[saishivaj]

My rear was writhing in pain from the long saddle time. The summer was blazing at us so hot, that us, spoilt Bangaloreans, behaved as if we were out in the desert. I was parched inside the helmet. I longed for some shade, some water and a supportive spot for my rear. And all this, during a mere 200 km ride.

Now, I know you all must be thinking I am delicate and brittle but if you know my past adventures, you’d call me a toughie. I have done 5000 km in 5 days in one trip, 2600 km in 30 hours on another. While I am yet to scale the toughest of terrains, I am definitely built to do so, in my mind at least. Then why was I aching in pain for this small ride? Well, the answer lies in this story of my beloved Baker Express, the Interceptor 650....

Automotive world went on fire when the Twins were announced. Every single person I knew, who was even remotely aware of automobiles, went gaga over the Twins and I am no god to resist my urges at those absolutely gorgeous looking pieces of art. I found myself drooling at the pictures of the Twins days on end and couldn’t wait to test the bikes out. However, at this point I didn’t long to own them. Being a RE owner already, I expected very little out of the powertrains of the Twins and didn’t see myself upgrading from my ever reliable CBR250R and utterly beautiful C500. While I was aware of the homework that went into making the Twins, I assumed that the twin cylinder motor will be just as vibey and just a marginal performance improvement over the C500.

Slowly, automotive journalists started posting their experiences in words and videos. I took all of it with a pinch of salt to just about convince myself to believe that RE put efforts elsewhere in addition to the gorgeous looks.

December 17th 2018, I walked into the RE showroom close to my house to test ride the bike. The thought of getting a third bike didn’t even cross my mind and I was well aware of the wrath that I would face at home if I bring another one home. So I went in for a test ride with the sole purpose of experiencing what changed in RE. I prepared myself to dodge the salesman’s pressures of booking the bike and took the keys for the Interceptor. I swung my leg over a silver colour Interceptor and thumbed the starter. The motor came to life with such a refinement that beggared belief in me! This motor made my Honda look bad! Yet, I kept my expectations to a minimum and slotted the bike into gear which took me by surprise again. The gearbox felt so slick, heavy and accurate (heavy in a good sense). The clutch felt crisp unlike my C500 which has a bite point that keeps me guessing to this day. I slowly guided myself out of the driveway and headed to an empty stretch of road.

As the traffic thinned out and I grew comfortable with the bike, I decided to open the throttle, still not expecting much. And boy, oh boy did it catch my attention now! The motor pulled with an urgency that plastered a huge smile on my face and as I went through the gears, the smile only widened. It is no superbike by any means, but the power felt so accessible and yet entertaining that in a span of a second, my heart yearned for this machine. The KTM 390s can out run the Twins in a sprint to 100 all day long. But the way the Interceptor’s motor tugged at my heart strings is inexplicable. Where the KTMs come with a boy-ish, hooligan-ish charm, the Interceptor brought out the man in me. Just as I was coming to terms with what RE pulled off with this motor, I got to experience the brakes which again left me impressed.

Unwillingly, I rode back to the showroom to test ride the Continental GT650. Now this bike took my experience to another level. The riding position made me feel more confident and connected to the road without being taxing. The rear set pegs, clip-ons and the seating position imbibed so much confidence through corners that I wanted to ride this one day-in day-out!

I returned to the showroom with a huge smile and the sales advisor knew my decision. He didn’t have to convince me one bit. Without informing anyone at home, I plunged at my wallet and paid Rs. 5000/- for an Orange Crush Interceptor 650. Although I loved the Conti650, I went for the Interceptor 650 mainly due to the following reasons:

a. I wanted to trade-in my C500 for one of the Twins which meant that my father would have been using the new bike on the rare occasion that he uses a motorcycle. This takes the Continental was out of the question.
b. Continental GT had a slightly smaller tank (1 l lesser). While 1l is really insignificant in terms of the touring range, mentally I was not able to convince myself about the lesser range (barely 15-25 km) due to my long distance touring plans.


I rode back home that evening and didn’t utter a word at home. I was informed by the sales manager that there is a 3 month waiting period which I happily agreed to. I thought that will give me enough time to:
1. Convince folks at home.
2. Arrange funds.
3. Sell the C500.

While step 1 and 2 didn’t really kick off, I tried to sell my C500 half heartedly. The only attempt I made to sell the bike was to inform my friends and my CBR’s mechanic. I never put the bike up for sale on any viable platform. In the back of my head, I never wanted to sell the bike at all perhaps and hence I still have it.

