Alan F.
Well-known member
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Royal Enfield 650
- Thread starter Alan F.
- Start date
matty
Border raider.
Sounds like you got a good deal and you are finding at least some of the common reviewer criticisms are largely unfounded or certainly not a factor for you anyway.
The seat is thin i do remember that, but i found it ok for 200 miles pluss and admit it could be better but by no means the worst seat i ever encountered.
My Plan for the seat when i get a interceptor, is to simply do my old school age old bike touring thing on long runs with a sheep skin on the seat.
The seat cover itself was one of the items on the bike i was not convinced would prove durable or long lived. But this was purely visual appearance and who knows in use they might well be better than they look.
A quick question for you.
Were you pleasantly surprised at just how smooth the engine runs both in the low vibrations and general smooth performance generally throughout the rev range?
I certainly was and it is a strong memory of my time on the interceptor that day.
The seat is thin i do remember that, but i found it ok for 200 miles pluss and admit it could be better but by no means the worst seat i ever encountered.
My Plan for the seat when i get a interceptor, is to simply do my old school age old bike touring thing on long runs with a sheep skin on the seat.
The seat cover itself was one of the items on the bike i was not convinced would prove durable or long lived. But this was purely visual appearance and who knows in use they might well be better than they look.
A quick question for you.
Were you pleasantly surprised at just how smooth the engine runs both in the low vibrations and general smooth performance generally throughout the rev range?
I certainly was and it is a strong memory of my time on the interceptor that day.
Alan F.
Well-known member
Yes, very smooth running, but you can still tell it's running. But more startling, even having heard about the transmission I was not prepared for it to shift that smoothly. And then theres the downshifting with that slipper clutch, the word forgiving isn't sufficient, it's difficult to anger this clutch.
matty
Border raider.
Sported this on youtube posting it here for perusal.
Alan F.
Well-known member
I bolted on a rear rack/backrest this afternoon. $65 from ebayer Royal-Rider in India and it showed up pretty quickly.
Out of the box it's heavy, wall thickness of he main tubes is thicker than any of the American made racks I've had on my 70s-80s Hondas. It bolted right up, matches paint, vinyl & stitching.
Out of the box it's heavy, wall thickness of he main tubes is thicker than any of the American made racks I've had on my 70s-80s Hondas. It bolted right up, matches paint, vinyl & stitching.
Attachments
Alan F.
Well-known member
I've been chatting with some Himalayan riders on another forum and I've got the itch to spoon on some some Shinko 244s with heavier duty tubes and explore some dirt roads.
I know there are tons of other tires out there that are better for this or that, but price point wins and I don't ride all that hard anyway.
I know there are tons of other tires out there that are better for this or that, but price point wins and I don't ride all that hard anyway.
Alan F.
Well-known member
Once I cleaned out the grease from the 4 relay sockets and a few other spots and added dielectric grease to every connector and fuse, and tightened the battery terminals....it's been stone reliable. Starts immediately in all temperatures, and never cut out while riding.
I've got project bikes to work on and hadn't had a bike on the road for 5 or 6 years, so for about the price of a new bullet and a rental car we went out and brought this one home.
I recommend having bikes that run and bikes that do not, learning never ends.
I've got project bikes to work on and hadn't had a bike on the road for 5 or 6 years, so for about the price of a new bullet and a rental car we went out and brought this one home.
I recommend having bikes that run and bikes that do not, learning never ends.
I have a couple of projects already, just no parallel twins.
Alan F.
Well-known member
Well then I'd urge you to at least ride one before making your decision.
matty
Border raider.
The interceptor 650 is a unique bike in a way, its new and yet none of that retro model design deal going on Its not ground breaking modern its just a simple classic in its bloodline not design .
Not sure if that makes sense but hope you understand my description .
I am not critical of retro bikes, they are what they are, and very good many of them, but the interceptor is real.
The theme/ styling general build of the interceptor is both classic in its ancestry yet not at all unrefined in its engine frame or cycle parts . It has some cheaper components yet the use of plastics is quite acceptable and in a way practical.
I think with the interceptor 650 you get a old school twin (and its a great engine box etc make no mistake) that actually is what the older twins in many cases were not.
Not sure if that makes sense but hope you understand my description .
I am not critical of retro bikes, they are what they are, and very good many of them, but the interceptor is real.
The theme/ styling general build of the interceptor is both classic in its ancestry yet not at all unrefined in its engine frame or cycle parts . It has some cheaper components yet the use of plastics is quite acceptable and in a way practical.
I think with the interceptor 650 you get a old school twin (and its a great engine box etc make no mistake) that actually is what the older twins in many cases were not.
staticPort
Active member
Nailed it right there.
Alan F.
Well-known member
Yup. I'm treating it like it's an old bike with some cool bits bolted on. I'm not putting any faith in a dealership or a warranty.
matty
Border raider.
I dont have a 650 interceptor , but i did have a 750 interceptor a 1969 (and two 700 constilations off road ) was an underrated largely overlooked bike, which was in no way inferior to the more well known parallel twin brits of the day.
I loved my 750 interceptor and i acctualy had it on the road for over a year which for a active bike dealing 17 year old that says something i supose.
I hope to perhaps rekindle in name at least just some of my time on that bike with a used 650 interceptor some day.
