Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 & Continental GT 650: Bookings to open soon

Siddhartha Lal, the CEO of Eicher Limited – Royal Enfield’s parent company, has revealed the bookings timeline for the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 twins. The bookings will begin from the third financial quarter (October to December) of this year in a phased manner, he said. By this year’s festive season, both the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 are expected to be launched in India, as well as in international markets.

Here’s what the CEO said,

The Twin motorcycles are ready for the first global media ride planned for the last week of September in California; wherein close to top 100 journalists from across the world are expected to participate. We will begin bookings in a phased manner for these motorcycles starting from the third quarter of this financial year, across geographies. To better cater to demand, we have commenced work on Phase II of our Vallam Vadagal manufacturing facility and should begin production there by mid of FY2020.

The Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 represent Royal Enfield’s most ambitious motorcycles ever, in terms of engine design, performance and price. Both motorcycles will use the brand new, 650cc, parallel twin engine that is also expected to power a wide range of Royal Enfields in the future.

This engine is a four stroke unit with a 270 degrees crank shaft and air-oil cooling. It makes 47 Bhp-52 Nm, and revs to well over 7,000 rpm. Four valve heads, an overhead camshaft, electric start and fuel injection will be standard on this engine. A 6 speed manual gearbox –  again newly developed – with a slipper clutch will be offered with this engine.

Both the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 will get ABS as standard with disc brakes on both wheels. The wheels will be spoked units and are likely to run tubed tyres though. Both motorcycles are expected to be priced between Rs. 3-4 lakhs. The company has noted that it wants to keep them accessible to a wide range of current Royal Enfield motorcycle owners who’d like to upgrade to the new twins.

Via TOI