In an interview with the ET Auto, Eicher Motors CEO Siddhartha Lal revealed that the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 will have a slightly more comfortable riding position than the Continental GT 535.
Royal Enfield has recently discontinued its café racer offering, the Continental GT. In November last year, the bike’s sales figure reportedly went down to just three units. It is likely that the low sales was one of the reasons for the bike getting pulled off the market. Another reason is the fact that a café racer with a bigger engine (GT 650) will enter our shores in the summer of this year. Apart from the bigger engine in the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650, the company has also tuned the bike to make it more usable. Speaking to the news site, Lal said:
One thing we have done is taken ergonomics to the next level. A lot of our customers tend to ride a Continental GT and actually, there are lots of young riders. But there are some older riders and for them crouching down too much for a long time gets a bit tricky. We've made the ergonomics slightly easier and comfortable so it's not like extremely committed. And of course, the chassis concept is the same because we started with the twin-downtube frame taken from the Continental GT 535. But we again refined and improved that so obviously everything is hopefully one level up.
The new twin cylinder engine has an engine capacity of 648 cc. The SOHC, 4-valve unit’s compression ratio is 9.5:1. It features an oil-cooler, apart from the fins for air cooling. The engine comes with a 270-degree crank with a balancer shaft to smoothen out vibrations. The powerplant mates with a new 6-speed transmission with a slip-assist clutch. Royal Enfield says that the motor is capable of allowing the motorcycle to cruise at 120-135 kmph without breaking a sweat.
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It is safe to say that the Continental GT 650 will not only be faster but will also be more refined and practical than the GT 535. Expect an ex-showroom price tag of around INR 3.5 lakhs for the upcoming motorcycle. The bike will be one of the most affordable cafe racers in the country.
[Source: ET Auto]
