Royal Enfield has listened to its fans and delivered us with the new Classic 650. This is something that has been in the works for quite some time now and people have been begging RE to bring a higher capacity Classic in their lineup after the discontinuation of the Classic 500.
This is probably the rightful successor to the Classic 500, which is still considered one of the better motorcycles in their single cylinder lineup. The Classic 650 does not have a single cylinder thumper though and instead uses the same 649cc parallel twin engine, but we aren’t complaining even a bit with that butter smooth twin cylinder adorning the retro looks of the Classic.
Royal Enfield Classic 650: Design
The Royal Enfield Classic 650 is the same familiar design. It just looks like a bigger Classic 350. The tank shape, the wheels and are 19-inch at the front and 18-inches at the rear. The Classic 650 is based more on the Shotgun 650 rather than on the Interceptor 650 and shares most of its components from the former. The wired spoke wheels are still there and as standard you only get a single seater option but we are sure that RE will introduce a pillion seat accessory.
Royal Enfield Classic 650: Mechanicals
Royal Enfield has kept the same 649cc parallel twin engine from their other 650cc lineup. It produces 47 bhp and 52 Nm of torque and is paired to a 6-speed gearbox with a slipper-assist clutch as well. The gearing however is similar to that of the Shotgun. Other components like the 43mm telescopic forks at the front are all similar to that of the Shotgun.
Tyres are MRF Nylohigh which measure 100/90/R19 up front and 140/70/R18 at the rear. The suspension travel is also the same 120 mm at the front and 90 mm at the rear matching the specs of the Shotgun. It also has a 14.8L tank making it the largest tank on any 650 RE offered currently. The ground clearance stands at 154 mm and the seat height is 800 mm. It is also a pretty heavy motorcycle and weighs in at 243 kgs. Dual channel ABS is going to be standard.
Royal Enfield has given the Classic 650 a rather rudimentary gauge cluster and it is more or less the same unit as the regular Classic 350 but it does have a gear position indicator. Royal Enfield will also offer the tripper navigation pod as standard on all the versions. We don’t get a tachometer and a gauge cluster similar to the Bear 650 would have also worked quite well.
Royal Enfield Classic 650: Launch And Pricing
Royal Enfield will probably bring this motorcycle on the roads by early next year. This is going to be the sixth iteration of the 650 motorcycles with the recent launch of the Bear 650. We can expect it to be one of the more expensive motorcycles in the lineup and it will be offered in 4 colour options.
Comments are closed.