Autocar reports that Royal Enfield will price the Interceptor and Continental GT twins at under Rs. 3 lakhs in India. This will make the latest Royal Enfields India’s cheapest twin cylinder motorcycles. Royal Enfield has just globally launched its all-new, twin cylinder engined motorcycles – the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650.
In the United States, the Interceptor 650 starts from US $ 5,799, and the Continental GT 650 starts from US $ 5,999, making these motorcycles just a few hundred dollars costlier than the Classic 500 ABS. Needless to say, this is super competitive pricing to say the least.
Currently, the cheapest twin cylinder engined motorcycle sold in India – the Kawasaki Ninja 300 – starts from Rs. 2.99 lakhs. Offering 650cc motorcycles at a sub-3 lakh price point is likely to make the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 massive hits in India considering the huge fan following that Royal Enfield already enjoys here.
Also, Royal Enfield wants to attractively dangle these motorcycles at existing customers, who number in millions. This is also the reason why the retro motorcycle brand is aiming to price the new twin cylinder motorcycles so sharply.
Both the Interceptor and Continental GT 650 are mechanically similar with only minor visual and ergonomic differences. Both bikes are powered by a brand new, 647cc four stroke parallel twin engine with 47 Bhp-52 Nm. This air-oil cooled engine gets a two seventy degree crank, fuel injection, four valve heads and an overhead camshaft as standard.
A 6 speed manual transmission is standard, and so is a slipper clutch. The new motorcycles also have twin channel ABS as standard. Royal Enfield claims fuel efficiency of about 25.5 Kmpl for the new twins, and this is very respectable indeed. While the Interceptor 650 has a laid back, upright riding position, the Continental GT 650 has rear set footpegs and clip-on handlebars to offer the rider an aggressive, racy riding position, in true blue cafe racer style. Both motorcycles are likely to be launched in India by early 2019.