As the weeks passed, I started seeing way too many Orange Crushes and decided to change the colour. I went to the showroom again on Jan 17th 2019 and changed the color to Baker Express this time. On Feb 27th 2019, I was on an office trip in the US when I got a call from the sales manager. He told me that my bike has arrived and I would have to pay the balance amount. That is when I realised that I was running behind on steps 1 and 2.

It took all my heart to call up my folks and tell them that I booked another bike. I was ready to get an earful but I was pleasantly surprised when my dad supported my decision. All he said was, “as long as it makes you happy and you think you can afford it, go for it!”.

Buying Experience:

A new sense of enthusiasm sprighted in me and the first thing I did after arriving back home was to get the loan procedure started. I went with the showroom’s finance partner, IDFC. While the loan approval and all was hassle free, the finances were in no way transparent and to this day, I feel like I’ve been taken for a ride. This being my first big buy with my salary, I was naive and take this as a learning.

All the formalities were completed and the day arrived for me to receive the bike. March 15th 2019. My father, mother, sister, granddads and I arrived at the showroom at 3 PM, the time that they called us at. Once we arrived, we called for the sales advisor who asked us to be seated to get the delivery procedure started. The clock struck 4 PM and there was still no sign of the bike. At 4:15 PM when I asked the sales manager for updates, he told me there is an issue. He told me that some of the accessories that I asked for are missing and would arrive later. I obliged and said I have no issues with that and would take them later. During this, my eyes fell on the accessories list for my bike and I realised it was not the same list that I signed. Infact, different accessories were marked and my signature was forged. I immediately brought this to the manager’s notice who lashed at me saying this is what I chose. I then took the picture of the sheet as evidence and decided to take it up later since I didn’t want to ruin my experience. The bike arrived by 4:30 PM with some of the accessories. After some customary pictures, I started the bike only to realise that the Check Engine light was on. Again, I immediately brought it to the showroom’s notice who called for their technician.

The technician who arrived didn’t even take a look at the bike and asked me to come the next day. Feeling helpless, I rode the bike slowly to the temple, completed the customary pooja and parked it at home.

The next day, I arrived at the showroom at 11 AM to get that rectified. They directed me to the service center. The service center folks, after 3 hours of waiting, diagnosed the issue to a faulty O2 sensor. They said they have to replace the entire wiring harness under warranty. I agreed and asked them to do it in front of me and also give me an acknowledgement for the same, both of which they did not do. They forced me to leave saying it will take at least 6 hours to replace it. Regarding the acknowledgement, they first agreed to give and later backed out on their word.
At 6 PM that evening, they called me to collect the bike and didn’t show me the old harness and neither did they give the acknowledgement that I requested.

After giving them an earful, feeling helpless, I emailed RE who responded, although immediately, with their standard reply.
Anyways, since the check engine light was not showing anymore, I decided to skip the issue and continue with the ownership. It has been 10k km so far and I have not faced any issues with the bike.
In all, this has been the worst buying experience and would advise people against choosing Accelerate Motors, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bangalore.

Simba, My Interceptor 650:

Pros:
+ Looks
+ Powertrain
+ Brakes
+ Cost of ownership and maintenance for a 650cc Twin
+ Refinement
+ Simplicity
+ Soundtrack

Cons:
- Seat/Comfort
- Tube tires
- Showroom attitude
- Paint quality

Neutral:
1. Fuel Efficiency
2. Instrument Console
3. Build quality

Accessories Installed:
1. RE Sump Guard
2. RE Crash Guard (small)
3. RE Touring seat from Continental
4. RE Visor (Large)
5. After market exhaust heel protector


Design and Ergonomics:

I am an absolute sucker for modern classics and the Interceptor parades the definition of modern classic in the most honest manner. While clear lens headlamps and LED indicators would’ve been practical, to me, missing those little things add to the overall rustic look that the INT650 displays with such ease. The round headlamp, the twin pod cluster, the artistic exposed engine, single piece seat and the rectangular orange lens indicators, all gel beautifully into a simple yet handsome looking machine.
The simple lines on the fuel tank, twin exhausts, retro inspired Pirelli Phantom SportComp tires, spoke wheels, all complement the rustic look. In this shade of white, Baker Express, the INT650 brings the 60s look so effortlessly.

While people have complained about the oddly placed foot pegs, I have not faced issues while physically hustling the bike around. Ergonomics wise, I love the riders triangle formed for my height. I find the upright seating position comfortable and there is a slight lean on to the handle which improves the handling experience. What I will complain about though, is the horrible stock seat. And this brings me to the introduction of this story where I did a short ride and found the seat utterly lacking in comfort. Apart from this major ergonomic flaw, I am happy with the posture. To counter this discomfort, I changed to the touring seat from the Continental 650. Do not take my word but I found this seat immensely more supportive and in fact did a 2 day - 2000 km run feeling fresh.

