[maelstrom]

Hello all, first-time post from a brand new INT650 owner (2022 Sunset Strip, picked up yesterday 12 Oct 21) which serves as my very first motorcycle purchase, though I learned to ride within the past year on an old 1982 Suzuki GS650L. I've followed the forum for months as I got closer to the zero hour of purchase and have read through multiple threads, and from what I've gathered I'm an absolute rookie's rookie when it comes to motorcycle knowledge. I don't own a house, don't have a garage, don't have a set of tools, don't have anyone to go to in person for advice, the closest RE dealership is almost 3 hours away (meaning I am almost assuredly the only RE owner in my county if not entire section of upstate NY), and what motorcycle/RE-specific lingo I've picked up is almost exclusively through watching YouTube videos and reading what posts are here on the forum (although some of the abbreviations and shorthand terminology escapes me upon initial read-throughs). Look up the definition of cycling neophyte and I'm pretty sure my picture would be included.

I'm not a flashy sort of guy, never been comfortable drawing attention to myself and would rather lurk in the shadows upon the fringes and edges of any given environment, while everything I do has to serve some sort of pragmatic/practical purpose... with that said, I have been trying to gather ideas about what modifications might serve me best to put on the bike that are truly useful. You guys know bikes in general and certainly RE bikes way more than I do, so I figured I might be able to get some brass tacks-types of suggestions from people who have real-world applicable advice to offer. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Keep riding safe in the meantime. (I'd include a pic of my ride if I could figure out how to do it; not much of a technology guy, I'm afraid.)

[JessHerbst]

Welcome!  I’m new to this forum as well although I’ve been riding motorcycles since my teens. I had a several decade hiatus from riding motor powered two wheelers until last month when I got my 2022 Rocker Red GT.
 Cycling has evolved greatly in the last few decades and I have found several sources for continued education such as this forum very helpful.
Read all the posts you can muster, there is wisdom (and a little crap) to be found sometimes deep into a post.
 I also can recommend a YouTube channel: FortNine, a well produced channel with a wealth of general Motorcycle knowledge.
 Another Youtube channel more closely aimed at the Royal Enfield owner is: Stuart Fillingham. This guy owns several bikes but favors his Royal Enfields. He gives good practical advice and excellent how to videos.
  🦇💋

[Wrenchjockie]

Best mod is to improve your skills. Taking riding classes. The MSF basic and advanced. Lee Parks Total Control. And eventually track day schools that are street-riding oriented.
As far as the bike, suspension upgrade. Revalve forks. New shocks. Better seat. Tubeless tire conversion.

[DoBer]

Congratulations on your new ride and welcome to the club. If I were you, I would not worry about modifications until you identified a problem which justifies them. Especially, stay away from messing with suspension and emission systems. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with these. I think much of the hype especially about suspension issues is media induced and then customer amplified. It seems like some are trying to find a problem for a solution. There may however be some worthwhile modification.  I found the Interceptor stock seat very uncomfortable even on short rides and exchanged it for the Continental GT touring seat, much better. That of course is a rather personal issue. The stock seat may be fine for you. Tank pads will protect the paint finish where your knees touch the tank. Engine bars, even not much of a protection in a major crash, may prevent damage in a garage/driveway tipover. A small windshield will help keeping bugs etc. away from the hard to clean area between the gauges. I installed the DartClassic. There are cheaper windshields on the market, but the Dart is very easy to install in less than 10 minutes. Besides that, leave it alone and enjoy riding until a real problem shows and needs fixing.   

[iblastoff]

the bike is pretty good stock already.

some people upgrade the suspension. but if you're finding the ride is fine, then don't.

swapping the exhaust is probably the cheapest and biggest way to alter the bikes behaviour. you can lose a significant amount of pounds on the bike doing this. but a lot of people love the stock ones (i think they're just way too big physically too, but whatever)

a small but imperative mod for me was adding the hitchcock usb charger port and phone ram mount to my gt650. im one of those with a terrible sense of direction and do this with all my bikes.

if you scour ebay, you can get a lot of official royal enfield parts for much cheaper than your dealer (like the RE official fly screen, RE mirrors, intake covers, sump guard etc).

[NVDucati]

Hello all, first-time post from a brand new INT650 owner (2022 Sunset Strip, picked up yesterday 12 Oct 21) which serves as my very first motorcycle purchase, ...

Welcome and congratulations!
I'm always envious of anyone's first anything.

Put your break-in miles on and enjoy the rest of the riding season. Your pragmatic nature will guide you.
The bike is fine as delivered. Maybe an affordable van or trailer to keep it in would be pragmatic  .
Good times...

[Dutch Rider]

Welcome.
Just out of curiosity, "no home and no garage", where do you park the bike and where do you live..??
A RE Touring seat with firmer cushion either for the Interceptor or Continental GT is a must for most. And free flowing, lighter exhausts...

[Blazes Boylan]

Welcome and congratulations!
I'm always envious of anyone's first anything.

Put your break-in miles on and enjoy the rest of the riding season. Your pragmatic nature will guide you.
The bike is fine as delivered. Maybe an affordable van or trailer to keep it in would be pragmatic  .
Good times...

Excellent advice.

I bought my Interceptor in February and immediately set about modifying it--TEC 2-into-1 exhaust, Hagon rear shocks, YSS fork upgrade kit (I even pulled the dampers out and modified those), handlebars, seat, clutch cable, throttle, and much much more--all before I'd broken it in or even spent any appreciable time on it.  (I did months of research and had very particular ideas about what I wanted and a near aversion to certain aspects of the stock bike.)  If I'd bought it in spring or summer I would have spent a lot more time riding and less time tinkering, but it was freezing outside so I poured my excitement into taking the bike apart. 

