Eicher CEO Siddhartha Lal has revealed the timeline for the launch of the new twin cylinder bikes Royal Enfield has just revealed. Both the Interceptor 650 and the Continental GT650 will be launched in Europe first, well before April 2018. In India, the bikes will be launched in ‘summer’, which is between May-June 2018.
Both the bikes will be built in India, at one of Royal Enfield’s factories in Chennai. The bikes are expected to feature more than of Indian parts, and this is expected to make them very affordable to buy, and also to run and maintain. One of the biggest talking point about these bikes is the new engine.
The brand new parallel twin engine these bikes features displaces 650cc. It produces 47 PS of peak power and 52 Nm of peak torque. The short stroke engine is designed to offer great mid range performance that is thrilling for riders upgrading from Royal Enfield 350s and 500s, but not overwhelming them with too much abrupt power.
To make the bike more rideable, Royal Enfield has added a 6 speed gearbox and a slipper clutch. Dual channel ABS will be standard on both the bikes, which gets disc brakes on both wheels. Fuel injection and oil cooling will be standard on the new engine.
The bikes will be the fastest that Royal Enfield has ever built in India, with top speeds of over 160 Kph. 0-100 Kph acceleration will also be strong, well under 8 seconds. The bikes will also get a lot of official accessory options that owners can choose from while buying.
By the end of 2018, Royal Enfield hopes to have the bike in each of its 750 dealerships in India. This indicates a phased launch of these bikes across India. We expect prices to start from around 3 lakh rupees, making these bikes the most expensive Enfields ever sold here.
Via Auto.NDTV