Just waiting to find the right bike, and when i do i will do a few detail mods to my bike. First up the indicators, i will replace them with probably OEM Kawasaki items from my 1993 EN500A3 which are of a higher quality and look good and perhaps more important i have them blathered in WD40 sat in a box waiting for a project to bolt them on.
Next up the seat. I will buy a different seat or perhaps get the original seat re covered in a better looking material, .
The Mudguards fenders, i will look to replace with new old stock or at least a new made higher quality stainless pair or perhaps aluminum. The bar switches etc are ok ouality but i will fit rental trials bars ( silver of course) just because i have done this for years, its a spin off from my trials riding and street fighter heritage thats all.
I loved my 750 interceptor and i acctualy had it on the road for over a year which for a active bike dealing 17 year old that says something i supose.
I hope to perhaps rekindle in name at least just some of my time on that bike with a used 650 interceptor some day.
Just waiting to find the right bike, and when i do i will do a few detail mods to my bike. First up the indicators, i will replace them with probably OEM Kawasaki items from my 1993 EN500A3 which are of a higher quality and look good and perhaps more important i have them blathered in WD40 sat in a box waiting for a project to bolt them on.
Next up the seat. I will buy a different seat or perhaps get the original seat re covered in a better looking material, .
The Mudguards fenders, i will look to replace with new old stock or at least a new made higher quality stainless pair or perhaps aluminum. The bar switches etc are ok ouality but i will fit rental trials bars ( silver of course) just because i have done this for years, its a spin off from my trials riding and street fighter heritage thats all.
Alan F.
Well-known member
Sounds like a good plan, now to find the right bike. I looked within a 350 mile radius and found one at a good price that nobody local was buying and nobody else wanted to make the trip for.
matty
Border raider.
I am a super cheapskate when it comes to bike cars ... pretty much everything really. I want a bike with issues but a known quantity, it can have been dropped or even neglected left outside or some electrical gremlin down to incompetent fiddling, or over ambitious stripped and then abandoned project, is a firm favorite of mine, i got many bikes over the years as stripped parts piles dragged out from dank storage mostly in cardboard boxes at times.
The 650 interceptor is however a bike which its very nature is against finding neglected abandoned project status bikes. Its Popular new and equally popular used and this coupled with the relative simplicity and i dare say desirability by many, keep my kind of ideal interceptor build find quite quite hard to come by.
And bearing this in mind i have to accept all be it reluctantly i will have to shell out more of the hard earned for a interceptor. Ill just keep periodically searching i am sure something will crop up.
Alan F.
Well-known member
I finally pulled the trigger on that set of Shinko 244s 4.10 and 5.10, I cheaped out & got regular duty tubes though. About $175 shipped.
matty
Border raider.
Been looking seriously again for over a month now, and i am turning up nothing even if i ignore distance to collect.
Found a 2018 on facebook market place near Cambridge, But he eventualy got back to me and it had sold,
This is often my experience buying off facebook, you get a slow response more often than not occasionaly get a decent person who responds quickly is serious and all goes well which is around 25% by my estimation. All the rest are either Simon & Garfunkel's " the sound of silence" or chancers looking to probe the market to see what they can get, or sadly more often these days blatant scammers who seemingly have a bike pictures etc but its always got many after it and a £50 deposit will hold it but they dont have paypal or know anyone and insist on a bank payment which is money gone forever. Its happening a lot these days its bad on facebook in the uk.
Found a 2018 on facebook market place near Cambridge, But he eventualy got back to me and it had sold,
This is often my experience buying off facebook, you get a slow response more often than not occasionaly get a decent person who responds quickly is serious and all goes well which is around 25% by my estimation. All the rest are either Simon & Garfunkel's " the sound of silence" or chancers looking to probe the market to see what they can get, or sadly more often these days blatant scammers who seemingly have a bike pictures etc but its always got many after it and a £50 deposit will hold it but they dont have paypal or know anyone and insist on a bank payment which is money gone forever. Its happening a lot these days its bad on facebook in the uk.
Alan F.
Well-known member
That's no fun Matty, have you tried the RE forums?
https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php?topic=35492.0
https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php?topic=35492.0
matty
Border raider.
No i have not and have been looking very hard over the past few weeks its not like there is a shortage of them and they seem to be falling in price too but more the recent ones where the first owners a really feeling the hit upon trying to move them on, but even then its the older ones i want are about a grand £1200 more than i want to spend.
Last week i gave up and started looking at other options heard about a a Triumph bonavile america a 2004 in Newcastle Went down in the truck with the wife Tuesday last, been sat outside seemingly forever rusty chain and generaly desheveled asthetics, i was kind of interested guy seemed half asleep at 930Am ( his choice of time) , Well it ran ok but front tyre cracking rear tyre soft a split in the seat moss on the back mudguard/ light bracket pitted front pipes the more i looked the more i saw, i was still kind of on for it if cheap but once i opened conversations with this tired man he woke up fast and hit me with the hard man dealer line. " I want £3600 not one penny less or it can stop there and rot i dont care". Well that was that i just shuffled off and got in the truck and drove home.
Still looking for an interceptor see what turns up. Lad at work bIL had a 6K mile 2001 Kawasaki W650 for £2800 cash , Its clean but been sat inside for three years but started and riden round a padok every six months or so its carb model. I am actually very interested in it he is getting me details for when i see him next Tuesday morning its in Lestrshire a good ride away but i dont mind that if its what it sounds like it is.