Royal Enfield Continental GT 650

Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 is a commuter bike available at a starting price of Rs. 2,81,806 in India. It is available in 3 variants and 5 colours with top variant price starting from Rs. 3,02,890. The Continental GT 650 is powered by 648cc BS6 engine which develops a power of 47 bhp and a torque of 52 Nm. With both front and rear disc brakes, Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 comes up with anti-locking braking system. This Continental GT 650 bike weighs 198 kg and has a fuel tank capacity of 12.5 liters.

The Continental GT 650 is the sportier of the two models based on the 650cc twin cylinder platform from Royal Enfield. It follows the café racer format, and eschews the pillion seat for a better experience for the focused rider.

The Continental GT has at its heart a BS6-compliant, fuel-injected 648cc parallel twin air/oil cooled motor that generates 46.8bhp and 52Nm. It feeds the rear wheel via a six-speed gearbox and chain drive. The chassis, brakes and suspension are all modern-feeling, with all the charm that their retro looks offer. The brakes are single discs at both ends, with a 320mm disc at the front, and a 240mm disc at the rear. ABS is standard. The suspension has conventional forks at the front and twin gas-charged shock absorbers at the rear, with preload adjustment. The tyres are technically tubeless but they do require a tube inside as the spoked 18-inch rims are not airtight.

Instrumentation is also retro, with a twin-pod cluster housing an analogue speedo and tacho, with a small digital pod offering information about the fuel level, odometer and two trip meters. In a similar vein, the lighting also offers no LEDs at all and no DRLs – a simple round headlamp does the job. The Continental GT 650 offers lower handlebars and rearset footpegs compared to its twin, the Interceptor 650, which makes for a more committed riding position and thus eggs you on to go quicker.

The Continental GT 650 is available in five different colour schemes, four of which are single colours – black, silver, white and an extremely fetching blue – and a single twin-tone paint scheme, grey/black. The motorcycle competes on price with the KTM 390 Duke, although in spec it is a lot closer to the Kawasaki Z650. However, neither of the two is a retro-styled café racer.