2020 ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR 650

Year: 2020

Make: ROYAL ENFIELD

Model: INTERCEPTOR 650

REG0: yes

KMS: 1910 KMS

Royal Enfield was good enough to deliver me a new zero-mile bike for a long-term test and this will be the first of several articles about it, so be sure to check back. The classically Brit-bike styled machine weighs in at 220kg, and is a paragon of apparent simplicity: a true standard motorcycle in an age of sometimes over-specialization and trying-too-hard styling.

The 648cc P-Twin makes a solid 47 horsepower as stock, and is fed by a Bosch fuel-injection system. Cooling is by air and oil, with an oil cooler tucked up front between the double down-tubes of the black-painted steel frame. A new six-speed gearbox drives the rear wheel via chain, and twin gas-reservoir shocks adjustable for preload support the flat bench seat that has sufficient room for two normal-sized adults.

Standard-style “right side up” non-adjustable 41mm forks brace the front wheel, and disc brakes stop both 18-inch wire-spoke hoops with the help of ring-style Bosch dual-channel ABS. The single front brake is a rather large 320mm floating ByBre (”By Brembo”) rotor squeezed by four pots with a stock stainless steel line. A 240mm rotorslows the rear wheel.

A pair of traditional round clocks for speed and revs greet the rider, and a small LCD panel lives in the speedometer to give the rider an odometer, two trip meters and a gas gauge. Idiot lights are invisible within the gauges unless they come on. Large twin silencers sweep up from the INT’s midpoint and emit a quiet EPA-certified rumble that grows into a snarl as revs rise. Fenders and side panels are black-painted plastic. A high-quality toolkit in a canvas tool roll sits under a key-locked side panel. Plus: A centerstand as stock.

To get the INT650 rolling, just put in the key, turn it to On, wait a few seconds for the fuel system to pressurize and hit the start button. No choke, tickling of carburetors or finessing the throttle on startup. The INT immediately settles into a lumpy warm-up idle at about 2,000rpm and after you get your helmet, jacket and gloves on, it’s pretty much ready to go. In the saddle, the INT is indeed a smooth runner, with just a slight thrum in the bars. Underway, the new six-speed gearbox was a little notchy at first, but as the miles piled up, it quickly smoothed out and finding neutral, even while stopped, was never a problem.

Come see it in the showroom today at 1047 Bourke Street, Waterloo.

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