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2019 Royal Enfield Interceptor 650: 3 years & 15,000 km update

While 47 BHP sounds less for a 650cc motorcycle, the amount of torque available makes up for it & the bike doesn't feel underpowered.

BHPian ishan12 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Recently came back from a solo ride, Pune-Surat-Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Pune. It was a total of around 1500km. My bike has now done a total of 15000 Km.

While I see a lot of people have done modifications to the seat, I still ride on the stock seat that came with the bike. After doing 15k kms with multiple long-distance rides, I can surely say that the stock seat is perfectly fine and I don't find any problem with it at all. I am 5"10, 89 Kgs. Maybe I am an exception.

I totally get the reasons why people start adding accessories and modifying stuff as soon as they get the bike. However, I personally believe that the human body is extremely adaptable and I always ride the bike for a good amount of time and then see if my body has adapted to it or do I need to make any changes to the bike. I was tempted to modify the seat, add handlebar risers as everyone else was doing it, but now I am completely at peace with the stock setup and doing 600kms in a day is no sweat at all.

The only changes I have done to the bike are:

  • DAPS 120W LED headlamp bulb. Extremely bright and good throw. No need of any aux lamps. Works really well during night rides.
  • Himalayan windscreen, mostly for aesthetic purposes. I usually ride below or around 100 kph and don't feel the need for a windscreen at those speeds.
  • Rear tail rack, in case riding with pillion and luggage.
  • Rubber tank pads, again only for the looks.

Apart from the above, one major change is that I have got my rims sealed with a silicone sealant which has made my spoke set up tubeless. Puncture on a tubed wheel is always a cause of concern and that issue is gone now.

Got this done a couple of weeks before the ride and it is working perfectly with no pressure loss after around 2k kms. I am still riding on the stock Pirellis which came with the bike and they were tubeless tyres. The Ceats that come with the bike now are not tubeless.

Every time I take the bike out on the highway, I always appreciate the butter smooth and tractable engine that RE has made, it always brings a smile to my face. While 47 BHP on a 650 sounds underpowered, the torque at lower down in the rev range more than makes up for it and the bike doesn't feel underpowered at all even on the butter smooth 6 lane GJ highways. Got a steady mileage of around 30kmpl riding usually around or below 100kph.

Below are the pictures of the tubeless conversion.

Got it done from Sai Krupa tyres in Wakad, Pune for a very reasonable price. I get all my wheel and tyre stuff done from there. Good, knowledgeable chap. If anyone in Pune wants to get it done, feel free to DM me for contact details.

Adding a few more pics from the ride below. While the ride was solo, on the return found a partner on another Inty on the way who was doing Ahmedabad-Bangalore. Also adding pictures of the throw of DAPS LED bulbs.

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