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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It is really a good price but it just doesn't capture the attention. I do love the Speed Twin though but that (new) is almost double the price of the RE Conti GT. Even the Street twin is about 10k more than the RE. For the kind of pull the RE offers and at its price point, it looks like a good deal, just don't expect Triumph levels of build though. Wondering about aftersales support too

The 2019 Street Twins are best though. Comes with better brakes and 10hp more than the earlier models.

Yup, I think I got in touch with some of them via FB. So far they say the bike is pretty reliable and have no issues so far. Brand really needs more marketing apart from FB!

Actually I am not into really retro, retro. I do like it skewed a bit more towards modern like maybe 55% modern and just the looks 45% retro. So I do like bikes like the R9T or the Street and Speed twins but I like Royal Enfield's price. A Japanese modern retro I was considering is the SV650X. That is pretty cool. Lower price too than the RE.

This post has been edited by lowpro: Sep 22 2020, 02:24 PM

I hope so. Seems they are under threat too from newer models and other brands even in India - Kawasaki W175 and the Honda H'ness 350. They need to seriously do 2 things - 1) modernise their line-up like Triumph (I have always said Triumph had a good business model mix of retro and modern bikes to find the younger market). The other thing they need is look at emerging trends. They can't go on selling old flavoured bikes to their home market forever while ignoring the requirements of the international market.

As for the local market, to put the 650 twins with taxes, on the road below RM40k would open up a wider market for them. Now it is priced really too close to the Triumph Street Twin and you can also get multiple Japanese bikes with way more cc and performance. The retro market here is very niche so they need a strong USP to pull numbers away from Triumph and the similarly priced Japanese bikes.

Nice but the rocking from left to right at idle due to the engine format and the lack of a tachometer in models other than the racer and special is a bit funny.

This post has been edited by lowpro: Oct 26 2020, 08:11 AM

With this Thai assembly happening soon:

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54429714

there is a possibility or EITHER one 1) Prices come down or 2) the dealers here make more money per bike...

Yup. Curious as to which direction the local importer will take; either lower the price to fight the competition (I heard the new Triumph Trident will come in with a very, very enticing price compared to the RE 650 Twins), or, to maintain the price and earn more per bike...my take as a marketing person for donkey's years, would be to lower prices. The 650 twins need to offer a pricing advantage over the MT07, the Z650, the CB650R and the upcoming Trident simply to build up mass (and public notice of the brand). They just don't offer the performance desired by the younger target market that RE needs to pull into the brand, hence, pricing would be a good initial strategy. Selling on nostalgia alone isn't going to work and they will just attract a more mature age group. Not something you want if you have other models to come by later on in the product pipeline, like the more affordable Meteor and the 650 Twin based cruiser.

Heard that the Meteor could probably come in next year...but no idea exactly when or the pricing. The Meteor has a Tripper navigation device that I hope would be made available in other RE bikes later on...that also I wonder when...

By the way, looks like this is a private room for both of us

Hahahahaha, didn't plan on seeing you in this thread Open forum but didn't think many would read what goes on in here.

Yup, you hit the nail right on the head about youngsters being not so interested in cruisers or retro simply because they're loaded with...no tech! . So, RE needs a much stronger proposition instead of selling just on nostalgia to push metal. Price is a good start...accessories is next and then offering performance upgrades at affordable prices. One of the fun things of buying a retro is customising and for it to happen, the base price needs to be affordable to make the entry point easy in the first place.

This post has been edited by lowpro: Nov 11 2020, 08:48 AM

No wonder those guys in India keep asking about fuel consumption Not a big deal here though

Yup, the Trident is an excellent new roadster with a hint of classic. It is, I would say in the same formula as the Honda neo-classics or the Suzuki SV650X. They're modern bikes that look modern with just a hint of the past but they're largely closer to modern than retro.

My son asked me to download Discord. Did that, used it once or twice...it is still there somewhere in my phone...probably waiting to be uninstalled

Yup, it is a real pity but hopefully the new models coming in will give the importer a chance to re-align the pricing and work out more units on the road. RE is a decent brand with a chance to succeed. Just need the right strategy to do so.

Well, hopefully they can lower the prices a bit when they start ASEAN assembly in Thailand which should give RE some cost savings. They really need to sell on price for this moment to build up units in operation to make it worthwhile for dealers. Dealers need to stock up spare parts and they need bikes to service...

There should be quite a lot more of these Conti GT 650 or Inter 650 running on Malaysian roads soon. Thankfully, the new distributor has the right business model in place to increase market share. The old distributor wanted to perhaps sell just a few bikes and relax for the whole month; not a good idea for a brand that wants to increase market share, order more parts and bring down manufacturing costs for better profitability...they failed to understand that RE is not a premium brand and needs to start low. The irony is this. The RE Conti GT is on average about RM5k to RM10k cheaper than my SV650X in other countries but it was the opposite with the previous distributor. Its no wonder why they lost the brand distributorship

Can't use that point. The SV650X is CBU Japan...so, it is still cheaper than the CBU India? The RE bikes should be cheaper regardless whether Thai made or not. Anyway, let's hope that the new distributors do the brand some justice. I am not a fan of their Bullet, Classic or Himalayan models but I do hope that their 650 Twins catch a goof share of the market here. They need to be priced to penetrate.

That was the previous distributor based in Shah Alam. I believe the new guys know what they're doing and from my chats with the key people, their business model is different with a strategy to increase numbers. Only way is to make it affordable (much more than before).

You're right about the MT07 being ugly. Come to think of it, so is the new MT09. Well, let's hope that RE under Didi gets a better push here in Malaysia. They do look good. The 120 anniversary 650 models look super but unfortunately, Malaysia couldn't get allocation

Between RM35k and RM39k. I heard it would definitely be below RM40k.