Before and after the touring seat:

Build Quality

Just like a lot of people here, I maintain my vehicles with an obsession that borders on lunacy. Visually and mechanically, I want them in showroom-fresh condition. At the same time, I am not the kind who treats them as garage queens. I am not the one to shy away from tough/impossible terrains given a chance. Last year I took my CBR to Spiti from Bangalore. I even towed another CBR for as long as we could, due to an unexpected breakdown while going from Chandartaal to Gramphu. Now, anyone who has been on this circuit knows what I am talking about.

Given my usage, I am happy to report that the Interceptor is no delicate darling. I have done high speed cruising for prolonged hours and I have taken her to some difficult trails that would test the build quality. All is not well though. While the overall build quality seems robust and a thorough improvement over the Classic, the paint quality leaves much to be desired. The paint on my tank has chipped off in one place due to highway rock chips and revealed the thin paint layer. The headlight also cracked very easily due to a rock chip in another ride. While I replaced the headlight, I am trying to find a good paint shop to repaint the tank with a thicker layer. Another factor of concern are the rims which don’t allow tubeless tires. I am aware of the conversion kits but I am unsure of their reliability and have been growing older waiting for RE to launch alloy wheels for the twins. The reason I don’t mind going for alloy wheels is my usage. 80-90% highways with some trail riding. I am willing to risk the advantages of a tubed tire to have that peace of mind 80-90% of the time.

Taking her places:

Performance and Handling

Every one must have read/experienced the powertrain of the twins. Now let me explain this powertrain from the heart of a guy who loves riding T.W.O. for hours on end, testing limits of every mechanical aspect of the machine, as well as from the perspective of a 6ft guy weighing over 100 kg.

The engine is extremely linear in the way it builds power. The smoothness of the twin makes my Honda feel vibey. It is not entirely vibe-free but the vibrations that prop in at higher RPMs are good vibrations that give you a sense of the liveliness of the powertrain. The gears slot in with remarkable precision both during up-shift as well as down-shift. Slipper clutch is an obvious advantage for this kind of power.

Now, it has been one year with the Interceptor for me and I have started yearning for more power. Don’t get me wrong, the bike is performing just as it did 10,000 km ago and is just as good mechanically as it was on day 1. It accelerates hard and fast and can keep up with some fast bikes. However, I have gotten so used to the linearity and the tractability of the engine that I wish I had a couple of more horses between my legs. I wish it accelerated quicker like the Japanese/Italian/British twins. I wish it attained higher top speed with more ease. I didn’t have this feeling on my CBR250 or C500, both vastly slower than the INT650. Now all this, I associate to how easy the 47 horses felt to tame in the first place. The CBR and C500 while slower, the very fact that they had such less power, kept me wringing the throttle and keeping the engine on boil to keep pace and this diverted my attention from the actual performance to keeping the pace. On the INT, the ease and smoothness with which it attains triple digit speeds has left me longing for more speed and acceleration that will scare me from keeping the throttle open. Having said that, the INT is easily my weapon of choice for long distance cruising now. Bangalore-Mumbai’s 1000 km was dispensed effortlessly in 12 hours including breakfast, lunch and fuel breaks. The return 1000 km was even faster in 11 hours with the breaks and all this in two consecutive days during peak monsoon. That should explain the effortless and comfortable nature of the machine.

Now the handling, while not a hoot to be precise, it is absolutely enthralling to chuck the bike through corners. The torque from the engine lets you dispense hair pins, sharp corners and steep inclines with utter ease. Changing directions from one side to another is a breezy affair despite the weight on paper. And the only achilles heel in my opinion is the foot pegs scraping through some corners. While there is a solution of trying the Continental footpegs, I am not going that route since the rider triangle will change which I am happy with the current set-up. The Pirelli Phantom SportComp shoes that come with the bike are decent at best in my opinion. Nothing to complain about but nothing to harp about as well besides the thread looks that compliment the retro theme quite well. My rear tire went completely bald at 7600 km and I wished they lasted longer given I want to do very long rides. While riding alone or with luggage, I choose the word rich to describe its ride quality. The bike absorbs undulations and small potholes with total grace despite lacking fancy hardware. However the ride takes a U-turn with two-up. Factory settings on the rear suspension bottoms out easily with a pillion and one has to ride significantly slow to not hurt the bike, self or pillion. For we have come to pillion comfort, I want to call out that this bike is an utter disaster in the stock form for a pillion. Narrow seat, unsupportive grab rail, and very high pillion footpeg. I am not complaining because I love riding solo but I wanted to put it out there for ones wanting to travel with their partners.