I'm happy with the changes and love the way the bike looks but my haste robbed me of the pleasure of getting to know the stock bike and of being able to appreciate the modifications one step at a time.  If I could go back and set myself straight I'm sure I'd ignore myself and do it all exactly the same way.  I'm rash and stubborn.

[whippers]

Congratulations and welcome. Great colour choice too. Like others have mentioned I’d just ride it and not change anything save for the seat if you find it uncomfortable as many do.  Almost all of the mods you can make are largely aesthetic or taste based and make very little difference to the modest performance envelope of the bike. You do have ti spend quite a bit of money to substantially make an impact on the bikes dynamic limitations (budget suspension and modest hp) but the charms of the bike shine brightly through these for beginners and experts alike.

I would concentrate on learning the craft of riding and getting expert tuition is probably a great idea. Riding well is not necessarily intuitive and learning by trial and error not the most desirable approach.

[Voun]

Welcome ! you made a good choice as for a first experience the interceptor is smooth as silk and always reliable on the road.
Take the breaking-in time to familiarize at 4.000 rpm, you will see it's no punishment at all !
And always keep in mind that we are more fragile than in a car and that we need 4 eyes to ride safely ...

[bluebus]

hi ya mate welcome ,really like my inter take it easy

[Bilgemaster]

Welcome aboard! If you're in or near the Adirondacks it's where that 650 will really come alive. If you are up there I envy you.

I don't want to scare you off or cause unwarranted "buyer's remorse", but your first order of business on a rainy day might be to make certain your bike's 3 year free Roadside Recovery Service is all registered and squared away. It has come to the attention of some new owners that the dealerships haven't always taken the time to make certain their bikes' VINs were accounted for with the recovery service, leaving a few unlucky folks stranded roadside, usually by some minor issue. Calling the dealership might be a good place to start, and you'll definitely want to have that recovery contact number and other info in your wallet--maybe do a quick test call with the recovery folks to confirm you're all set if needed.

If your tool situation is really meager, as you say, and you've got a Harbor Freight reasonably nearby, you might do well to grab one of their 105-Piece 4-Drawer Tool Kits, as described in this old thread: https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php?topic=25828.0. Currently asking 50-something bucks, they very often go on sale. No, they ain't the pinnacle of the toolmaker's art, but they really ain't half bad as a starter kit that you can build on. However, you would do well to avoid their slightly less expensive 130 Piece toolkit. They are fairly dreadful quality. If you're there anyhow, you might also grab a few other needful items at a bargain, notably their "No. 42 Medium Threadlock" (https://www.harborfreight.com/threadlocker-no-42-10-ml-medium-strength-65192.html), a drop of which on threads will gently help keep nuts and other fasteners in place against the vibration to which Enfields are often prone.

But once again, welcome to the Horde of the Archaic!

[lucky phil]

Hello all, first-time post from a brand new INT650 owner (2022 Sunset Strip, picked up yesterday 12 Oct 21) which serves as my very first motorcycle purchase, though I learned to ride within the past year on an old 1982 Suzuki GS650L. I've followed the forum for months as I got closer to the zero hour of purchase and have read through multiple threads, and from what I've gathered I'm an absolute rookie's rookie when it comes to motorcycle knowledge. I don't own a house, don't have a garage, don't have a set of tools, don't have anyone to go to in person for advice, the closest RE dealership is almost 3 hours away (meaning I am almost assuredly the only RE owner in my county if not entire section of upstate NY), and what motorcycle/RE-specific lingo I've picked up is almost exclusively through watching YouTube videos and reading what posts are here on the forum (although some of the abbreviations and shorthand terminology escapes me upon initial read-throughs). Look up the definition of cycling neophyte and I'm pretty sure my picture would be included.

I'm not a flashy sort of guy, never been comfortable drawing attention to myself and would rather lurk in the shadows upon the fringes and edges of any given environment, while everything I do has to serve some sort of pragmatic/practical purpose... with that said, I have been trying to gather ideas about what modifications might serve me best to put on the bike that are truly useful. You guys know bikes in general and certainly RE bikes way more than I do, so I figured I might be able to get some brass tacks-types of suggestions from people who have real-world applicable advice to offer. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Keep riding safe in the meantime. (I'd include a pic of my ride if I could figure out how to do it; not much of a technology guy, I'm afraid.)

My advice would be a set of quality mufflers if for nothing more than to shed a considerable amount of weight and upgrade to the later more pillow shaped OEM seat as it's a lot more comfortable. The other mods are just quality enhancers such as hand levers, mirrors and indicators. This seems to be where they have done the obvious cost cutting, the "bones" are quite good. The suspension is quite adequate for most riding and if you're not into "bling" and "frills" and dont need a lot of back slapping attention then you can discount 90% of the mods you'll see around.   

Ciao

[Effektor]

In previous years RE was notorious for overloading relay sockets with dielectric grease. It may be worth checking that sooner rather than later, and by later, I mean after it potentially cuts out on you unexpectedly. A search of the forum should yield a thread or two on it.

[GSS]

Welcome to the group and enjoy your shiny new bike!  Don’t stress the little stuff and take your time on picking your customizations.  We are a fairly helpful bunch who continually fix things that aren’t broken 

My only minor suggestion would be to download the factory service manual so that you have guidance on how to take things apart as well as torque setting for the bolts when you put things back again. Thanks.