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Used Royal Enfield Interceptor 650: Buying experience

31st August 2021, 17:30 by Rahul Nagaraj

I was at the edge of convincing myself to buy a used superbike instead, CBR650R or even a Street Triple, when out of the blue, I see an Interceptor.

BHPian RiderZone recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The Frustration

It’s no secret that I’ve been looking for a Royal Enfield 650 for over half a year now. Perhaps it should be a secret, given my history with RE. My attempts to buy a GT or an Interceptor can be summarized as follows:

February: Went to order GT 650, was told delivery in 3 months, ran out and bought an XPulse instead.
April: Friend bought an Interceptor, rode it, uncontrolled biological urge to buy one immediately.
June: Saw a used GT in Mohali, stupidly overpriced, complained about it on Team-BHP.
July: Saw 2 used GTs in Ludhiana, messy machines, complained about both on Team-BHP.
August: Reached a deal for a 2021 Interceptor in Mohali, owner sold it to someone else at the last second.

By this time I was completely frustrated, and had nearly bought a new 390 Adventure, just to get the itch of a second bike over with. The ADV would have been the logically correct choice, but I wanted to have some more stupid fun after the XPulse hilarity.

At this point, I’d also realized the importance of making some friends, which is something I’ve never really been good at. Not only do friends help you out when times are bad, they can also be sources of trustworthy used motorcycles when you want some good times

The Hope

I was at the edge of convincing myself to buy a used superbike instead, CBR650R or even a Street Triple, when out of the blue, I see an Interceptor for sale in Team-BHP’s classifieds section, listed by “rrsteer”.

It was an Orange Crush, 2019 bike with some 4700 km, bone stock. Location was Jalandhar, some 120 Km from me. The listing mentioned that the bike has had 2 services, had a few scratches on the tank, and was well taken care of mechanically.

It also mentioned that to comply with the proper running-in procedures, he had not taken a pillion for 2500 kilometres!

But most importantly, the asking price was a brilliant 2.25 Lacs.

I quickly messaged the BHPian via the ad, then emailed him directly, then found the same bike on OLX and messaged him there too. Short of immediately traveling to Jalandhar and shouting “RRSTEER!” from top of the tallest building, I did everything to get in contact with him as quickly as possible.

Got a reply the next morning, and gave him a call.

The Call

It is difficult to describe how different this experience was for me compared to all the other used bikes I’ve checked out till date. The entire dynamic of the situation changes when you trust the person you’re dealing with.

Until now, buying a used bike for me was like going to war, you plan your strategy, look out for their deceptions, and try your best to win. With rrsteer, it was like two old buddies going out for dinner, and each insisting that they take the cheque.

You know you’ve lucked out with a used vehicle seller, when the first thing they tell you are the defects. He immediately told me that the chrome on the indicators is a bit rusted off, and that the insurance was only third party, and some other minor stuff. This is in total contrast to other experiences I’ve had via OLX, where people tried to pass off an obviously bent lever as totally not bent at all.

I asked him the general questions about any loan on the bike, and in whose name the RC was. That was all in order, unlike all the other bikes I’d seen. Then I asked him a question and got the most unexpected answer!

“Have you noticed that famous wobble issue on the front?”

“Well I never really took it past 80 so can’t be sure.”

It was by this point that I was absolutely certain that the bike would be in perfect mechanical order, but I didn’t yet realize just how well taken care of that machine was.

Then we got down to the price, and again the experience was completely opposite to OLX. He told me straight up that dealers around him had offered 2.1 Lacs, and I told him straight up that all the bikes I’d found until now were at least starting 2.3, and in far worse shape than what he was selling.

He immediately gave me a discount of 5000 bucks from his 2.25 asking price, and even afterwards kept asking if I wanted to pay anything lower! I was more than happy to pay 2.2 lacs, if nothing else, it was a teeny tiny little help from my side for his upcoming Kia Carnival purchase. The price might seem on the higher side compared to offers around Delhi, but for Punjab, it was just about perfect.

The Meet

The call ended, and I started work on the ownership transfer papers. Headed over to Jalandhar on the next Saturday in a trusty friend’s car, and soon got stuck in a farmer’s protest. A lot of detours and a broken suspension bushing later, made it to his home.

There, of course, I got to see his beautiful home and family. His two kids are buckets of cuteness, and made me reconsider my stance on never having a child. He offered a test drive, and I took one, but it was just a formality. I didn’t check a single thing, just drove a circle around his house and parked it. We talked about cars and bikes and Team-BHP and the IT life.

The paperwork was all signed, and I transferred over the money. The weather was looking a bit iffy, so I wanted to get back home quickly, but, of course, they fed me a proper Punjabi lunch. The whole experience was a bit surreal and unexpected, it was beautiful, and unforgettable.

Started the ride back home, and immediately noticed how smooth the engine, gearbox, and fuelling was. Even my friend’s 2021 Interceptor wasn’t this good. All bikes are not made equal, some are better than others, that’s just how manufacturing processes work. I’ve lucked out with one of the better ones I believe.

I got stuck in the farmer’s protests again, but with a motorcycle under me, it was all butter. I was enjoying the raw exhaust note of the bike, so different than the BS6 one. It burbles and pops and hisses. So much more bass and character.

The rain started, but luckily it never got heavy enough to make me want to stop. The 120 odd Kms were done in a breeze, and there it was, MY Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, in my home.

The End

The next day, I immediately took it into Himachal, as is tradition. There were quite a few landslides on the way, which was fun with the Pirelli tires and no leg guards.

The day after I had planned to get the bike serviced, asked rrsteer about when it was last done, and he surprised me again! The last service was just a couple of months ago. So there was nothing to do but get the dirt off the bike, and enjoy.

I’m new to this customization scene that’s related with all Royal Enfields, never bothered to make any real changes to my previous bikes. Looking at all of these exhausts and filters and plugs makes me dizzy.

The bike is so beautifully maintained in its stock form, that I think it’ll be disrespectful to modify it in any way.

But then again I hate the exhausts, not the looks, but function. They get unbelievably hot, which is very inconvenient. They’ll get in the way of saddlebags too I’m sure. To control myself from ordering anything stupid though, I’ve placed a self-embargo on any new purchases, until I’ve ridden the bike at least a thousand kilometres.

Unfortunately, 600 of those are already done.

If it wasn’t for Team-BHP, I would’ve never got to know rrsteer, never got to meet his family, and never got to own this thing of beauty. I’ve been incredibly lucky to do all those things, and I can’t wait to enjoy this lovely piece of engineering.