I picked up my Interceptor, in Ravishing Red..which is a known fact as " THE " fastest of the models offered... including the Connies. (Insert smirk face here) With a Xs650, a 66' Triumph 650 and even the fabled " Triton " (73' 750 Triumph with featherbed frame) in my stable.... I simply tell others the RE 650s are the parallel twins that all other manufactures wanted to produce since the design was first built. :)
I'd agree, it's a great bike.. no leaks, no issues thus far. 2020 orange crush. I've taken it up rough logging roads to see how it would handle them, places I'd normally only take the himmi.. was very impressed. It's highly manoeverable, well balanced and with good ground clearance.. it did amazingly well even with stock Pirellis. That being said, it's not a Himalayan! but thinks it could be.. 😆
Having my motorcycle stolen a couple of years ago, and living on a fixed income these days, I'm not sure if I'll be able to afford to buy another one. But should I, it will be the Royal Enfield 650... Either the Interceptor or the Continental GT... The braking issue is an easy fix with a set of Sinter Pads... Any, and every bike is going to have a few issues, most of which can be fixed to accommodate each individual rider... Keep The Shiny Side Up 👆 And Ride ✌️ 😎 From Georgia, USA 🙏
If I had to sum these bikes up in a word it would be fun. Never fail to have a smile on my face when riding this....especially when showing more racy stuff a clean pair of heels in the twisty bits.
I'm 68 Retired Airline Commander . I'm buying this Teenager's Dream ! Used to fly to : Perth - Adelaide - Melbourne - Brisbane and Sydney with Lan Chile - Viva Macau - Qatar Airways. What a lovely road to ride ! Cheers from Vina del Mar , same Latitude as Sydney facing the other side of the Pacific Ocean. ( Chile S.A .).
I have had my intercepter for 3 years only problem was relays Talked to a royal Enfield shop Scarborough England.. They don't have eny in at the time but told me to try e bay .. I ordered 2 this was 2 years ago and had no other problems The best days is when i am out in the English countryside chilling out . Everyone who's riding motorbikes enjoy and stay safe 👍🇬🇧
Great review, I also have a 2019 interceptor had it now for 3 years & its a great bike ,only 6000 ks easy to service I do it myself. Just watched tec bike parts on utube its a very basic bike. The things that need changing are the seat, front brake pads , fork springs to a firmer rate & slip on mufflers. Also when you pull off the mufflers theres a washer .welded inside the headers, just get a hole saw about 25 mm & drill it out about 10 minutes to drill out & then she will rev a lot better. Best 10 grand I ever spent. Ill never sell it. Just checked my crank case , mines all good no leaks.
@@y2j132 After you pull the muffler off look down in side the header you will see they have welded a washer in , I don't know but they did at least on mine which is a 2019 model Just get a drill with a hole saw & drill it out .I also got a round fill & filled it off nice & smooth . Took about half an hour to do.
In have a Himalayan at the moment which I love, however I was loaned an interceptor when it was being serviced and boy was it fun...will definitely be my next bike.
Great report, bright and breezy, to the point. I've got the same orange crush fast bike, ex-demonstrator with 1700 kms, now 7000 kms. Fantastic motor and gearbox. Just fitted Ikon rear shocks and getting custom fitted fork springs with YSS emulators. Found the OEM forks had no damping at all and very soft under braking. Air box DNA filter, aftermarket mufflers. New tyres now. BT46's.
UPDATE!!!! Nearly 38,000 miles on my 2019 and i just had my first major repair. Seems the speedo cable flexes a bit wirh the front fork action and it broke from flexing so much. Instead the 70 bucks quoted for replacement i spliced in less than 2 feet of 18 gauge using about 5 inches of original cable at both ends. My replacement is much more flexible rubber covered instead of the inflexible plastic. At $1.01 a foot a pretty nice fix
Also a big fan here. Really love my Enfield Interceptor. If you would ask me the question if there is one thing I would change when buying, the suspension. After a few thousand km's it felt a bit too soft and bouncy. After installing YSS front and rear shocks the bike completely transformed. I could not believe the responsive improvement it got from it. The highway, the cornering, it is really a whole other experience now. Love it! 😄🙌
Always worried about "made in India" BUT i have to say they HAVE got this bike correct... EVERYTHING WORKS.. and the price OMG are they even making any money... I GOT ONE AND LOVE IT TO BITS!!!.
