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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-6.html)

Yes. A new Harley 750 as well

If the "retro look" is all you are after, the Classic is your go to choice; as it is for many in the subcontinent - around 40K copies a month IIRC. That's a lot of pocket change you save and still get you a "modern retro" to stare at

The interceptor (LOVE this name) is supposed to be a motorcycle that does more than look good. Its supposed to do highway speeds ... in the US of A no less. At least that's what Sid Lal would have me believe

The interceptor then to me is not just about incoherent babble about thump, looks, chrome, feel, soul etc but performance as well. Now, when you bring some of the motorcycles you have listed above; the bang for your buck (as compared to a 5 lac interceptor) is sky high. Reliability and outright performance(Kwackers), Looks (Used Bonnies), Heritage (Harley) ... has the RE beat to a pulp

To me, this is Dead on Arrival at anything more than 3.5 lac on road Delhi; and I am being generous here by INR 25 - 50K

Even when I look at the components, whats so ground breaking or Top shelf? The frame has been reworked from a GT, run of the mill suspension front and rear (No Paoli like the GT), Bybre brakes (No Brembos like the GT). So basically, an extra cylinder with a balancer shaft using fairly old school (SOHC) tech (Source : EICMA coverage by various mags / channels)

So 5 lac, viz. around 3 lacs over their current most expensive offering for ... What? Thump? Looks? Chrome? Feel? Soul?

Spare me the incoherent babble

RE can sell this overpriced cycle to the overseas markets and ring in the forex lads! And they can bring back the kohinoor diamond too while they are at it lol!

Truth be told, this bike will be successful for RE. Both in india and overseas. There is no doubt about it. We also have a fair idea of who on this thread will buy it and who won't even at 5 on road. So thats that.

And this whole classic riding, sunset thing has been beaten to death. Wake me up when i am 60 already.

Maybe the Queen would swap it for a gold plated Continental if you asked nicely?

lol:

Whatever they come up with might look pretty, but never be niggle free(No Offence to anyone).
From the last couple of years they are just changing the color of Petrol Tank or sticker jobs for the faithful and loyal RE fans. Every now and then I saw people cribbing about their poor QC and parts failure.
A close friend of mine who is into some serious touring every weekend got involved in a serious accident just because of the poor braking capabilities of Classic 350.
Even though Interceptor looks quite drool worthy but I will keep myself away from RE products.

The 350 brakes are no better/worse than my 1980s Honda 500 single, which is a much quicker bike.

If you ride within the capabilities of yourself and the machine and maintain it correctly, then you won't crash unless somebody else takes you out.

This!

Exactly! Maybe that's the rationale behind the 650 twins and that RE mentioned foreign markets first blah blah.

Maybe Sid Lal is sitting on his comfy chair and laughing at us discussing this thing to death. Thinking these were never meant for India you idiots!


Are we discussing on-road or ex-showroom prices?

What I meant was, if priced at or less 5 lacs on-road, people would lap it up. An HD 750 is still going to cost a significant sum more + mandatory Harley tax


Allow me to add "twin" to "retro"

Agreed.

Mate, I realize that you simply cannot separate your thought process from that of a motorcycle enthusiast.

You talk about Bybre, balancer shafts, Paoli, old school SOHC and the whole lot.

BUT how many people think along those lines?

That's why the Classic 350 sells like anything! Because the junta doesn't think like Urban_Nomad.

They don't care about power-to-weight ratios, Paoli shocks, Metzelers, Brembos etc.

Anybody criticising RE for going SOHC on an 8v twin is simply revealing their own ignorance of bike engineering.

I would ask then "so, how many cams does a Honda CRF1000L 8v twin have?"

(Hint, the answer is less than 2 and more than 0)

The new engine hasn't been designed by some old dude in a shed in Chennai with a sheet of graph paper :)

RE have become a formidable name in the Indian two wheeler scene especially in the last decade owing to the new breed of RE owners. Being the owner of a 2002 model CI RE, I could never get the real RE feel from the new UCI engines. May be as someone rightly put, enthusiasts (I may be one ?) consider CI as the real RE.

