Royal Enfield’s upcoming products – Continental GT 650 and the Interceptor are the latest talks of the town. Royal Enfield will soon launch both the motorcycles in India but what are the things that you do not know about them? Here’s a list of ten things that you don’t know about the latest Royal Enfield twins.
India-spec bike will be the same as the international models
Royal Enfield faced a lot of wrath with the quality of the Himalayan in India. While many reported about the reliability issues of the motorcycle in India, there were many differences in the export and the local market, which led to a lot of discussions.
The upcoming Interceptor and the Continental GT will not have any differences between the India-spec version and the export model. Siddharth Lal, CEO of Eicher (RE’s parent company) himself said the same.
Will be affordable
Royal Enfield is targeting the people who will upgrade from the current breed of 350cc and 500cc motorcycles in India. Both the upcoming models will carry a very competitive and affordable price to net such buyers who will upgrade from their current steed.
Estimated price revealed
According to a Royal Enfield dealership in France, the motorcycles will carry a price tag of around € 7,500 in France. Currently, Royal Enfield motorcycles in France are priced at 244% of the Indian prices. Similarly, the upcoming motorcycles can be priced at around Rs. 3.2 lakh in India when launched.
Affordable maintenance
The Royal Enfield will ensure that the customers do not pay hefty maintenance for the new models. Yes, the service costs will be a bit higher than the current 500cc models but it will not be extremely steep as other CBU motorcycles available in India in the same segment.
Mileage on the higher side
Siddharth Lal said the upcoming twins will be affordable to run. It means that the new parallel-twin engine will be fuel efficient. Royal Enfield is yet to reveal the official specifications of the engines so we would not know the exact fuel efficiency figure but we can expect it to return around 25 km/l. The engine is a 47 PS – 52 Nm parallel twin unit paired with a 6-speed transmission.
Will fulfil the chrome lover’s heart
Royal Enfield revealed the chrome versions of both the motorcycles at the ongoing Rider Mania in Goa. The shiny chrome cover the fuel tank and mudguard and look classy. The chrome dipped versions are expected to be present at the time of the launch.
International launch first
Both the new motorcycles will first go on sale in the European markets first. Royal Enfield will do international launches prior to the Indian launch. In India, the motorcycle is expected to be launched sometime after the Auto Expo, which is scheduled to happen in February 2018.
Will miss out on the signature thump
The new parallel twin engine will miss out the signature thump of single-cylinder Royal Enfield motorcycles. The new engine sounds like a rumble rather than the distinct Royal Enfield sound.
First Royal Enfield with short stroke engine
The new engine is the first ever Royal Enfield engine with short stroke rather than the really long stroke engines that Royal Enfield has produced till date. The shorter stroke will ensure that the engine can rev till higher RPMs, unlike the other Royal Enfields that struggle to go to a higher rev band.
160+ top speed guaranteed!
This will be the fastest ever production Royal Enfield. Eicher’s CEO, Siddharth Lal and Royal Enfield’s president, Rudratej Pratap managed to hit 170 km/h mark on the new bikes at Royal Enfield’s UK test track. This ensures that the upcoming motorcycles will have a top speed of more than 160 km/h.