[G-BoleroBoy]

Originally Posted by sprocket

Why is the GT more expensive? Is there any additional hardware?

I have a follow on question to add to the above - why is chrome so expensive compared to others? is it only the chroming of tank that is costing additional or is the tank made of different material?

[sukiwa]

Quoting from Overdrive review

There is also the matter of the seat. I find the stock seat to be a little too soft for my liking but long durations in the saddle are definitely worth it because the Interceptor is beautiful.

This puzzles me a bit, my understanding of soft saddle was comfortable for short ride/duration, not so comfortable for long duration. Am I implying differently or Shumi meant soft saddle is a non-issue in overall ride of Interceptor?

Autocar review says this

The ergonomics are quite nicely sorted, but there a few small issues. For starters, the seat feels too soft and a sore backside sets in after about an hour on the road.

In my opinion, those who would be using Interceptor for multi-day touring, changing seat cushion would be immediate need.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Am I implying differently or Shumi meant soft saddle is a non-issue in overall ride of Interceptor?

Sounds to me like - 'Softs seats are a pain during long hours in the saddle, but worth the pain as the Interceptor is a beautiful machine'.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

Lovely report Neil.

Overall looks a nice package. I am rooting for it and hope it copied some of the quality of the original they used as the template . Even if 50-60% of the quality/build quality is there, I will put down my money on it

By the way any idea whats the kerb weight of it ?

Best Regards & Ride Safe

Ram

Thanks Ram, from my first impressions and the 50-60% quality criteria you laid out, all I can say is congratulations on the new addition to your garage! Have you decided on the colour ?

[aravind.anand]

I found even the Himalayan's seat to be too soft, and within few hours of riding, it starts feeling like I was actually sitting on the frame. My thighs started to hurt right where the frame was. I had to stand up on the pegs frequently to keep riding. On my CBR on the other hand, I am rather comfortable even on day long rides with minimal breaks.

Is there a way to have a harder seat cushion without altering the looks of the stock seat?

[R-Six]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Guys, on a different thought, if those Pegasus owners got their cash back, it would have been a wonderful stroke of luck to put it back on the 650 twin! What an upgrade for an extra 15k!!
One extra cylinder, 20 extra horses, absolutely classic looks and better bragging rights!

True. I guess the Pegasus owners were given an option to swap and upgrade to either of the twins by paying the additional price difference. But well, as well all know, their protest and all the revolt was more to get the media attention rather than actually getting any value from it.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Sounds to me like - 'Softs seats are a pain during long hours in the saddle, but worth the pain as the Interceptor is a beautiful machine'.

Yes, that was my understanding too.

On another note, one of my riding buddy's friend booked the GT 650 today. Costs 3.25 L on road for the custom version. According to him, the custom one comes with the single seat. As of now, the promised delivery date is 2nd or the 3rd week of January.

I have asked him if he has the on road price list of all the models here in Ahmedabad. I will share it with all of you if I get one.

Ride safe,
R-Six

[LazyGunner]

Speaking of seats, with the chassis frame running right below the seat and seat being so thin, it looks like there is no scope to reduce the seat height at all! My height is only 5'3 and I found my feet hardly reaching the ground when the motorcycle was off side stand. Since the unveiling of vehicle last November, I was worried about how tall the seat is going to be. But, I told myself there will always be a way.

Three years ago when I bought C350 as well I wasn't happy with the seat height. I anyway bought it thinking I'll get used to it. Couple of friends even made fun of me as to how I was going to ride a bike which is so heavy without reaching the ground properly. And I had just moved from riding an Activa to riding an Enfield! 110kg to 185kg but I was fine. Few months later when I went for my first off-road ride, I had quite a heart-in-my-mouth situation. I was very lucky to avoid a fall while riding down a slope. First thing I did after coming back from the ride was to change the seat to something without spring and reduced the height almost by 3 inches. I started feeling a different confidence while riding with this new seat and I have had no issues so far.

But seat height of INT650 has been a total disappointment for me. Any suggestions/possibilities of reducing it, I'm all ears.

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by G-BoleroBoy

I have a follow on question to add to the above - why is chrome so expensive compared to others? is it only the chroming of tank that is costing additional or is the tank made of different material?

I guess even the seat and color of the tyrerims are slightly different!

[samcan123]

Just watched the Jawa launch event yesterday and only then this popped up in my head. Are the RE twins BS6 ready? Or are they just BS4 compliant?

[Steeroid]

I have a confession to make.

I hate Bullets and its fan boys - together they bring out the worst in me with their attitude of covering up for any deficiency in the bikes with nonsensical explanations, mostly with a faux-guru sort of patronising wordplay. They like to speak like Rajneesh though the content ranges between Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and the roadside soothsayer.

But I couldn't resist this one for too long. After a long mental battle with myself, I booked an Interceptor (white + orange), much against my own inner voice saying "wait".

Perhaps I won't fulfill the booking ultimately, but I must admit the proposition RE has put before us is extremely desirable. Enough even to ignore hardened perceptions that have refused to die all these years.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by samcan123

Are the RE twins BS6 ready? Or are they just BS4 compliant?

I believe not right now, else they would have mentioned it. They did mention that it would have the capability to be modified to be BS6 compliant earlier while releasing engine details.