you wouldn't worry about the made in India part if you only look at their manufacturing plant. Plus Tata and Mahindra are all made in India and offer the best build quality and finish in their segments. Iphones and samsungs are being made in India. Almost 100% of your software is made In india directly or indirectly
Yep great bike. In fact most fun bike i have had in 50 years riding. I did put some fork spaces in which has helped with the front end handling. Cheers
I now own one of bikes and have been told that if the clocks do mist up, the cure is to slightly tilt the the bracket holding the clocks up a fraction! This should stop any condensation buildup. Not happening to me as yet .
I’ve had my interceptor for four months, it’s rusting before my eyes, rear shocks, ABS disc sensor, rear footrests, axles, wheel spacers, various fixings and misting clocks. The bike is immaculate and very well looked after. Anyone else got issues or do I have a rubbish one.
Do you leave it in the rain? If not, you might've got a faulty one. The dealership should replace rusted parts under warranty. The only common rust prone part are the fins on the the exhaust headers.
i've clocked ~35,000kms on an interceptor just over a year. other than lots of tyres and chains and sprockets (normal for any bike i guess) its been fine no issues
The only thing I wish RE offered was the color scheme of the Meteor 350 Fireball yellow. I was so close to buying one but top speed just did not cut it. Not sure how much I'll enjoy cleaning chrome parts, my current bike is all black, outside all year except winter and I cleaned it once over a year.
Thanks mate. I painted the front and rear mudguards, rear light fitting and the fork brace black to match the seat...looks like it was always meant to be there!
mine is a 2019 interceptor black and i solved the brakes issue with sintered brembo pads, unfortunately my bike's steering wobbles a lot about 90km/h and the technical service wasn't able to fix it. I wouldn't recomend the brand not because of being unreliable but because of it's bad guarantee
Most likely need to tighten up the steering head bearings. Technician was probably just being lazy because the triple clamp needs to come off to get to the nuts.
How many km's on the tyres? Side-banded front tyre will do that, particularly noticeable when deaccelerating 90-60kmph. Factory rubber was done at 7000km IME, but side-banding occurred earlier.
Triumphs are all made in Thailand, so not being made in Europe or Japan should be a non issue for riders looking for a modern classic. Now if Indian would only make a Scout standard and Cafe to get a USA bike in the mix for this segment..
Royal Enfields aren't pretending to be anything they aren't. Putting a Brit flag on the gas tank of a motorcycle made in Thailand seems a bit forward to me. Where things are made matters to me --- if you ever see a video of a Japanese factory and the attention to detail and lengths they go to, to make the product as perfect as they possibly can. The Royal Enfield factory looked like everybody was half asleep and slamming it together with a brass hammer, so to speak.
@@rejuvenatingsoul3498 I think Gene Goodwin's comment refusing to purchase one because he can see the frame tube that's left uncovered by the seat is worthy of mention here...
Nice vid. I’ve got chrome tank, definitely the fastest!!!!! Quick question - how did you find the new air filter? Where is the intake to the filter, is it from the front of the bike or does the air get sucked in from the back, top or bottom. Do you get more dust in with it being more open
DNA filter helps smooth out throttle response but you really need to open up the airbox inlet to make an effective difference. The intake is to the left of the relays under the side cover.
@@beverleynorth4914 depends on if you mean for looks or for performance. The pipes really make a difference and you can absolutely feel the reduction in weight. Over time I'll be swapping out the rear shocks and definitely some wider, better rubber when the Phantoms are dead. I love the look of the shorter seat too although it doesn't make much difference in terms of comfort.
