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350 km Sunday ride on my Interceptor 650: My observations & experience

3rd May 2024, 14:15 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

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While Royal Enfield should reconsider the tyres that it is providing, the fuel efficiency of the motorcycle is not bad at all.

BHPian parrys recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

So, I went for a 350+ km ride on Sunday with the Interceptor 650.

Ride Details: Thane - Panvel - Lonavala - Pawana - Tamhini Ghat - Kolad - Mandwa - M2M Ferry - Thane.

Total distance covered, 363.2 kms.

Here are some observations

Started to get a hang of the weight. Now I am able to lean into a corner more confidently. Did overshoot a couple of corners, but nothing scary. As the mind always keeps telling me you are on an INT 650 & not 390 ADV anymore.
The touring seat kept me happy. Did not have a sore bottom after coming back home.
Do miss the gear position indicator. The INT 650 is so smooth higher up in the revs as well, that sometimes I was riding in 5th, and then noticed that I still had another upshift left. So I hope, RE offers this with their updated meters on the newer models.
Love looking at the needles. Hard on the throttle, nothing more satisfying than watching the speed & RPM needle climb. And the dials look good to me.
Riding posture for me, my height of 5'8''; no problem at all. At times I feel that the tank is LONG, when I look down. It makes me wonder does this make me sit too far? But the posture, I find nothing wrong with it.
It does heat up at slow speeds. No denying that fact.
End up kicking the left bend pipe often while trying to get the side stand down.
Not even once have I used the USB charging yet. I must at least try to see if it is functional.
Ceat Tyres - HORRIBLE. Not enough grip for fast cornering. Forget corners, while riding at 80-90 kmph, I once encountered a very very small wet patch. The tyre went sliding for a split second. Experience helped me maintain the line, but a scary moment for sure. Especially when you have no traction control. RE must surely reconsider the rubber. These Ceats, I will plan to change soon.
Headlight looks good, when you look at it. The illumination at night, very poor.
Mileage, around 27 kmpl. Not bad at all. Including slow crawls, high revving speeds and cruising too. Satisfied.
Brakes surprised me. Even with the weight, I now have enough confidence to put the anchors down. Decent bite for my riding style.

On Sundays, we bikers spend thousands of rupees. Why? To ride our motorcycle for hours. Food cost is almost 10-20% of fuel cost. But worth it. Every single time.

Most of you here on this post, might have seen the Tanners Pride custom leather tank protector. It went flying off at triple-digit speeds. Thank god it did not hit someone else riding behind. Never going the magnetic route ever again. This was my first and last time. And this, while flying off, or when I picked it back and placed it on the tank; HAS SCRATCHED THE TANK. So it has defeated the whole purpose.

Tamhini Ghat route is so beautiful. It was raining last weekend around Pune. So we got lovely weather throughout this section.

Even after having seen that scratched tank, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The bike kept flowing smoothly, and the AEW 102s kept playing some sweet music.

I can never get tired of this. My dad owned a Yezdi Roadking when I was a kid. I guess I have had a thing for twin pipes since then. Looks iconic. Or maybe, twin pipes look right (symmetry). Also noticed, the number plate mounting is crooked. Need to fix it soon.

Mesh gear always. Summer or winter. This is my Rynox set. My other RevIt is also maximum mesh.

So, here's the heartbreaking bit from Sunday. Scratches on the tank. 2-3 spots like these. I think I had tears in my helmet when I saw this.

The cut was deep. So no amount of detailing could resolve this.

So had to go the PPF way. Not my thing. But no choice.

Got a black PPF. Surprisingly, it matches the colour 100%.

But, one will always notice the PPF cut / edge line. Which again, troubles my OCD.

Before I placed the magnetic tank cover, I had also ordered this unit from Sahara Seats. So this is a placeholder, to ensure that I don't spot those PPF cuts easily. The PPF is cut wider than this cover, so the cover does not damage the paint. My friends say I have gone crazy.