QUICKSPIN I Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650
P88
so smitten I bought the review
bike and ride it to this day.
Just before the holidays last
year, I was contacted by Royal
Enfield about riding their latest
P-twin, the more cruiser-styled
Super Meteor 650, but with
a twist: The ride would take
place in India in early January.
I grabbed my passport and got
the required shots, and after 23
hours on various airplanes and
buses, arrived in the rural town
of Jaisalmer, near the conten
-
tious Pakistan/India border.
I've never
been to India,
which is a large part of the
reason I was excited to ride the
new Super Meteor there. Like
many Westerners, I've seen
the memes and photos of the
overcrowded trains, overloaded
tuk tuks and chaotic traffic. I
live a relatively comfortable and
predictable existence in the U.S.;
getting out of the country and
seeing how others live—espe
-
cially if I can do it on any kind of
motorbike—is
a needed context.
India does not disappoint.
The new Super Meteor 650 is
based around that perky air/oil-
cooled 648cc twin that makes
47 horsepower and a tick over
38 nits of torque. Rather than
being a variant of the more
urban-focused INT650 or its
cafe cousin, the Continental 650
GT, the Super Meteor is a truly
new model with a new frame,
new Showa USD fork, and a
bead on the middleweight tour
-
ing market.
The Super Meteor loses the
INT's
slipper clutch but retains
the six-speed gearbox, which
now has more modern cases
than the shiny ovals on the INT
and Conti GT. It also loses a
tachometer but gains the small
app-driven Tripper GPS display
first found on the Meteor 350.
Cast wheels replace the spokes
and the Super Meteor will come
in two flavors to start, a base
bike and a Tourer version with
a small windscreen, touring
saddle and stubby bumstop
backrest. The foot controls are
placed forward on the Super
Meteor but are much less of
a reach as some dedicated
western market cruisers. Call it
"standardish forward."
The Super Meteor is already
arriving in Europe and other
markets, but North America will
have to wait until summer 2023.
