[Moose]

MT-07 is my dream bike. I liked the looks of first gen, love the parallel twin rumble, sounds even better with an Akra on it and the bloody thing has a hard time putting both wheels on the ground. A machine for a complete nut case. I knew this is not happening, not with my obligations and definitely not after seeing the eye-watering service cost. But, I wanted that rumble in my life, for once I wanted to live with a multi-cylinder motorcycle.

Royal Enfield comes along and casually drops the 650 twins. I didn't expect this, not from RE, who used to sell yesterday's technology at today's prices. I hated REs, they weighed as much as a boat anchor, handled like the boat itself and had an annoying habit of turning riders into mechanics. With these ideas firmly in place, I didn't bother visiting the RE showroom for a test ride. Until a couple of years later I got to test-ride one and I was disappointed. It handled well, sounded great and torque gave a well-deserved kick to my misconceptions, but the weight is still ungodly. Now, there was a chance to live my dream within a budget. As we do in video games, to get the good stuff you must have a lot of coins or grind until you have a lot of coins.

After some years and selling my CBR 250, I had enough to get an Interceptor, a used Interceptor. Olx has loads to choose from, low mileage 2019s to 1k ridden 2023s at prices from 1.8L to 3.2L respectively. So I settled for this:


The odometer showed 4500 km(red flag), Trip 1 and Trip 2 were the same too(green flag). The bike came fitted with a visor, sump guard, ribbed seat, AOM handlebar and most important of all, OEM alloys and all that Zana stuff. The price quoted was 2.2L, I managed to get it down to 2L+3k for a new battery. It was a 2019, looked a bit shabby but rode well, service history was complete and the last service was in Mar'23. I rode the bike for 10 minutes in traffic, bad roads and some highways, no issues so far and the bike gave me a good feeling.



The deal was finalised, paid 2.1L with name transfer charges plus 5L fuel and brought the bike home. Overall a pleasant first time experience for a pre-owned machine. I took time to remove all the after-market stuff and get it as stock as I could, followed Stuart Fillingham's guide on YouTube and polished those engine bits to a mirror sheen. With the bike looking like it's straight from the factory, I started riding and clocked 1200 km since I got it in Feb 2024. I took it for service in March, the bill was 2800 for general service and 2500 for the rear brake pad set. Now I'll try to keep my emotions aside and share my experience thus far.



Good Bits

The engine is beautiful, I can feel its rumble in the handlebar. The gearbox is almost like Honda, crisp and positive. In first gear, whacked the throttle on an empty road, I was thrown back and held on to the bars for my dear life. While going at 100 km/h on a highway, even in 6th gear, it has strong pulling power to take me to 140 km/h easily. The exhaust sound is delightfully loud, it roars when started, burbles when in slow speed traffic and pops when I downshift at speed. It's the best-sounding twin cylinder in the market under 4L. I don't know much about chassis design or geometry, but I carry decent speed in corners. It's lazy to turn in, not as lazy as a classic 350 though, the turning radius is surprisingly small and I didn't feel the weight once it got going. I have been using it for my daily commutes, just slot it 2nd gear and throttle + clutch my way out of every situation. There is ample amount of engine braking, so using brakes can be optional if I can reach the expert level of riding. One more major plus point, this bike is easy to maintain. It's dead simple, basic electronics and Enfield riders are quite knowledgeable about their machines, so a large community that is eager to help. For someone who doesn't trust SVCs, working on this bike is as easy as it gets.





Bad Bits

Let me get the weight issue out the door. You will feel 213 kg when parking or pushing it, their is no way around it, it's best to learn to deal with it. Suspension next, the front feels weird or confused, moves too much and is unpredictable. Rear I feel is okay for my weight (70 kg). It did have the head wobble issue, couple of clicks of pre-load fixed it. The foot pegs, both rider and pillion are poorly thought out. I often scrape my shins in traffic and while parking my leg gets caught up between the main stand rod and the rider foot peg. However, the major pain point is the electricals in the bike. Relays jammed with grease, RR unit not cooled properly and random faults that come and go as they please. I have started washing this bike by hand, I am not risking by taking it to a pressure washer.