Originally Posted by LazyGunner

Speaking of seats, with the chassis frame running right below the seat and seat being so thin, it looks like there is no scope to reduce the seat height at all! My height is only 5'3 and I found my feet hardly reaching the ground when the motorcycle was off side stand. Since the unveiling of vehicle last November, I was worried about how tall the seat is going to be. But, I told myself there will always be a way.

Three years ago when I bought C350 as well I wasn't happy with the seat height. I anyway bought it thinking I'll get used to it. Couple of friends even made fun of me as to how I was going to ride a bike which is so heavy without reaching the ground properly.

Nope, seat height reduction would not be possible. Suggest either Java 330cc Perak or Java 42 or Vulcan S for you. The seat height while manageable is not a compromise worth the Risk.

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

I found even the Himalayan's seat to be too soft, and within few hours of riding, it starts feeling like I was actually sitting on the frame. My thighs started to hurt right where the frame was. I had to stand up on the pegs frequently to keep riding.

Is there a way to have a harder seat cushion without altering the looks of the stock seat?

Yes Himalayan seat too is very soft and in less than 1 hr. one is literally on the frame. More the riders weight greater the issue.

Yes. Quite easy to do, for seat makers. They will simply replace the foam with something stiffer under the same cover. But it does require a skilled guy to retain the shape.

I hope that RE will themselves have this option as an accessory.

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

After a long mental battle with myself, I booked an Interceptor (white + orange), much against my own inner voice saying "wait".

Congrats!
This has turned out to be similar to Thar buying thread (Why I won't buy a Thar... booked Thar!) .

[nasirkaka]

Wow!! So much excitement and posts with the new twins price launch. After the first lot C5 ownership experience, i had decided not to buy an Enfield again. But how things change. I am hooked on to the interceptor and will most likely go for it. A positive test ride feel would seal the deal. But in no hurry this time, will wait for the initial lot to pass out and a feedback on how the bikes fare in next few months of actual riding conditions. This also means that interceptor will be replacing my Versys 650, and with so many new bike launches, selling the versys for a decent price itself would be a task.. Lets see.


To add: i love the looks of the new jawa, specially the 42. I feel the jawa trio visually looks much more balanced, classy, and in sync where as on Interceptor, the individual elements are good looking in isolation, but as a holistic product, there are some visual disconnects. For eg, the extra roundedness of the engine, the forward incline angle of the engine with horizontally placed tank, the gaps around the engine when viewed from side, the seat w.r.t rest of the body, indicators, the tail end, etc have much more scope. This is just my personal take on the aesthetics of the bike and a very subjective topic. am sure many of you would love the bike just the way it looks now. I find the pre 2016 air-cooled bonnie SEs, A3s, T100s, scramblers aesthetically very very appealing. I would have settled with Jawa except it wont make the cut for a big bike feel which is prime requirement here. Anyways, at such a good price point, we cant complain much.. Wish the RE twins all the best for a positive career and looking forward to one soon.

[LazyGunner]

Originally Posted by ACM

Nope, seat height reduction would not be possible. Suggest either Java 330cc Perak or Java 42 or Vulcan S for you. The seat height while manageable is not a compromise worth the Risk.

Thanks for the suggestion. Although Jawa motorcycles look very interesting, I have not felt the urge to buy it yet. I might take a test ride and look at it without blinking if it passes by me on road - but that's it. Brother-in-law rides a Vulcan Custom in US. Again, liked the motorcycle but never felt I should own one.

It was a dream to own a Triumph Bonneville one day (when I can afford). But I also felt Bonnie was a little complicated for me with so many tech-controls, different riding modes and such. And then came Interceptor650 with comparable looks, specs and elegance, with the tag of "pure motorcycling" at a price which I can afford now. Before I realized, equations changed. My dream had changed

I'm going to wait for some more time. I'll see if anybody brings in any possibility of reducing the height a little without compromising the underlying structure. My C350 is comfortably fulfilling my daily commute needs and long ride needs every other month. I have been using it and abusing it for the last 30k kms without breaking a sweat. Took it off-road, rode almost all of western ghats region of Karnataka in it, rode it for 1200 km in two days and was in office at 9AM the next day. I guess C350 will have to wait some more time to have a company in the parking lot

[Cyborg]

Checked out the twins at the company showroom in Bandra, Mumbai. Test rides to commence anytime till the end of the month. They are going to call me once the action starts, hopefully

The Interceptor was in black and GT in the white/blue.
Really, really good fit and finish. The chrome looks nice and heavy, the kind that should last. No obviously loose parts/fittings on the bikes. Overall I can easily say the best built RE's by far. Really hope this translates to a lovely product to live with and RE may be allowed to forget the Himalayan debacle as a one off.

Interceptor 650:
Rider footpegs really protrude and feel unnatural. Be real careful while riding as your feet could easily foul with them and may result in a fall.

The handlebars need to be pulled down/lowered towards the rider for a comfortable reach.

Lovely exhaust note, deep lovely chrome on the cannisters too. Really wide angle to the canisters, need to be careful while filtering thru traffic.

I did not really feel the weight of the bike. Its heavy of course at 208 kgs fuelled up. Centre stand is a standard fitment on the Interceptor with a nice long aid to rack it up. Felt fairly easy to put on the centre stand. The GT did not have a centre stand on the bike.

Deliveries to begin from the second week of January 2019. Price list for Mumbai is attached.

Cheers