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/192178-royal-enfield-interceptor-continental-650-edit-launched-rs-2-50-2-65-lakhs-18.html)

1. I would like to disagree that a bike's road presence can be determined by pictures, but again, it's your opinion and this is mine.
2. I have not seen the video of the Exhaust note on Youtube, but would be curious to compare the "real" exhaust vs a video that can be doctored, or even give a poor audio output.
3. Riding posture has the word "riding" in it, not sitting. So unless someone has really "ridden" the bike, I would take the opinion with a pinch of salt.
4. Performance figures - definitely can be commented on, but I don't really know what is the problem. The same RE bashers will go and praise the Triumph line that also produces 55 HP for a 900cc Engine.

I am not a fan of RE, their build quality or in general their methods of coming out with new color variants of the same bike for extra money, thats marketing Bull****.

But, please don't unilaterally bash them when an Indian company is trying to take the next step, although they are using tech from the Brits, still, they are probably doing something right if the bike is able to sell even in crowded markets like US, UK and Australia.

I have a few British colleagues who are super excited about the launch of the Continental GT 650. Not everyone has the money to buy the Thruxton!
(PS: as you would have guessed, my company doesn't pay much :OT)

That's the whole point of the RE. it's got SOUL :D

See I started riding REs from my college days and yes I'm partial to it but I'm very well aware of it's flaws as well. In fact it's not something I see myself riding everyday now, and I don't. My tastes have shifted now and I ride a FZ25 as a daily rider and use it for touring as well; but someone else might want the laid back, lazy thump and the vibey feel on their steed. To each his own poison.

Motorcycles aren't something we always buy with our head but our heart and soul. End of they day it all matters how you feel on the bike.

Let us wait and see what the Interceptor and GT650 has to offer. Everything now is just speculation. I'm as doubtful as you of the RE, but let's give it a shot and be optimistic. I'm sure the Himalayan fiasco has taught them a good lesson.

Oh well, so the Interceptor critics are taking based on facts and actual data here?

Using photos to judge road presence, hearing a video to judge the exhaust note, looking at a picture again to comment on the riding posture and performance figures being put down without riding, and even before the actual performance numbers are released clap:

Make no mistake, I am not a RE fan - probably explains why there is no RE in my garage. But I am looking forward to see if the new twin engine would offer highway performance and have better quality too. But I will not comment till I actually see, sit on, ride and experience the motorcycle by myself.

And, certain decisions taken by the heart, can rarely be proven by using facts and data - to each, his own! :thumbs up

HP is not the only measure of performance. What about the Torque figure? It's leagues ahead of the RE and much more refined too. Triumph deserves all the praise it gets. Their fit and finish is top notch. Heck I wouldn't even compare HD with Triumph in terms of fit and finish. They've upped the ante and really set a high benchmark.


I agree. Like I mentioned before, we should wait and watch to see once the new bikes are out. Kudos to RE for taking a bold step towards twin cylinders in the market. It's difficult to make an engine from the ground up indigeniously, without any suport from established makers.

True. Nor can one ride it everyday. Though Triumphs are friendly and easy to use, the power and torque along with the committed seating posture can get overwhelming for daily use.

Same pinch :uncontrol

^^
Totally agree that HP is not the only measure of performance, but I was, erringly trying to give an example. My Bad! Triumph and RE cannot and should not be used in the same sentence.
Fit, finish, quality, there is not much you can find fault in the Triumph range, just that they are still prohibitively expensive!

April was supposed to be the month when the first markets were to receive the new twins.
If that was the plan then the media drives and promotions should have started by now.
Whats brewing RE?

Yes, I tried checking Zauba website to see if they had exported any bikes to Europe over the last month - I somehow am unable to generate any new data, it keeps showing me info only till Nov 2016. If somebody can check that, we will have a clearer picture.

:OT

As per Central Government orders, no import/export data is shown to the public from Dec 2016 onwards.

Cheers

Pictures in the real world, not dolled up machines in perfect lighting with shiny black tyres. Helps you get some perspective of scale when you see it against a popular hatch, auto, bus etc

:Frustrati
Someone's gone to great lengths to post a youtube video "doctoring" the sound emanating from the RE exhaust? Proof? See my point about RE fanboys?

Not sure what you think of "Cycle Ergo" then. The sole purpose of their existence is for you to get an idea of riding posture without ever swinging a leg on the bike. Of course you get a fair idea of what the riding posture is going to be like when you see a rider atop a motorcycle. Whats so outlandish about it?

Besides Fit, Finish and general quality; Triumph is also much better at the "tech" aspect. They can (if they so wanted) pull out 120+ BHP from a 675 cc engine. They Chose not to pursue HP in case of the Bonnie

RE not being able to extract more from this engine is a constraint; not a choice

Can you please point to the parts in my post where I am bashing Royal Enfield's (Motorcycle and / or company)?

That's one thing you and I have in common

Absolutely!

Fact, especially when these are photos from the real world. Not from shows where she's at her shiniest best, with just the right lighting

Correct, which is again real. Hence, fact!

Please see my comment above on the same topic. Oh and .... Fact!

Performance Figures .... aka - Numbers

Ok

Not really! I don't need to own something to be a fan. If that were true, Ferrari (for example) would not enjoy the cult status it does today

Me too

Its fine if you don't want to, but its fine if others do, correct? The same way people have been drooling over the pics (myself included) without actually seeing, sitting on, riding or experiencing the motorcycle?

Of course

Nope, that could never have been the intent when you are looking to create an easy to ride motorcycle that would be cruising for most part of its life. Much like the Bonneville. It would not make much sense to have a 60+ PS and 40 Nm engine for this target audience.

A spy picture of a prototype is rarely trying to impress. No KTM test mule looked good either, simply because that is not the intent.

Well, 'affordability' is the biggest difference here. A multi crore Ferarri vs a 2.xx RE flagship. I dismissed the entire current RE line-up and picked up a CBR250R because it fits my bill.

Came across this video posted over a week ago, not sure if it was already shared in any other threads.

https://youtu.be/u-3fcpUehbA

Interesting bits of information being shared there.

1. Bikes expected in May for test ride.
2. 9 more new models to share the Interceptor's engine and tank.

I didn't get the second point, if it's completely different bikes or just different color schemes, add-ons etc like the 500x.

Coming back to the question, why is RE so reluctant to share the actual exhaust note of the 650 twin, seems fishy:deadhorse.

I cannot think of 9 new segments of bikes at all, so I would assume they might be more like Desert Storm, Squadron blue, Chrome, etc., which are actually being listed as seperate models in the RE website.

However, Himalayan with the 650cc twin has been confirmed already, so a proper cruiser might also be on the cards.

There have been videos with the exhaust note in it, in fact the teaser video of these motorcycles was with the exhaust note. What could be fishy about this? :confused:

Nothing fishy there. And there is nothing that can said as wrong in a manufacturer taking their time before they release any info about their new product. The days of thump are anyhow over with the incoming twin engines. Like they had mentioned in one of their promo videos, a growl is perhaps in the offing.

Fishy in the sense I am a bit curious why they didn't start the bike during the unveiling. Maybe they want to keep it under wraps.

I agree and I am sure with those S & S pipes they would sound good and RE would have worked hard on getting the right exhaust note.