Author Topic: Motorcycle Consumer News tests the new Interceptor  (Read 3264 times)

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Richard230

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on: November 23, 2018, 04:16:03 pm
The December issue of Motorcycle Consumer News contains a four-page test of the new Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, titled: "Bang for the Buck". There is no point in detailing their comments, as they are mostly all positive and you will have heard them all before in other recent reviews of this new model.

The only negative things that they had to say were that the suspension can be overwhelmed when cornering at speeds over 80 mph (no big surprise there) and that the ABS system works poorly, compared with the ABS systems that they have tested on other motorcycles. They comment that: "Aggressive braking was erratic beyond 70 percent of level pull. Inconsistent surging and a delayed refresh rate resulted in slow and late engagement that was intrusive for far too long. This resulted in longer-than-necessary stops."s

But what you really might be interested in is their statistical and performance testing page.  A photo of this page is attached.
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ace.cafe

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Reply #1 on: November 24, 2018, 01:55:30 pm
Power at the rear wheel about 2hp more than I expected. Not bad.

Fuel economy lower than I expected.

Could be interesting to mod it.
 8)
« Last Edit: November 24, 2018, 02:25:01 pm by ace.cafe »
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The Old Coot

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Reply #2 on: November 24, 2018, 04:09:19 pm
I've always found that Fuel economy is tied to the right wrist. The more the Fun the lower the mileage...price ya gotta pay.

The more I think about it and what I do on a bike anymore the more I am leaning to one of these rather than a new Versys. I find that long haul rides are making up a lot less of my trips these day. I'd keep my 2012 Versys and add to the stable.
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ace.cafe

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Reply #3 on: November 25, 2018, 01:39:33 pm
So, I did a basic power curve comparison vs our Ace CGT Fireball 535.

The Interceptor has about 2 ft-lbs torque more than the 535 Fireball, pretty much all the way from bottom to top. This gives it roughly 2 rwhp more all the way up too, except at the very top where the Interceptor extends its rpm and power advantage up to about 4 rwhp more.

So, given similar weight loads, the Interceptor should have a slight advantage over the Fireball 535 at pretty much anywhere along the rpm range. At the very top rpms above 6000 rpm,  the 650 twin would be about 10% stronger than the 535.

I feel okay about this, given the 22% bigger engine with OHC 4-valve short stroke layout with two cylinders. And the 535 gets better mpg while punching above its displacement class.

All in all, the Interceptor should go quite like the old vintage ones, and it looks the retro part. I could imagine myself getting one someday, maybe. Of course, I would mod it!
 :)
« Last Edit: November 25, 2018, 02:20:29 pm by ace.cafe »
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GlennF

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Reply #4 on: November 25, 2018, 11:30:04 pm

All in all, the Interceptor should go quite like the old vintage ones, and it looks the retro part. I could imagine myself getting one someday, maybe. Of course, I would mod it!
 :)

It seems highly likely the stock tuning will be pretty tame with lots of scope for performance mods. 


The Old Coot

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Reply #5 on: November 26, 2018, 12:01:58 am
So there could be an Ace 650 Fireball in the wings? Well we can hope can't we.  ::)
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ace.cafe

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Reply #6 on: November 26, 2018, 02:00:16 pm
So there could be an Ace 650 Fireball in the wings? Well we can hope can't we.  ::)
Maybe.
I am concerned about the cost of doing a twin, where we need to do twice as much work for two cylinders. This RE market seems very cost sensitive.
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The Old Coot

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Reply #7 on: November 26, 2018, 05:05:17 pm
Well cheaper motorcycles are that way. After all putting $3000.00 in to a top of the line H-D or Ducati isn't that bad considering what they cost BUT when you're talking spending $3000.00 into a $6000.00 motorcycle you have to stop and think.
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9fingers

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Reply #8 on: December 03, 2018, 12:25:45 pm
This may be a dumb comment but maybe a Powertronic/EJK/PCV and a couple of new pipes would up the ante a bit, for not a ton of money. And I don't actually know what goes into a Fireball, being relatively new here, but would a new piston with slightly higher compression (2 of them!) be a relatively inexpensive way to get more power? Mind you, getting 0 to 60 in the 5 1/2 second range is plenty fast for me.
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ace.cafe

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Reply #9 on: December 03, 2018, 01:06:29 pm
This may be a dumb comment but maybe a Powertronic/EJK/PCV and a couple of new pipes would up the ante a bit, for not a ton of money. And I don't actually know what goes into a Fireball, being relatively new here, but would a new piston with slightly higher compression (2 of them!) be a relatively inexpensive way to get more power? Mind you, getting 0 to 60 in the 5 1/2 second range is plenty fast for me.
9fingers

The fueling mods will get you ability to tune for any free-flow changes, especially exhaust system. They might talk well of the sound of the pipes, but anything that passes regulations is restrictive. The most bang for the buck is free flow exhaust and fueling adjustment.

Regarding pistons, they are already 9.5:1, which won't be able to go much higher. Maybe a little bit. That whole engine would need to be assessed for what it would need for mods.

The Fireball has variants for Iron Barrel, AVL, and UCE. They all are done specifically to address the needs of each of the 3 platforms. Basically for the singles, the Fireball approximately doubles the factory horsepower. For the twin, it would probably not double power, but we would have to see what could be done.
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