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Classic 350 owner test rides Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650

7th October 2024, 17:20 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

I asked the dealership about the tubeless spoke wheels for the 650s as well as for the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450.

BHPian ex-innova-guy recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I had some work in Dahisar today, and while returning, I decided to drop by at RE Palladium Automotive in Borivali West. I wanted to take a test ride for both the Interceptor 650 and the GT 650. They only had the GT 650 available for the TR. Gave my license, and they were quick to give me the bike. It was parked outside, and a bird had marked its territory on it. The SA quickly brought a cloth and cleaned it before giving me the keys. The TR was for around 3-4 km.

As soon as you sit on the bike, you notice how committed the riding position is. Coming from a Classic 350, the foot pegs catch you off guard. Coming from a heel-toe shifter, even the toe shifter took me a minute or two to get adjusted. Had to press the ignition button very hard to turn it on, and this was when the bike had just below 4000 km on the Odo. You feel its weight while manoeuvring, but it is point-and-shoot on the go. The less we talk about Pillion Comfort, the better it is. I had nice arms, especially a triceps workout, after this brief TR. All in all, I loved it. The adrenaline rush was so intense while opening the throttle in a couple of gears, and that’s all I could ask for.

Have to give a proper wash to my bike.

Took a quotation for the same colour Dux Deluxe (important later) from the dealer and went onto RE Voyage Motors Kandivali West.

The customer experience was 10x better here. Even though Palladium Automotive had no customers, they seemed least interested. Even after the TR, I had to ask them to give me a quotation.

Voyage Motors had both bikes available for TR. SA Aniruddha noted my license details and gave me the keys to Interceptor first. Coming from the Classic 350, I immediately felt at home on the Interceptor. The foot pegs and riding position felt very comfortable. Somehow the adrenaline rush wasn’t felt on this and the brakes severely lacked bite; maybe because this had more than 13000 km on the Odo and most importantly because I am biased towards the GT 650.

I could never get a back-to-back TR of both bikes, and luckily I managed to get one today. The adrenaline rush is just too strong while on the GT 650, and since I had taken a brief TR earlier, the toe shifter wasn’t much of a problem this time around. Loved the whole experience and came back grinning.

I asked my SA Aniruddha to give me a quotation for the GT 650 in Rocker Red since to my surprise the Dux Deluxe colour has been discontinued for almost a year. Imagine the surprise I got since I just got the same colour quotation less than an hour ago!

I also casually asked about my fantasy (tubeless spoke wheels), and he mentioned that it wouldn’t be coming. Alas, I asked him if they had received the Tubeless spoke wheels for the Himalayan 450, but he replied that they are available only in the international markets. Had to tell him that RE indeed had launched it here in India when another senior SA stepped in to cover up and mention that they had not been briefed about the same.