Verdict

Ever since I got it, I have been looking for excuses to ride it. My colleague needs a lift home, I gladly oblige. My better half needs to go shopping, I take the long way to get to the supermarket. I get B-shift duty, I wake up early for morning chai rides. My Xpulse just stands there gathering dust, while I can't get enough of the Interceptor. I don't know if I'll buy an Interceptor 650 again given the chance, but I sure am enjoying this every day.





I made a few improvements, I got myself a front suspension upgrade from Way2Speed and made an extension cable for the RR unit. Now the bike handles the way it looks, just beautiful and the electrical issues seem to be sorted for now.







Hope you guys like it. Let me know what you think.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Motorcycle section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage today

[rajeevsulu]

Welcome to the club! That sums up the Interceptor experience in a nutshell. Enjoy your ride!
Cheers.

[balajisb]

Congratulations, there are a lot of improvement you can do to this bike in due course of time based on your constant drive experience. Enjoy the ride.

[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by Moose

I made a few improvements, I got myself a front suspension upgrade from Way2Speed and made an extension cable for the RR unit. Now the bike handles the way it looks, just beautiful and the electrical issues seem to be sorted for now.

Can you share some more details on the RR unit relocation? Internationally, there was a kit available for this but I'm not sure!

Enjoy your ride, you can upgrade to the clear lens type headlight kit from RE and fit a powerful bulb! Don't go for the latest LED headlight from RE.

Happy riding,
surjaonwheelz

[Viju]

Congratulations on your Interceptor! She looks great!

Could you please elaborate on the RR unit relocation? Seems to be very well done. Interested to know how you managed to extend the wires, especially with the special connectors that RE seem to have used. Also, did you fabricate a new bracket by yourself? Thanks in advance!

[Meer]

Congratulations on your new ride Moose, we have at least 2 common bikes in our history (CBR250 and now Interceptor). You did an awesome job to shine the engine, I have done it a few times and needs lot of elbow grease, but the end result is worth it!

You echoed my thoughts on perception about RE, I would not consider RE previously having seen my friends struggle which QC issues in the past. In 2021 my Brother in law liked a preloved interceptor in my city and asked me to check it out. Ha ha, after riding it for the first time, I cannot describe how foolish I felt as I had discouraged him initially from any RE. And within 2 months of his purchase I had my preloved 2019 interceptor too.

Not sure how you feel about the clutch, I found it a bit hard on my interceptor as my other ride is a dominar, which has a smoother clutch. I went for pro spec and it has been made quite a difference in city ride comfort.

Like surjaonwheelz said would like to know the steps for the RR unit relocation.

[Moose]

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

Can you share some more details on the RR unit relocation? Internationally, there was a kit available for this but I'm not sure!

James slick England(Youtube) made a plug and play RR unit extension cable and he sells them too. They cost like 80 pounds, I may be wrong here. I don't have that kind of money nor interest in dealing with Indian customs. I just took the unit off the bike, severed the wires in half and added 1.4m of 2.5sqmm electrical wire. I made an aluminium bracket to hold RR unit under the oil cooler and then routed the wires carefully. It's just a proof of concept and needs some optional improvements. So far it's working as intended.

[sandeepmohan]

Well done on your new motorcycle. No harm in aspiring for that MT-07 at a later date. For now, I am pretty sure the Interceptor will keep you plenty happy.

Relays jammed with grease sounds odd. I wonder who in their right mind would shove greases into an electrical circuit. Unless its some kind of insultation level greases. Also the Relay Rectifier unit has come with a lot of flak around failures. That is no longer an issue with the new bikes though. I highlight this as I still feel the re located position of your RR unit is a bit dicey. You definitely don't want any water getting to it or anywhere near it as that will lead to a direct short of the wires. I appreciate DIY but just be careful.

To your point about the positioning of the foot pegs, the chassis is essentially a carry over of the Continental GT with the difference of the handlebars, seat and fuel tank. The rest are all identical. Not a lot you can do to get away from that committed riding position.