With all that pace and weight comes momentum, the contribution of physics that braking hardware would hate. However, despite being a heavy bike for the hardware, the brakes on the Interceptor are extremely predictable, feelsome and at par with the best in the sub 4 lakh category in my opinion. I would rate the CBR250R’s combined ABS as one of the best brakes. The current Duke 390 has even better brakes. The INT650 would definitely be in the top 5 in terms of the feel as well as the stopping power in the stock form. It has been 10k km of hard riding and I am yet to change the pads at both ends.

If you have read till here, you might have realised that I am not the kind to check fuel efficiency. However, I do love far and fewer fuel stops which means either a large tank or good efficiency. The INT650 fairs decently in this regard. When ridden sedately, the tank range is about 260 km. With some spirited riding, I fuel up every 200 km with the fuel gauge blinking. With rough calculations, the efficiency is around 20-23 kmpl which in my opinion for a 650cc twin is good enough. The fuel gauge is another story though. Royal Enfield must have developed their own multi axis IMU for the fuel gauge display! It has a mind of its own and is possibly controlled by the gravity from the Sun! I rely completely on the trip meter and glance at the fuel gauge only for entertainment. While we are on the gauge, I would like to talk about the twin pod console. Royal Enfield had the Himalayan console which would look out of place here but had a myriad of information through it. It had the Thunderbird console which had hazard lights and some important basic information like the time. But they took the retro theme far too seriously and offered a very basic, although good looking console which does not even tell the time, forget engine temp, DTE etc.

Twin pod Console

Maintenance

In the above sections, I criticised the bike for its build quality, for its lacklustre console, for more power and what not. However, maintenance is where it claws its advantages back. For a decently powerful 650 twin, this one is super easy on the wallet. Regular services cost as much as any other mid-market premium bikes would cost. Apart from the tires, the regular wear and tear parts like the brake pads are surprisingly affordable. Not cheap but affordable. While I am yet to change the pads, front and rear pads would set me back by roughly Rs. 5xxx/- I think, which is reasonable. Another aspect I love is the 10k service intervals. The 10k service cost me about Rs. 3000/- with the labour discounted. My CBR service costs me Rs. 2.5k for every 6k km and the C500 costs about Rs. 2000/- for every 3-4k km. Till date, I have changed the rear tire which cost me Rs. 8400/-.

At 7600 km:

Summary

I didn’t need a new bike given my rides had become extremely limited due to my office travel. I was very happy with my CBR250R and the C500. I purchased this bike on a whim. And the whim was so strong and so real that it made me defy logic and common sense. It made me burn through my meagre savings. And after I catered to the whim, I have started looking for opportunities to ride. That should tell how happy I am now. While I still long for a machine that scares me to saddle it, the INT650 is a keeper. I wish to take it to every nook and corner of our beautiful country and beyond. I love the way she can gobble miles on the highway like a hungry whale. I love how my obese structure does not influence her behaviour with me neither mine with her. I love my INT650 and despite her flaws, if I were to go back to December 17, 2018 and choose a bike, this would be the one all over again.

Some more pics of her:

[ashwinprakas]

If at all there is a thing called 'Well Balanced Reviews', then I have no doubt that this it is.

Wonderful review mate! You have covered all the essentials required to sway any enthusiast towards the 650, even one who wouldn't otherwise be interesting in a Fuel Injected motorcycle.

Hope you cover many more miles and keep us in the loop, would love to know how the motorcycle fares out of its warranty mileage.

Cheers,
A.P.

[Vasuki]

Nice review. So you are going to keep the RE 500 too.

The 3rd last picture, is it the garage or the drawing room, the curtain and fan position shows it to be an inside room, but reflection shows there is no wall on the 3rd side.

Also you cannot take the fortuner inside the home, or did you??

One more thing, how did you tow a vehicle through the Chandrataal - Batal - Gramphu strech? It is tough to ride alone!

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by saishivaj

Well, the answer lies in this story of my beloved Baker Express, the Interceptor 650

Very well written long-term review, quite a story.

My rear was writhing in pain from the long saddle time. And all this, during a mere 200 km ride.

Was this before you changed to touring seat?

My rear tire went completely bald at 7600 km and I wished they lasted longer given I want to do very long rides.

Till date, I have changed the rear tire which cost me Rs. 8400/-.

Which tyre model did you change to?