I seriously hope that the new 650s are coming with the real RE DNA sans the niggles that I have faced in the decade and half long ownership of my 350. So if that happens to atleast a limit and the pricing is between 3-4 lakhs, then there is no other bike for an enthusiast like me to look forward to, especially when the real competition for these twins are only from the Bonneville's (double the price) . I consider street 750 as just a mockery on Indian biking community than carrying the true HD DNA.

If at all the bike does happen to be niggle free and priced below 4lacs OTR this will be my first mod job after buying it. BTW the Brits can own one at their price, we can own the same on at our price. no? none the wiser!lol:

A price approaching 4 Lacks will be a tough sell. Most folks arent going to spend an additional 2L just for the 650 Twin.
The bikes are essentially a reworked GT (sans the engine of course). They claim the bikes to be all new, and I have my doubts about that.

In the midst of all this RE news, missed the news that the retro Benelli Imperiale 400 is coming to India to take on RE on its turf and challenge its bread and butter model.

I have always been a die hard fan of Triumph Bonneville but, this Royal Enfield (RE) Interceptor stole my heart. I have not been riding bikes since long. With this invention by RE, I think i should think about biking again.

Interesting. Gotta agree that the bikes look good. And trust me, they will sell. Like mad. And RE will keep laughing its way to the bank. For years.

Read a lot of opinions here against RE and though I agree about the points and know that I will never buy an RE again ever, you gotta know that most people buying an RE don't buy it for the latest techno advancements, the greatest and the latest engine config etc. They just buy it for the name. For nostalgia. To know that they can own a bike their uncle/dad didn't allow them to even touch. To know that they can go back to calling all non-RE bikes as Jap-crap and get all haughty when they discuss plastic bikes.

RE has really done the styling well. And that is all that matters on this bike. It will sell, it will leak oil and have issues for sure. But hey, all I wish is for some of you guys to atleast wait till some issues are ironed out before you plonk down your money.

I did some numbers...

Minimum UK salary for a full time worker on 40 hours a week = 13.4 lac

Average UK salary for a full time worker = 23 lac

Duke 390 in the UK on the road = 3.9 lac

Reported price of the Interceptor on the road here = 5 lac

Best selling UK motorcycle over 125cc (Honda CRF1000L) price on the road = 9 lac

It's a cheap bike, for us. It might just become a bit of a cult status hit too! Most people here will buy it as either their "first big bike", or a 2nd/3rd bike, or something they step down to after giving up sports bikes. Most of them will live in a dry garage, and do about 2000 miles a year on sunny days from April to October

If I fall in love when test rides become available, I'll take one for team BHP, buy the Interceptor, and report back :thumbs up:D

As for riding into the sunset being for 60 year olds - there are old bikers and there are bold bikers, but there are no old bold bikers my friend. I had a moment of clarity about a year ago aged 38 after hitting a rise in the road accelerating through 200kph which popped the front wheel up for maybe 50m, followed by some head shake as it landed, when heading into a 100kph bend... I got the brakes on then the pegs down and made it - just. I laughed at the time like a mad man, but realised the next day, I would rather live to be an old rider than die being a bold one. If chugging off into the sunset on an Enfield means I'm still here doing it at 60 then put me down on the list!

3 lakhs is an absolute pipe dream.

Clearly you are not the expected customer for an RE. But please do not disparage the intelligence or aspirations of others. Not everyone is looking for super high tech stuff which really does nothing for the end user in Indian conditions. I would much rather have some nice bottom end torque and practicality which I can use rather than ultra mega supercharger with unobtanium frames and other specification tick marks.

For someone like me (and many other I suppose), am not looking to win any races or prove something to someone. What I want is easy riding, super comfortable seating/posture for me and pillion and yet decent power for cruising on highways or in traffic.

The Interceptor ticks all those marks on paper. But being RE, I expect more focus would be on the looks rather than reliability. The brakes would be poor, the service centers so-so. So I would not be buying it.
But if that were not the case, I would have no problem in spending 5lakhs.