RE Continental GT 650 review | TheRevviewer.com

 Royal Enfield is not a bike, it is a symbol of status and royalty. It is an emotion of achievement and contentment when you buy one and when you ride one, oh boy its an ecstasy. RE in the older days was ever old man’s dream, you read that right – OLD man. But what did RE do to pitch their whole community youth centric that it has a never ending fanbase and gave us kids a bike we wish to own for, it launched the Continental GT 650.

 

Powertrain

The GT650 has the same 650 cc parallel twin cylinder engine shared with the Interceptor. It produces 46bhps of power and 53 Nm of torque. Now trust me, This is a lot. Unlike the earlier 350 classic this bike was very refined, My teeth were not shaking, my legs were not fatigued and my hands in good shape. This engine is enough to scare you to death if you are a beginner. The GT can do 0- 100 in 6.3s, FYI a BMW 330i does 0-100 in 7.2s and it costs 60 lakhs. So the engine is just spectacular on this one. Not all good though, the bike seems to be very vibrative on the top-end (post 6.5k RP) But that’s something I can put up with. The exhaust on this one was one of the best exhausts ive heard as a parallel twin (Ninja you there?), that growling café racer ready to take over some streets.

 

Dynamics

Now let’s not beat around the bush, This is not a dynamics or a race spec bike. It is a humble café racer which can push every racing bike in the price range to its limits in day to day senarios. This bike is 211Kgs which is heavy and you feel the weight, It almost kills you to take a tight u-turn on this thing. But, it isn’t all bad, Even tough it misses out on monoshocks at the rear, It had a very complaint high ride with the bike not being too soft. It wasn’t very hard on the potholes either so over all a very complaint setup for city and touring purposes. Breaking was good but really missed out on dual discs. Racing needs? Get a KTM.

Features

Now RE had bad reputation in the mid 2010s for being outdated and not having features. RE has come a long way with a big list of features. Starting from a full LED headlamp, Semi digital display, Charging ports, Fuel and trip meters (pun intended). It now also get Wire spoke wheels to keep the retro look of the bike on and the latest RE rotary switches, Honestly not a big fan of those but they look cool.

Build

This is one place I can never ever doubt a RE. It is one brand which can actually be passed on for generations unlike the plastic toys we get in the market. They are not difficult to maintain, they don’t have structural issues, and you get service points even in Ladakh. The Metal is mesmerizing, paint is good, the graphics are neat and the Retro Café look of the bike is very appealing even for the youth.

Special edition GT650

 Final Verdict

I was not a RE guy, Trust me I used to despise its existence as it was so outdated did not have anything but then I drove an RE and things took a Big Plot twist. RE is just RE, The way it drives the way it accelerates the way it looks, Nothing can ever beat that. Priced at 4 lakhs OTR It is an expensive choice to make but trust me, nothing in the segment can give you the feel that gives you on the Royal Enfield.