My Royal Enfield Interceptor 650: 13,000 km ownership update

The front brake pads should last me another 2,000 km or so, and the tyres will soon be up for replacement.

BHPian KarthikK recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Ownership update at 33 months/13,000 km

It's been a while since I updated this thread, thanks to the second wave-induced lockdowns and the somewhat lesser number of rides on the Interceptor due to the other two garage siblings hogging most of the highway duties after travel opened up in July.

While it was being used in the city for urban errands every now and then, highway miles were mostly limited to breakfast rides on weekends that we weren't travelling on proper trips. In other news, blow to the usage patterns, my workplace has made ‘work from home’ permanent for the foreseeable future. This means I will no longer be able to use this bike for office commutes going forward. I will have to find opportunities to use the Interceptor only on highway solo trips, breakfast rides and single-day trips going ahead.

Moving on to the maintenance front, it was time for the annual routine service for the Interceptor. I scheduled it for earlier this month and got the oil and oil filter changed. Plus, I got the air filter and clutch cable replaced preventively. It turned out the air filter was quite clogged in 8,000+ km of usage. There were no other new niggles in this one year of ownership, but for one minor issue with the taillight bulb (not the brake light) which used to flicker intermittently at times. This bulb was also replaced.

Due to some mistake by the RE service centre, the last time I got the brake pads replaced at the rear end, they mistakenly used up a service coupon that time although it was not a service per se. They noticed this themselves and charged me for the fourth free service coupon reinstatement, and claimed it would cost much lesser than going for a paid service this time around. The invoice looks like this for the fourth service.

After the fourth service, the maintenance timeline looks like this now.

That is all I have on the maintenance front for now. The front brake pads should last me another 2,000 km or so, and the tyres will soon be up for replacement. Due to the spiralling costs of imported tyre brands, I'd most likely be going for Ceat Zoom Cruz tyres when the replacement comes up in the next 2,000 km or so.

Daytrip Ride to Yercaud for Mirchi Bajjis

September is a wonderful time to ride, the places are all green, rains stop intermittently, water bodies are all recharged and the weather is often sunny and bright. On one of the last weekends in September, I ventured out with BHPians deepfreak15 and ebmrajesh for a 650-Twins ride to Yercaud with no other intention than to ride up the hill and savour some piping hot Mirchi Bajjis next to Yercaud lake. Of course, we also had some fun riding through the 32 km loop road, enjoyed some fresh air and pastries in the open-air Cauvery Peak Cafe before returning. We were up and down the hill in a few hours and back in Bangalore well before dusk. Since I am a self-proclaimed foodie, I will spam some pictures of the ride and the food during this ride before ending this post.

Stopping for a breakfast buffet at CJ Pallazio hotel, Salem.

Ascending Yercaud

The Interceptor stopped for a break at one of the hairpins halfway up.

ebmrajesh trying his hand at the committed posture of deepfreak15's Continental GT 650.

The whole purpose of the ride - the roadside stalls next to Yercaud Lake which are famous for the Mirchi Bajjis.

Yercaud Loop road - narrow but enjoyable with an agile bike.

Rider's point of view.

Group shots.

Individual bike shots - ebmrajesh's silver Interceptor, deepfreak15's continental GT and my own Interceptor.

Cauvery peak cafe's open-air and rustic ambience.

Mint cheese sandwiches with brownie and chocolate caramel cake anyone?

On the return journey, we skipped lunch and stopped just once at Saravana Bhavan, Krishnagiri for an evening snack of lovely Dosas and Vada.

It was a fantastic day-trip ride and fortunately, we didn't encounter any rains on that day. We were home in under 11 hours with ~500 km on the odo.

More trips lined up in the days to come. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

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