[wildbill]

 I was talking to the dealer yesterday and I was suppose to be getting a 650 interceptor in august. he's been told this is very un-likely and its now looking like November.
could be just teething problems or fixing problems.....LOL

[Guaire]

At the Washington, DC motorshow, I was told 'end of year' by the RE people at the display spot. That's for coming to the USA. AUS is supposed to be before the US. I suppose work out the kinks on those Aussie customers.

[Warwick]

We have talked about this bike for years (and years it seems)! I gave up waiting two years ago and bought a CBR1000f and have now updated to a VFR1200F. These bikes are perfect for the large amount of km's I do particularly as I don't drive a car and tour a lot. I still love my iron lung bullet for around town as it cruises at 85Kms/h. Lightning in the shed.
I am amazed that there is still no ride report for the interceptor / continental as the bike has been out and about for a while now. I saw them in Sydney and they look great!! But hey! how long can you stay interested or enthused???
Get on with it RE!
My rant for the day
Warwick

[gizzo]

RE should have just STFU about the new twins until they were about ready to roll them out. Instead of getting potential customers excited so far ahead of time that they lose interest and move on before the bikes even made available.

[ace.cafe]

All they accomplished was killing the 535GT, by overshadowing it with rumors about the twins.

Brill!
 

[Richard230]

RE should have just STFU about the new twins until they were about ready to roll them out. Instead of getting potential customers excited so far ahead of time that they lose interest and move on before the bikes even made available.

They are not the only vehicle manufacturer that does stuff like that. I get the feeling that when manufacturers announce a new model long before it will be available, they are trying to undermine the sales of their competition.  But sometimes announcements like that can backfire and you end up shooting yourself in the foot. 

[paulie]

I had one on order, but got tired waiting, and cancelled it after buying a 2005 Triumph Bonneville. Still got the RE CGT, if anyone would like to buy it.

[Narada]

I wanted an RE twin in 2015, before we knew it would be an Interceptor / CGT.   They look great now and I would love one, but there is a problem...  I didn't want to wait and bought a 2015 Bonneville T-100 which I now can't see parting with,    and Bholenath the Madrass Missile (C5) is a keeper for sure! 

I will test ride an Interceptor when they come out and we'll see... 

[Guaire]

I wanted an RE twin in 2015, before we knew it would be an Interceptor / CGT.   They look great now and I would love one, but there is a problem...  I didn't want to wait and bought a 2015 Bonneville T-100 which I now can't see parting with,    and Bholenath the Madrass Missile (C5) is a keeper for sure! 

I will test ride an Interceptor when they come out and we'll see... 

  I believe the Interceptor will weigh less than the Triumph. Making the 650 easier to handle.

[Arizoni]

The curb weight of the RE 650 is: 436.6 pounds (198 kg) for the Continental GT Twin and 445.4 pounds (202 kg) for the Interceptor 650 Twin.

This and other interesting information was revealed on the BHP forum.

If it works, here is a link to the topic:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/201210-scoop-royal-enfield-650-twins-specs-leaked.html

[Richard230]

There are some interesting oil specifications at that link. Such as a dry fill of 3.9 liters and a full oil change of 3.1 liters. So somewhere there is .8 liters hiding in the engine during an oil and filter change. Sounds kind of familiar to me. And the new engine requires 10W-50 full synthetic oil. That seems like a rare and expensive oil for a low-power Indian motorcycle to require. 

And then the fuel specification is for E20.    Don't let central governments hear about that.    If they think that motorcycles engines can be designed to accept twice the amount of ethanol than they currently do, they will be jumping for joy. 

And then we have an alternator with an output of only 153 watts. That is not going to leave much reserve electrical power to run your electric clothing. 

And what is a fork oil weight of 2W25? 

[Arizoni]

I notice the 153 watts of power applies when the engine is running at 1100 rpm.  That would be just a hair below the 1200 rpm factory recommended speed.

All of the alternators I know of provide a lot more power than that when the engine is running faster than an idle speed. 
For instance, my 2011 G5 is barely making 12 volts at idle with the headlight on.
At 2000+ rpm the voltage is up in the 12v range.

As for the E20 fuel, that is the maximum.  It's good to see that RE at least knows about the crappy alcohol/gas we have to put up with and they designed the engine to handle more alcohol than we presently have.

[Guaire]

I notice the 153 watts of power applies when the engine is running at 1100 rpm.  That would be just a hair below the 1200 rpm factory recommended speed.

All of the alternators I know of provide a lot more power than that when the engine is running faster than an idle speed. 
For instance, my 2011 G5 is barely making 12 volts at idle with the headlight on.
At 2000+ rpm the voltage is up in the 12v range.

As for the E20 fuel, that is the maximum.  It's good to see that RE at least knows about the crappy alcohol/gas we have to put up with and they designed the engine to handle more alcohol than we presently have.

E20 is scary.
  I have a friend in the armature winding business. It may be time to design a high performance alternator. It's been a problem with the UCE, barely enough power to run the ignition coil.

[Richard230]

I now see what Arizoni was saying.  The alternator output is given at idle speed.  Kind of odd. Most manufacturers list the maximum "nominal" alternator output, which probably occurs around something like 4k rpm. You would think that any modern motorcycle with fuel injection and ABS, along with whatever might require electrical power during the bike's model lifetime, would have at least a 350 watt maximum output. 

[Arizoni]

I am a little bummed about the lighting on the new motorcycle.

It looks like all of the bulbs are halogen rather than LED's.
Seems in these modern times, with LED's low power consumption and long life they would have been a better choice.