At EICMA 2022, Royal Enfield took the wraps off their latest offering for the 650cc segment, and it is called the Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650. It’s an outstanding name for a motorcycle and instantly takes you to the stars. The Indian automaker took the world by surprise when they came out with their 650cc twins – the Royal Enfield INT650 and the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650.
While Royal Enfield was known for making relatively low-quality motorcycles to meet an aggressive price tag and relied heavily on being a retro-themed automaker, the 650cc twins were a breath of fresh air. They went all out with their attempt at making a good retro motorcycle that lived up to modern quality standards and not only did they meet that, but they nailed the most essential part of what makes a motorcycle good.
Now that they have already proven themselves as someone you should take seriously before buying your next middleweight motorcycle, have they gone ahead and done the impossible? Has Royal Enfield finally made a motorcycle that would make you forget the likes of Harley Davidson? We think so.
What Makes The Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Special?
First, let’s understand what the Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 is all about, starting with the engine. It is the same 648cc air- and oil-cooled parallel-twine engine that we have seen earlier on the INT650 and the Continental GT 650, and it makes 47 horsepower and 38.3 pound-feet of torque. While this may not be a lot purely in terms of the amount of output it generates but is still a fantastic engine as reviews around the world have praised it to be just the right bit of everything.
For the Super Meteor 650, Royal Enfield says that they have deployed a new engine mapping and different gear ratios which are supposed to help it feel more cruiser-like. The result is that the motorcycle makes 80 percent of its peak torque as low as 2,500 RPM.
Now coupled with this already-proven engine is a low seat height of 740mm, forward-set footpegs, and a laid-back riding posture that should allow you to cruise comfortably on this machine that weighs 531 pounds all fueled up with its 15.7-liter (4.14-gallon) fuel tank.
Why Should Harley-Davidson Be Concerned?
Now how does a budget motorcycle maker go up against a legacy brand like Harley-Davidson? By bringing the fight to them and competing in their backyard. Today, while new Harley-Davidson motorcycles like the Nightster, despite being a good package, are finding it hard to please new motorcycle riders, the general takeaway is that it is the high-end motorcycles where you get the “true” Harley-Davidson experience. As a result, their entry-level motorcycles always seem to have cut a corner too many and leave people wanting more.
The Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650, however, is the most premium motorcycle that Royal Enfield has made to date. And the best of something almost always ends up being better than the least of something else. But it is not just product placement that works in Royal Enfield’s favor, it is the fact that they have literally gone all out to make the Super Meteor 650 an enticing package.
They seemed to have heard the feedback that the 650 platform needs a more robust suspension system and hence, have fitted chunky 43mm upside-down Showa forks at the front which is the first time they are using such a setup. What’s also first is that, as Royal Enfield says, they are offering LED headlamps as standard, along with the Tripper navigation pod that comes with Google Maps built-in and works by connecting to your smartphone.
They also have fitted alloy wheels with tubeless tires which means easier maintenance and have even gone all the way to build a new chassis for this setup which looks on point with a 16-inch rear wheel and a 19-inch wheel at the front. The motorcycle comes with 320mm disc brakes at the front and a large 300mm disc at the rear and gets dual-channel ABS.
Lastly, there is even a long list of accessories that will be ready at the time of the launch of the motorcycle and will include things like auxiliary lights, touring seats, and a luggage rack.
The Larger Picture With Super Meteor 650
It will not be a stretch to say that Royal Enfield is punching above its weight class and going for glory. And while they do so, they are going through a thorough image makeover which takes them from a relatively cheap motorcycle builder that makes them to a cost to a full-fledged middleweight motorcycle segment expert who just gets it “right”.
And this change has been happening throughout their range of offerings, be it the Royal Enfield Scram 411 or the smaller Meteor, both of which are modern takes on the Himalayan and the Classic that you may know Royal Enfield for.
And with the Super Meteor 650, they seemed to have pulled every trick from the book. The promise is so high that for a moment, you might just forget the Harley-Davidson you have been thinking about to step into the world of entry-level cruiser motorcycles.
Source: Royal Enfield
