The Royal Enfield Bear 650 may be based on the Interceptor 650, but it gets its own identity in many ways
There’s a new scrambler on the block as Royal Enfield have launched their latest offering in their 650-cc space with the Bear 650 in North America. Named after the Californian desert race—the Big Bear Run, won by Eddie Mulder in 1960 on a 500-cc Royal Enfield, the Bear 650 is based on the Interceptor 650 but gets its own unique identity.
For starters, it has a 19-inch/17-inch front and rear wheel setup, compared to 18-inch/18-inch on the Interceptor 650 for a more scrambler-like personality. The suspension is different too with a Showa SFF-BP 43-mm USD fork (130-mm wheel travel) at the front with different internals and twin rear shocks (115-mm wheel travel). Tubular steel double cradle frame however has been retained from the Interceptor 650.
Diving deeper into the Bear 650’s unique identity, there’s a scrambler-style seat with a height of 830 mm, new LED indicators, familiar round LED head and tail lamps from modern Royal Enfields, competition number boards on the side panels. Ground clearance stands at 184 mm and it also runs on bespoke MRF NYLOREX dual-purpose tyres. Even in terms of instrumentation, the Bear 650 features the TFT Tripper dash from Himalayan 450 instead of the simpler dual-pod unit of the Interceptor 650.
The changes also extend under the skin as while the 648-cc air-cooled, parallel-twin engine is largely the same, it now has a 2×1 exhaust system with a single exhaust instead of a dual-exhaust pipe setup. This has led to an eight percent torquier motor at 56.5 Nm at 5150 rpm, with power remaining as is at 47.4 hp at 7150 rpm. With the new suspension setup, it’s also dropped two kilos to the Interceptor 650, with a kerb weight of 216 kg.
The Royal Enfield Bear 650 is priced from Rs 3.39 lakh for the Broadwalk White colour shade, followed by the Petrol Green and Wild Honey colours both of which are priced at Rs 3.44 lakh, the Golden Shadow at Rs 3.51 lakh, and the Two Four Nine at Rs 3.59 lakh. All prices ex-showroom.
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