I have a 2021 ' Orange Crush ' Interceptor that has just clocked 3000km ( not my daily ) and I love riding it , you cover my thoughts perfectly , , just spotter ' Perth Cafe Races ' I am in Rockingham Thank you .
Great review my friend. I live in St. Louis Missouri, we have two Royal Enfield dealerships, they are 200 miles apart, neither one will let you test ride. Is this a new trend?
Thanks James for the kind words. The media launch was specifically for Australian journos of which I count myself one. However, pretty much all dealerships here have a demo bike or access to one so test rides of short durations aren't usually an issue.
Hi Nige, Just found your video… and a great review. I currently have the opportunity to purchase either a used GT or Interceptor 650 (consequently in the same colours as the two you rode). Both only have about 3500km’s on them and priced equally for around $6500. I’m torn because I really like the look of the GT but feel the Interceptors ergonomics will be easier to live with long term. Was the Int your preferred choice or was it just that it was the bike available? I’m 59 and somewhat well past the ‘boy racer’ stage of life. Admittedly haven’t test ridden either yet. I do prefer the look of black rims and hubs on the GT, I guess I could put an Int top steering yoke and bars on it with an INT tank of my choice on it (I assume both tanks fit the same frame without modification.) Anyhow any advice would be appreciated.
Hi Peter, thanks for the kind words about the vid. Having ridden both versions my choice was more about how the bike felt under me. Just my opinion but the slight geometry differences and weight distribution along with the higher bars just gave me more feedback from the front tyre. The GT isn't super radical in terms of rider position as the handlebar clamp puts the actual grips above the top yoke anyway and the pegs aren't really that much further back than on the Inty. So unless you're seven feet tall you shouldn't have much of an issue on either bike. My advice would be to try and get a test on each bike and see how you feel.
@@motoface5984 Hi Nige, I’m the meantime I have test ridden both and I’ve decided to go with the Interceptor. Having come from riding mostly large trail and adv bikes I much prefer the upright seating position and wider bars of the Interceptor. Have you still got yours and have you had any issues since doing the video?
Loved the exhaust slip-ons so much I ordered a pair for mine! Aesthetically, they look better and more proportional than the S&S option in my opinion, but why did you choose them and having lived with them, what’s your opinion of them? Cheers!
I chose them because I wanted something shorter than the S+S but not stupid loud. They seemed a great combination of price and quality. Having got them... first they are super easy to fit and make a very nice bass tone without pissing the neighbours off. Quality seems good but use a lot of water when you wash them if they're really dirty as it's quite easy to put a lot of really fine scratches on the chrome. Not a big deal but worth noting. Also, make sure they are really spotless before you fire the bike up first time or you can bake your finger prints onto the finish. Same with any pipe. They take a few runs before they stop smelling too!
@@motoface5984 Nice LTR, got 23,000 on mine and no issues. Mate has 18k on his and the reg/rec was the only failure item. Oh and Powerage silencers are polished SS, not chrome, at least my ones are.
Did you guys not have a recall to change calipers like us here in Europe? European 650 no longer carry the BYBRE name on the calipers. Love mine Glitter and Dust( the chrome tank version.)
I like the parallel twin but I hate the frame being exposed under the seat. The sight of the frame under the seat would keep me from purchasing one. On most bikes the frame is hiden by the seat.
@@motoface5984 I don't remmber the frames being exposed like that, but I'm old maybe my memory isn't that good. I have a friend who owns 65 motorcycles, mostly old BSa's and Triumphs, I'll check his collection out to see if the frames are exposed, but I don't think they are.
What jackets you guys wear when it gets hot down under? Think am going for an Interceptor decently powered classic, tank not huge but could take a 5 litre extra if needed.
I often wear my Furygan vented jacket which is about the best compromise between leather and comfort. amp.roadrider.com.au/testing-furygan-speedmesh-3d-jacket-td12-gloves/
Obviously having extensively ridden both I'd say the Interceptor has just a hint more feedback from the front wheel and feels a tiny bit more planted when you're at high lean angles.. That's just my personal opinion but really there's not much to choose between them.
