Got my new RE Interceptor Bear 650: Quick observations vs my Bullet 500

The bike is pretty agile and at least in my case begs to be ridden hard.

BHPian MohanRajP recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Picked up the Bear 650 today.

This is my third Enfield in 12 years, previously owned a Classic 350(2012-2015), Bullet Std 500 (2017 - till date) and Bear 650 ( 2024 - )

Picked up the vehicle from CVS, Sadashivnagar, Bangalore. Booked the bike on the 8th of Nov.

Pleasant experience with them, Madan was the sales executive.

Quick observations coming from a Bullet 500:

• I am 6ft tall and I could flat foot both my feet, shorter people might find it tough to move it in an out of tight spots at low speeds.
• The riding position is a bit sporty/aggressive. Thanks to the handle bar and the rider triangle being so. The rider foot pegs don't hit your shins.
• This bike is heavy at 216Kgs, but the weight is not a concern as soon as you get moving.
• The bike is pretty agile and at least in my case begs to be ridden hard. The rider sits pretty tight with the vehicle, your knees are very close to the tank.
• The power and torque is a step up initially but once you get used to it, its easy to handle. One needs to keep in mind the torque is available from a very low rev band so it can be bit much.
• This bike is very tractable in the city and overtakes are a breeze.
• The exhaust has a super sweet note, it sounds raspier and has good amount of bass. Combined with the intake whistle this is something I can hear all day long .
• I thought the rear brake lever would be a problem in the test ride, according to me it was small and too close to the engine, but I was also wearing crocs then. But with canvas shoes today I felt no such thing.
• There is too much bite in the brakes, that could be because of 2 possible reasons. One it is a new bike and the brakes will take a while to smoothen out. Two coming from the Bullet 500, this might be too much brake power for me.
• The TFT instrument cluster is crisp and clear, although the joystick is a joke at the price point for this bike.
• The engine heat is a bit much, even with Bangalore temperatures being cold and breezy today, I could still feel the massive heat coming in from the engine in b2b traffic, of course once you find an open road none of this matters.
• The instrument cluster keeps changing between dark mode and light mode depending environment, this can be a problem in winters or cloudy days, not a major problem, but this can be distracting initially.
• Having no center stand is a big miss, my parking space is a bit narrow and parking on side stand would been the handle would touch the walls, apparently some fix might come later.
• RE provides 1 helmet with this bike a half faced helmet, meant for pillion, I found that a bit flimsy, they could definitely provide a better one by charging extra. or atleast allow an upgrade.

I got a SMK Retro helmet that matches with the bike colors for city use :

• The inner lining is super smooth and comfortable.
• The double D lock and the pinlock are sturdy and very useful respectively.
• While there are inlets for ventilation there are no outlets, this would have helped in better circulation.
• Looks super cool and is great color options available.
• It is ISI, DOT and ECE 22.05 certified. 22.06 is the latest, but 22.06 stock is not available.
• Slightly on the heavier side at 1650gms but manageable (atleast in my case).
• For the highways I have a LS 2 Storm 2 with ece 22.06 registration.

Will post a detailed review once a complete the run in and a few rides on.

I think this was the first Bear 650 to be delivered from this showroom, something that wife was super happy about, no idea why.

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