What do you guys think of the Royal Enfield brand here in Malaysia? Indian made but British brand name - They still have English ties. Harris Performance which Royal Enfield owns is still based in UK. I recently test rode the Continental GT 650 twin which is a cafe racer type bike and the Himalayan a single cylinder 410cc ADV. I found the Himalayan pretty decent as it's lower seat height made it more accessible to shorties like me but for a single, I found it maybe a bit pricey. What I like is the Conti 650. Very punchy engine despite having just 47hp. The throttle response was pretty good and handling was decent as well. Build quality not at Triumph levels but acceptable to me for the lower price at about 47k.
Would like to know your thoughts guys on the brand, servicing (very limited now) and also the Continental GT or Interceptor in comparison to the obvious rivals (those who have ridden the rivals do chip in with your comments) - Triumph street twin 900 and Moto Guzzi V7 III 750 and maybe the Kawa W800. Love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Personally, I prefer the slightly more aggressive acceleration of the Conti GT as compared to the V7 and Street Twin despite having lower power...could be the gearing or torque settings. And the cafe racer position (where the handle bars are taken care of by clip on units and the rider footpegs are set slightly higher and further back as compared to its more relaxed sibling, the Interceptor) also gave it a slightly sharper turn in when cornering as the rider's weight is shifted slight more to the front.
As for the Himalayan, well, I'm not so much a fan of ADVs in the first place... but do share if you have an opinion. For someone with shorter inseams, I think this would be cool for them, especially those looking for something not intimidating in terms of height, which is not from your usual Japanese suspects and, with a 'lower' price that is easy to ride and handle as well.
They sell more of their classic 500 though as I was told but those too are not my cup of tea as well.
There are more techy, modern cafe racer or retro inspired Japanese models like the SV650X and the Kawa Z900RS or even the Honda CB1000R but those are a very different kettle of fish altogether. Same formula but thoroughly different in execution - very much more modernised.
Picture courtesy of Motorcyclenews.net
This post has been edited by lowpro: Aug 21 2020, 10:01 AM
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Royal Enfield Continental GT, Test ride & brand impressions