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Old 27th September 2018, 13:33   #421
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Whatever they price the Twins as, one wonders how long it will be before dependable technicians are trained and ready at multitude of RE dealerships across the country.

I know firsthand from being a Himalayan BS4 owner that even at the company owned SVC in my city there are only a few technicians who are entrusted with jobs on the Himalayan - be it BS3 or BS4.

Such is the situation after approx. two years since the Himalayan has been launched. And the fact is that the Himalayan is just a thumper like its previous stable mates - though some developments have been adopted in the engine construction.

Now we are in for a fairly huge move from RE - parallel twin engines. Add to that slip assist clutch and a few other commendable features. Even if the Twins are built reliably, imagine the learning curve staring at the fairly young crop of mechanics that support the RE service centres everywhere.

Its going to be quite some time before the mechanics will get a hang of the new machines.

These matters will have to waited out inadvertently but one has to give RE due credit for some game changing experiences that are coming our way soon.
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Old 27th September 2018, 14:27   #422
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re: Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder engine. EDIT : Launched

Quote:
Originally Posted by tharian View Post
The number of bike enthusiasts who would book this bike constitute very less compared to the two wheeler market which will translate to not many bikes on road.

The Classic 350 is a different story which is what brings the revenue for RE. I don't think the 650 would be like that.
Very True..

.. the reason why RE 350 cc Platform (Classic/Bullet/Thunderbird) sells for around 50K units / month in India, is because it is "Essentially a Glorified COMMUTER".

i.e it would be the Primary mode of Commute (Office/Grocery/College/Business) for the majority of its owners.
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Old 27th September 2018, 14:31   #423
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re: Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder engine. EDIT : Launched

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Originally Posted by rideon74 View Post
Whatever they price the Twins as, one wonders how long it will be before dependable technicians are trained and ready at multitude of RE dealerships across the country.
That is a very good point. And RE has been working on it for quite some time. We saw the service manual leak around a month ago. A senior technician in one of the dealerships here in Bengaluru told me that 4 batches of training has completed already. Its just a matter of time till they get a hang of the new machines.

Working very closely with young technicians trained by RE, I have seen them rip apart and re-assemble a UCE engine in 2 days with ease and I've also seen those vehicles performing without any issues for thousands of kms after the engine work. I'm talking about kids out of their ITIs and diplomas and having 2 or 3 years of experience with Enfield servicing. So, they select the right people and train them well.

But coming to the reality of training enough technicians on new vehicles, it might be down to the sales numbers. As much as a fantastic machine the Himalayan is, I feel it didn't generate the sales RE had hoped. It remains a worry for me as RE can not hope big volumes of twins either. I have also seen technicians in dealerships struggling to fix electrical issues of GT535 in the past, when the dedicated guy was not available. Harsh reality is, flagship models will have very few trained technicians indeed.
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Old 27th September 2018, 15:02   #424
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re: Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder engine. EDIT : Launched

Ah! the 650 twins from RE, long awaited since it was teased at EICMA. I remember having conversations with fellow RE enthusiast buddies back in mid 90's about RE's parallel twin cylinder bigger bikes like the Interceptor 650. This topic came up when I came across a BSA Golden Flash 650. It all seems like a deja vu feeling for me.

Sid Lal had stated sometime back that he wants to capture the mid-tier/weight motorcycle market and become a leader of that segment. Looks like he is on the right path. In India no other 350 or 500cc motorcycle sells as much as RE CL, T-Bird, STD, etc. if it doesn't matter to the people buying them, I wonder why many who don't even own an RE love calling them names like "macho", "commuter", "unreliable", "overpriced junk", etc.

Now with the launch of the 650 twins based on the legendary Interceptor model of the yore, it looks like RE under Sid Lal wants to go for the jugular of this segment(mid tier/weight) albeit retro classic and not crotch rockets. Another important point to note here is that RE unlike its domestic peers has not piggybacked on any other manufacturers may it be for engines or the whole motorcycle. They drew the Himalayan LS410 from a fresh slate and broke away from the conventional mold of their legacy models while still retaining the charm. Although RE Himalayan hasn't clocked much sales, I am glad with the fact that it caters to a very different niche market of ADV riders.

The media is going gaga over RE twins and some of the initial experiences they've shared with regards to ride quality and feel looks good. About the pricing, I do not want to comment/speculate anything on the pricing, as RE has not yet revealed their official pricing for India. Our over enthusiastic journo's have painted quite a rosy picture about the pricing which might kill some of the potential buyers' expectations when the prices are revealed officially by RE. But I keep my fingers crossed. Looking forward to riding it and getting a taste of nostalgia of the yesteryears legendary Interceptor 650. Glitter and Dust color would be my choice.

I can quote a classic example for myself w.r.t to Retro Classic motorcycles. Despite of numerous smart watches, digital watches, etc. in today's market I keep going back to mechanical hand wind and automatic watches. Yes they are heavy, have no features like pedometer, sleep meter, heart rate monitor, etc. They keep stopping if not worn daily and one has to always adjust the time, day and date incase the watch has stopped, it needs shaking in a certain way to wake it up so that its automatic rotor starts turning and also winding the crown to start ticking. Despite so many quirks I still like them. I share a similar enthusiasm and relationship with all my RE motorcycles. Having owned CI 350 (G2, B1 and LX series), AVL 350 5 Speed and UCE 500. I am now looking forward to this parallel twin 650.

