Since it takes a lot of effort to build a new motor and of course, loads of money too, these days, it’s extremely common for one engine to power multiple vehicles of the same brand. Which makes us quite certain that Royal Enfield’s creamy, 650cc parallel-twin, will power more bikes than just the Interceptor and the Continental GT.
Will it also power the rumoured Royal Enfield Himalayan 650? We don’t know. But many would like to know if the 650cc engine can withstand the abuse an adventure or off-road bike must go through. Vishnu R Nair (Instagram) has been busy answering that question by making his Interceptor 650 do things which the bike probably never even went through during prototype testing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=127&v=elh71mGTTro&feature=emb_logo
Motorcycles which are designed for off-road use are conceived with a different approach, compared to road-biased machines. Besides the frame, tyres, suspension and the overall geometry, the engine must be sprinkled with engineering brilliance so that it performs reliably and consistently, even if the bike takes air, then makes a hard landing, goes sideways, through a river or anything that makes it cover itself in dirt. The video above should give you an idea of all that.
Also Read: Upcoming Motorcycles From Royal Enfield – What To Expect?
Royal Enfield has been busy working on brand new motorcycles, which we should’ve heard about more by now, had it not been for the pandemic. Among these, the ones we know about are the new-gen Classic and Thunderbird models and another new motorcycle which looks like the Thunderbird X but is all-new – the Meteor. The common factor between these new motorcycles is a brand new engine which could either replace or exist in harmony with the current 350cc engine. It appears to be a big single which the brand is famous for, however, in all probability, will make use of modern internal components for better functional efficiency and smoothness.
Coming back to the Himalayan, the bike hasn’t had any big update since it was first introduced. Since then, the maker has improved the bike’s build quality by several notches, splashed it with new colours and switchable ABS, but that is that.