Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1088768
2019 ROYAL ENFIELD INT 650 & CONTINENTAL GT 650 FIRST REVIEW P106 move about on this bike makes it feel longer and more spacious than the GT, even though the pulled-back handlebar delivers a taller, more upright stance. Cruising gently along the coast road in Santa Cruz on the INT 650 past the surfers making their way to the beach to catch an early morning wave, it felt like a capable everyday ride. However, another en- joyable blast through the Redwood forests' twists and turns revealed that the INT 650 liked to push the front wheel more than the Conti- nental GT, so I kept missing apexes and had to back off the throttle to pull it back on line. At one of our stops I talked this over with ex-500 GP racer Paul Young, Royal Enfield's chief test rider who's been responsible for refining the bikes' handling so well. He delivered the fix straight away, adding two turns to the preload adjusters on the Gabriel shocks, which raised the rear ride height 8mm for more weight on the front wheel (stock as delivered sees a 48/52 rearward bias on the INT 650, 50/50 on the GT), and tightened the fork's effective head angle. Enfield delivers the INT 650 this way to give a more com- pliant ride with greater wheel travel to cope with bumps and dips in the tarmac in urban use, but for more spir- ited riding, it needs a bit of adjustment. But the Gabriel fork was as well behaved as ever, with unchanged damp- ing from the GT. Both these new Royal Enfield Twins are enjoyable mid-capacity retro-styled bikes blessed with a great engine, and superb han- dling. And when their low price point is taken into con- sideration, then very likely Sid Lal will have the hit on his hands he's hoping for. For there's indeed nothing else in the market remotely like these 650cc Twins, and certainly nothing else giving comparable performance for such a low price—for the time being. But on the other side of India in Pune, Mahindra today is busy developing its future range of BSA mod- els which will apparently be along the same lines as these new Indian-made twins. The Royal Enfield Continental GT and INT 650 are already here, not some way down the road—and are built by a company with an impressive track record of delivering increasingly well made products at a good price. Until now, they only built singles. Can RE make the big step upwards to make twins that people want to buy, too? Based on my two days' ride along the Central California coast, the answer must be—yes. CN ROYAL ENFIELD INT 650 / CONTINENTAL GT 650 ENGINE: ........... Air/oil-cooled 4-stroke, 8-valve, SOHC, dry-sump, parallel-twin BORE X STROKE: ............................78 x 67.8mm DISPLACEMENT: ........................................ 648cc HORSEPOWER: ..............47 bhp @ 7250 rpm (at crankshaft) MAXIMUM TORQUE: .......... 52 Nm at 5250 rpm (at crankshaft) COMPRESSION RATIO: ................................. 9.5:1 FUEL SYSTEM: ..................Multipoint sequential Bosch EFI w/2 x throttle bodies IGNITION: ..................Digital spark ignition, DCI TRANSMISSION: .... 6-speed w/gear primary drive CLUTCH: ...............Multiplate oil-bath slip-assist CHASSIS: .....Tubular steel duplex cradle frame FRONT SUSPENSION: ...................41mm Gabriel telescopic fork REAR SUSPENSION: ...............Box-section steel swingarm with 2 x Gabriel coil-over gas- charged piggyback shocks, with 5-stage preload adjustment FRONT WHEEL TRAVEL: ...............................4.3 in REAR WHEEL TRAVEL: ............................... 3.5 in. RAKE/TRAIL: .......................................24°/4.2 in. WHEELBASE: ............................................. 55.1 in. WEIGHT (DRY): ...................... 445.3 / 436.5 lbs. FRONT BRAKE: ...........Single 320mm steel disc w/2-piston caliper; Bosch ABS REAR BRAKE: ............Single 240 mm steel disc w/2-piston caliper; Bosch ABS FRONT WHEEL/TIRE: ................... 100/90-18 in., 2.50 in. wire-spoked wheel / Pirelli Phantom Sportcomp REAR WHEEL/TIRE: ...... 130/70-18, 3.50 in. wire- spoked wheel / Pirelli Phantom Sportcomp SEAT HEIGHT: .................................31.7 / 31.1 in. FUEL CAPACITY: ............................ 3.6 / 3.3 gal. S P E C I F I C A T I O N S