Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 First Ride Review: The Indian market has seen a slew of new retro and street motorcycles, but cruisers somehow have become a dying breed. Even though there are barely a handful of options in the affordable range, no prizes for guessing, Royal Enfield has decided to revive this class with a middle-weight true blue cruiser, the Super Meteor 650. We agree it was one of the worst-kept secrets as everyone knew that the 650 version of the Meteor was very much on cards. Well, it is finally time to find out if the wait was worth it.
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Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Review: What is it?
The Super Meteor 650 is a true-blue cruiser that has quite a colossus road presence and a laid-back riding stance thanks to the foot pegs pushed up in front. With a wide handlebar and of course, a comfortable seating posture, the Super Meteor 650 is very forgiving when it comes to negating any stress on the rider’s forearms. Accessibility also plays an important part in cruisers, hence, with a low-slung saddle, the seat height is only 740mm. To ensure that the ergonomics aren’t compromised, it’s equipped with adjustable hand brake and clutch levers.
No doubt comfort is the key, but so is the design as it plays an important role. In our opinion, the Super Meteor 650 is the best-looking motorcycle in the Royal Enfield stable. The iconic brand has beautifully blended the company’s legacy, cruiser traits and practicality. According to Royal Enfield, the Super Meteor 650 is a cruiser in a dynamic form. With a wheelbase of 1,500mm and 2,260mm in length, this easy rider is the longest bike in the Royal Enfield portfolio. In hindsight, the new motorcycle weighs 241 kg making it 39 kg heavier than the Interceptor 650. If there is one aspect Royal Enfield needs to work on is to make its motorcycles lighter.
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The two-wheeler manufacturer has smartly and judiciously used chrome and yet retains the cruiser’s design ethos. Apart from the brand-new all-chrome twin exhausts and the new design badge on the teardrop tank, there isn’t much chrome on the bike. Another DNA of a cruiser is to have a big fuel tank so that it can cover kilometres at a leisurely pace without needing to do too many fuel stops. Hence, the Super Meteor 650 boasts a 15.7-litre tank.
Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Review: What’s new?
The Super Meteor 650 offers plenty of new equipment and many are a first for a Royal Enfield motorcycle. First and foremost, the company has addressed the need for an LED headlight. Customers have been requesting this for a long time and it’s a standard feature. The new cruiser comes with brand new up-side-down 43mm front forks from Showa with 120mm travel, which is also a first for Royal Enfield, along with tried-and-tested twin shocks with 101mm travel and 5-step adjustable preload in the rear.
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Royal Enfield has given extra attention to details, therefore, the Super Meteor 650 sports forged aluminium finish parts like the headlamp holder, handlebar clamps, switches and even the handlebar risers. The turn-by-turn navigation pod, the Tripper, is a standard feature in the Super Meteor 650. The twin-pod digital-analogue instrument cluster has also been spruced up and is now in gloss piano black finish.
The Super Meteor is the first 650cc Royal Enfield motorcycle to come standard with alloy wheels. The front wheel is 19 inches, while the rear is 16-inch and it sports tubeless tyres.
Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Review: Saddle time
The Super Meteor 650 is easily the most comfortable motorcycle around. After riding it for almost the entire day and covering a couple of hundred kilometres, we didn’t feel any fatigue or tiredness. The low-slung saddle offers decent back support for the rider and with an optional touring seat, the pampering only gets better.
With new Showa front forks, the Super Meteor 650 sails over broken roads and goes over speed breakers without a hitch. The 135mm of ground clearance is decent enough to tackle your daily tarmac challenges. We actually rode the cruiser on a cobbled road and it did surprise us as the suspension managed to neutralize the bumps.
Moving on to matters of the heart. The 648cc parallel-twin air-cooled engine continues to churn out 47bhp and 52.3 Nm of torque. With a gentle twist of the throttle, we realised how refined it feels now. Royal Enfield has reworked engine mapping and the gear ratio to ensure that the ride experience is on the leisurely side. The Super Meteor 650 gets a brand new frame though it continues to be based on the same chassis as the Interceptor 650. This makes sure that the cruiser’s ride quality, handling prowess and stability isn’t affected. The Super Meteor 650 remains stable even when it’s cruising at speeds over the three-figure mark and thanks to the balancer shaft the powertrain remains vibration free.
Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Review: Verdict and price
Royal Enfield has priced the Super Meteor 650 from Rs 3.49 lakh to Rs 3.79 lakh, ex-showroom, which makes it the most affordable mid-size cruiser in the country. It is available in two variants — Standard and the Tourer — and in true Royal Enfield style the Super Meteor 650 comes with an array of accessories.
The Super Meteor 650 is a must-buy for cruiser fans as it offers an easy rider seating posture and high-quality components in forged aluminium. The engine, on the other hand, offers ample power and works in sync with the six-speed gearbox to offer a stress-free riding experience. It is the most expensive Royal Enfield, but then it has all the qualities of being a premium flagship motorcycle.
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