Last edited by navin_v8 : 27th September 2018 at 15:13. Reason: Additional Information
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Old 28th September 2018, 09:11   #425
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re: Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder engine. EDIT : Launched

I would be literally nitpicking, however wondering why RE chose Bybre braking system for bike launch in USA, it's perfect for Indian market.

Bybre (abbreviation for BY BREmbo) is meant for small to medium displacements bikes in BRIC and countries in south east Asia, for the uninitiated, source Brembo history page.

One can understand that RE bikes are built in India for the world, however some level of implied customization would have given RE some brownie points. I am not aware of which braking system gets deployed for other RE bikes sold in USA.
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Old 29th September 2018, 00:11   #426
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re: Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder engine. EDIT : Launched

In my opinion, Brembo is one of, if not the best brake companies in the world so, why not go with the best?

Brembo's Bybre plant was set up in India to produce brakes for scooters up to mid-size (600cc) motorcycles but I have no doubts that with the expertise of Brembo, it is totally capable of producing brakes for larger motorcycles like the 650 twin.

I can only speak for the brakes on my Royal Enfield G5 Deluxe (USA 500cc Electra) but I'm rather sure it is not a Brembo design. The front disk brake is adequate for the riding I do but I hope the Bybre brake on the 650 twin is better because the speeds these motorcycles will be used at will undoubtedly be faster than my 500 single.

I'm sure the front brake on my RE is the same brake that is sold on the Indian models.
I have found that the brake pad design has been used on several other motorcycles including Honda and Kawasaki.

Although the front brake pads on my RE were not worn out, I have replaced them twice during the 22,000+ miles (35,500 km) distance the motorcycle has traveled. The newest pads I installed are made by HBC.
They don't seem to be more powerful than the OEM Royal Enfield pads but perhaps they will last a bit longer?
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Old 29th September 2018, 08:15   #427
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re: Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder engine. EDIT : Launched

Detailed view of the bike, colors, options. Unfortunately, didnt understand much.

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Old 29th September 2018, 17:58   #428
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Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder en...

First ride review by PD - what we hear between 3:54 - 4:44 in the video is the icing on the cake.


Last edited by rideon74 : 29th September 2018 at 18:00.
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Old 29th September 2018, 22:20   #429
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re: Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder engine. EDIT : Launched

Autocar review is out -
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Old 29th September 2018, 23:29   #430
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re: Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder engine. EDIT : Launched

Quote:
Originally Posted by sprocket View Post
Autocar review is out - ]
Speculated price to be below 3L as per the review.
If OTR works out to be around 3.5l, it is going to make a lot of people who have been waiting for a long time, happy.
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Old 29th September 2018, 23:58   #431
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re: Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder engine. EDIT : Launched

Quote:
Originally Posted by ArizonaJim View Post
In my opinion, Brembo is one of, if not the best brake companies in the world so, why not go with the best? ...
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post2693806 (Honda CBR250R ABS vs KTM Duke 200. EDIT : The CBR it is!)

Regards
Sutripta
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Old 5th October 2018, 01:19   #432
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re: Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder engine. EDIT : Launched

so the workers at RE Chennai have gone on a strike due to cell phones being banned in the facilities. It probably would impact the much awaited launch of the twins
https://www.cartoq.com/royal-enfield...ndia-launches/
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Old 5th October 2018, 01:53   #433
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re: Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder engine. EDIT : Launched

Based on the reviews it does seem like RE have built a bike-bike that might just be my first RE purchase, of course after the initial beta testers have bought and tested it out.

I’m a bike-bike guy - a motorcycle should be one that you swing a leg over and ride out. Not one that requires half an hour of preparation followed by a locked-in position that makes your crotch ache after an hour or so of riding.

Modern two wheelers have lost that charm, a few like Kawasaki with their z900rs, the Ducati Scambler and the BMW R9T still make you WANT to ride, I hope RE have spent sufficient time testing and will deliver a niggle free bike. If not niggle free, I might just end up buying a Scrambler Desert Sled - the Scrambler lineup being one of the few Ducati’s that aren’t temperamental (so far) and will actually start without a prayer to Madonna before you thumb the starter.

Let’s see what you’ve got, RE. At my age am not after power - been there, done that, and when I want a ridiculous grin on my face my 30+ year old RD can still deliver. Decent driveability and a niggle free ownership will be good.

Is that asking too much? Time will tell, and am willing to wait.

Last edited by Steeroid : 5th October 2018 at 01:54.
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Old 6th October 2018, 16:05   #434
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re: Royal Enfield unveils Interceptor & Continental 650 with new twin-cylinder engine. EDIT : Launched

Fantastic piece by Shumi.

http://overdrive.in/news-cars-auto/o...morning-troll/

Never had a doubt about his opinions, always respected them.
This also puts all my doubts to rest about the twins.
Bring them on Sid Lal
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Old 6th October 2018, 16:34   #435
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Quote:
Originally Posted by schitre05 View Post
Fantastic piece by Shumi...This also puts all my doubts to rest about the twins.
Bring them on Sid Lal

Truly a wonderful read. For those of us who yearn for classic motorcycles that will not break the bank, Schumi has sent out a clear sign that good things are coming around from RE.

I second your cheer, my friend: Bring it on, Sid!
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