Did you add fork gaiters later during servicing?

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by saishivaj

Till date, I have changed the rear tire which cost me Rs. 8400/-.

I have never owned any big bike earlier, so pardon my in-experience.
I am surprised that a premium bike tyre lasts for only 7000 odd Kms.

Is it an accepted/known number/norm that premium tyre lasts only less than 10K Km?

[saishivaj]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

If at all there is a thing called 'Well Balanced Reviews', then I have no doubt that this it is.

Thank you A.P.

Originally Posted by Vasuki

Nice review. So you are going to keep the RE 500 too.

The 3rd last picture, is it the garage or the drawing room, the curtain and fan position shows it to be an inside room, but reflection shows there is no wall on the 3rd side.

Also you cannot take the fortuner inside the home, or did you??

Haha, that is the garage. Attaching a pic of for your reference

Originally Posted by Vasuki

One more thing, how did you tow a vehicle through the Chandrataal - Batal - Gramphu strech? It is tough to ride alone!

My friend's CBR broke between Batal and Chhatru. We tied his bike's fork to my CBR's foot peg using ropes that we had and pulled as much as we could. Actually the Spiti adventure is in development and I will write about all these details there.

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Very well written long-term review, quite a story.

Was this before you changed to touring seat?

Which tyre model did you change to?

Did you add fork gaiters later during servicing?

Yes, the intro to the story was about a ride before changing to the touring seat. I changed the tire to the same Pirelli Phantom SportComp. I added the fork gaiters during the service since the accessory was not available earlier.

Originally Posted by abhishek46

I have never owned any big bike earlier, so pardon my in-experience.
I am surprised that a premium bike tyre lasts for only 7000 odd Kms.

Is it an accepted/known number/norm that premium tyre lasts only less than 10K Km?

Generally soft compound tires like even the Duke 390's Metezelers last only 8-9k km but the mileage of every tire depends on the riding style, weight and such parameters as you may know. There are riders in my riding group who have seen upwards of 10k km without changing the tire and there are some who have changed it 10k. I personally ride long distances at good speeds without breaks. I ride a full tank (>200 km) before taking a break and do a lot of 1000 km/day rides which probably leads to more wear due to the temperatures and speed.

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by saishivaj

My friend's CBR broke between Batal and Chhatru. We tied his bike's fork to my CBR's foot peg using ropes that we had and pulled as much as we could. Actually the Spiti adventure is in development and I will write about all these details there.

We also went to Spiti last September. My cousin, kozhissery, has posted it here.

Link : https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...om-650-xt.html (Beaky flies north – Spiti on a Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT)

Hope you have great time with your new baby and scale many heights with it.

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

I am surprised that a premium bike tyre lasts for only 7000 odd Kms.

Is it an accepted/known number/norm that premium tyre lasts only less than 10K Km?

Soft compound tyres which offer better grip for super-bikes are not known to last long.
In case of stock tyres on RE twins, those are known to ship with relatively less tread depth and as a result don't last long. Please check video in 1st post & contents of this thread (Tricks that motorcycle manufacturers use).

[FURY_44]

Excellent review saishivaj, the Baker Express is quite a relief amidst an ocean of Orange Crush INT's here in Bangalore, I am glad you decided to change the color combo.

Wishing you many more happy miles on your INT

[rahulskumar]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

I am surprised that a premium bike tyre lasts for only 7000 odd Kms.
Is it an accepted/known number/norm that premium tyre lasts only less than 10K Km?

I've completed 5K on my interceptor and the tires look good enough to last another 10k kms. Tire wear depends on riding style

[Red Liner]

Great thread, but i have to say i am even more awed by your garage. I think its the size of my apartment!

[yesyeswe]

@ashwinprakas has already covered everything that I wanted to write regarding your showroom experience, i would have completely rejected the bike and would have called the area manager and got my bike replaced, or left the bike there and let them do all the repair work themselves.

Going to the service center and waiting for your brand new bike to get fixed is too much, my patience would have expired in the showroom itself.
P. S. That's one hell of a garage

[Pjango]

For every BHPian, in case of every purchase, there is that one thread which just nails the decision! Yours is the one for me when it comes to Conti650. Will keep revisiting it for practical reaffirmation. Lastly, and very seriously, if the C500 has to go, you know whom to DM

[vkochar]

Impressive Garage.

And nice review. Very precise. I have recently brought the GT650 and it is an absolute blast to ride.

Happy and safe driving.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

I was about to comment on the bike, but then saw that garage! Oh my! Thought it was the living room first!

Lovely review and beautiful photographs! Congrats on completing one year with Simba!