£2500more expensive.Willit holdits value
morefuanfueEnfield?Will itsfinishlast
longer?Onlytime will tell.
Engine-wise, thebike is as described
before. No pointless 'enginemodes'to
bofuer with. Brilliant gearchange, great
throttleconnectionand whileOlifuought
too many gears,Ifeel sixfuis perfectfor
those wantingto spendtimeon main
roads. 60mphis ju st under 4 0 00rpmin top,
with 70 mph just 500rpm higher,soyou can
cruise mainroadslike any modembike.No
unwanted vibes eifuer.
The handlingis okay,until you start
pushingon, whenconfidencewainsfrom
alackoffeedbackordampingofthe soft
springrate. Andfuegeometryisodd.But
thenfast ri ding isn'tthe remitforthe
Enfield.At normal speedsbalanceis good,
the bike nevergetstwitchy-quite the
reverseinfact.Agood potholedoessend
ashockup your bum, justlikefueearly
HinkleyBonnev
i
lles sufferedfrom.And
thefront springrate is so softhardbraking
easily getsthe ABStwitching.Andit'snot a
powerfulbrake:The KawasakiW65 0 /W800
hadworse,butfue'W'wasfuemost pitiful
brake I've encounteredon amodembike,so
beatingfuat islittleto be proud of.
Steeringlockis perfect,givinglow-speed
confidence,alongwithfuerear brake that
givesgoodfeel.Thatseatlooksfuin, but I
founditfine,evenforawholetankfull.The
pegstake alittle getting usedto, because
the clutchcasingsticksout, pushingyour
righ tleg out, butthe leftpegplacesyourfoot
furtheroutthan yourright! Many oldbikes
dofuesame,but you get used to it.'lyres felt
fine,well adaptedto the bikeandlook great.
Thesteel tankwill happilytake a
tankbag,whilethe silencers arenot too
highto impede panniers.Agood toolkit
hidesbehindthe lockablesidecover. The
pilliongrabrailisugly but effectiveand
holds bungeestofuepillionfootrestsfor
luggage.Whydofuerear shocksneed a
remotereservoir?And whilefuedownpipes
coolquickly(Ifuinkthey're double-skinned
fornoise), youhave to wait at least halfan
hourforfuesilencersto coolenoughto put
acover overit-fuey get seriouslyhot.
Imanagedover500 miles andthoroughly
enjoyedthe Enfield, wifuthe engine
loosening up,mpg gettingbetter-Iwas
gettingaround125 mile stoan£11.50fill
up, butfuat increasedto 145-andfue
brakeswerecomingalive. Icouldwhizzto
fueshopsforgrubandfueenginefuelled
perfectly,wifuno cold-starthunting:or I
couldcover 2 50 milesup to theoffice and
back, withno bum,wristorleg ache, in aday.CONCLUSION
The classicfans likedthe easeof use
mixedwiththe feel of an old bike,while
the modemriderslikedthe looksandtheeasewithwhich it could bepersonalised- bars,silencers,seatsand lightsalllook
easyto exchange.
Thesuspensionis poor and affects
braking whenriding hard,but thenif
that'show you ride youwouldn'tbuy an
Enfield-it'sfinefornormaluse andgives
an old-fashionedcomfort.I've beentold
the engine will easilydevelop morepower
overtime,butfornow 45bhpis plenty.
It makesyou use the bikeand feelslike
you're in control.It'sfun, it'seasy to ride
and it'snot expensive.
So is it betterthanthe StreetTurin? No,
butforthe price,thenyes.Think about
whatyou want yourbikefor, haveademo
andthe answerwill becomeclear.Butfor
now,the RoyalEnfield Interceptor650
getsathumbs-upfrom us.Cilitl