The weight and weird front end are definitely not the best about the bike. However not bad enough to result in a no-buy scenario. You make peace with it. There are times I find the front end playing nice and at other times, I don't push hard into a corner when I don't feel confident.

If you think those stock exhausts howl, wait till you fit a pair of after market pipes. That said, I'd avoid anything that is totally free flow cause it gets too loud to the point of being irritating.

[Moose]

Regarding the RR unit. My diy is proof of concept.
Best way would be to get the male and female proprietary connectors and get someone who does electrical work to do it for you. Nice way would be, get some easily available waterproof connectors and splice yourself a longer lead. My way is, splicing an electrical wire directly in between the RR unit and it's connectors. The connections were then soldered, wrapped first in fiberglass insulation tube then with proper size heat shrink. Ends of the heat shrink were wrapped with electrical tape to avoid water ingress, now I used a larger heat shrink to hold the wires together, creating two separate cables. One AC input( 3 yellow wires) and one DC output( 2 red and 2 black wires). While installing on my bike, I used fiberglass insulation in the heat prone areas, electrical tape to hold the insulation and rubber pads to avoid scraping of the cable. Let me repeat, this is just proof of concept. This long cable creates a voltage drop of 0.3V (not measured correctly, please don't quote me on it) at the battery terminals. I am already working on an improved version, I will share it once complete.

It is understandable that people find it sketchy, I know the risk and I am checking the cable everyday. I am being careful not to ruin my ride.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

If you think those stock exhausts howl, wait till you fit a pair of after market pipes. That said, I'd avoid anything that is totally free flow cause it gets too loud to the point of being irritating.

Feels like you read my mind. I'm currently looking for a set of aftermarket slip-ons. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[techsupportcat9]

Originally Posted by Moose

I just took the unit off the bike, severed the wires in half and added 1.4m of 2.5sqmm electrical wire. I made an aluminium bracket to hold RR unit under the oil cooler and then routed the wires carefully. It's just a proof of concept and needs some optional improvements. So far it's working as intended.

I wanted to do something similar with mine on my used Interceptor, but the wiring issues I had with my old 3rd hand gixxer is keeping me from it. All the placer where wires were spliced to add some aftermarket part had been points for water ingress and rusting in the wiring system. So I thought to wait it out until I have the time and means to fabricate a plug and play solution. Shouldn't be that hard honestly, it's just a few wires.

[Moose]

Originally Posted by techsupportcat9

I wanted to do something similar with mine on my used Interceptor, but the wiring issues I had with my old 3rd hand gixxer is keeping me from it. All the placer where wires were spliced to add some aftermarket part had been points for water ingress and rusting in the wiring system. So I thought to wait it out until I have the time and means to fabricate a plug and play solution. Shouldn't be that hard honestly, it's just a few wires.

Be mindful, patient and follow proper procedure. It's simple enough.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Moose

I'm currently looking for a set of aftermarket slip-ons. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Get the AEW TE102's. Hands down the best sounding exhaust money can buy. I've heard the S&S, Scorpions and a few other brands. Cost no bar, I'd still pick the AEW. They are very well finished too.

AEW

[scorpian]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Get the AEW TE102's. Hands down the best sounding exhaust money can buy. I've heard the S&S, Scorpions and a few other brands. Cost no bar, I'd still pick the AEW. They are very well finished too.

AEW

I second this!
AEW are great exhaust and finished really well. They sound beautiful with a deep rumble compared to all the other exhausts I have heard.
I believe aew also manufactures for some other international brand and exports it from India.

[Meer]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Get the AEW TE102's. Hands down the best sounding exhaust money can buy. I've heard the S&S, Scorpions and a few other brands. Cost no bar, I'd still pick the AEW. They are very well finished too.

AEW

I agree, have these for the last 2 years and have held up perfectly! They do not get anywhere as hot as the stock ones and I feel less stressed taking my kids on the bike. I am not into chrome, so this steel finish works better for me. Sound is lovely, grumble and with time it has become better. They are also Pune based company, I found them very prompt and shipping was quick.

There are a lot of youtube videos where folks have done side by side comparison of exhaust for Interceptor, so you can get a good idea on what works for you depending on your taste.