The Super Meteor 650, a superb cruiser that performs admirably even in the Indian climate. Is Royal Enfield’s newest and greatest motorcycle, as seen by our initial impressions of it. But, given that India is mostly a one-bike garage type of nation. This bike must be able to perform more than simply smooth cruising. As a result, we’ve been using it in Mumbai the way a typical owner would: by taking it on daily commutes and allowing it some freedom on the weekends.
Real-World Evaluation of the Super Meteor 650: Ride and Handling
The Super Meteor helps to bring peace and serenity to Mumbai, but fortunately, the city’s horrible, damaged roads can be overcome by the bike. The hard edge of the suspension setup is more noticeable in the city than it was on Rajasthan’s roads, but it never becomes harsh. This is especially true of the rear suspension. For instance, the Hunter 350 seems harsher while riding. If you slow down sufficiently for the bigger bumps and potholes, you’ll be alright there too. With the Super Meteor, you can carry speed over the lesser faults and trust the bike to correct itself. It won’t ever feel very comfortable, but you can live with it on a daily basis anyway.
Because the Super Meteor barely has 135mm of ground clearance, the suspension needs to be particularly robust. But, the setup is effective, and save from one particularly awful ramp and speed breaker combination. Ironically at the RE service centre, we haven’t yet had any instances of the bike scratching its belly. If you regularly meet such a thing on your journey. RE will sell you an auxiliary bash plate for 3,450 rupees.
Weight and Usefulness of the Super Meteor 650 In Real-World Conditions
There will undoubtedly be a little learning curve if you plan to ride a 241kg cruiser with a 1,500mm wheelbase to work every day. The majority of what you do in Mumbai is done at modest speeds. So you can only truly feel the weight. Nevertheless, after a day or two on the super meteor. It just becomes a normal part of life and doesn’t need any extra work or focus.
The enormity of this beast, though, is something you cannot ignore. It is about 140mm longer than the interceptor and has a 100mm larger wheelbase. Although not nearly as much as something like the Meteor 350, steering lock is enough. And it’s when you’re sifting through motionless traffic that you feel all this the most. Planning ahead is undoubtedly necessary while making the tight bends necessary to carve a route and squeeze between larger cars. Yet occasionally, it’s downright impossible.
On the plus side, you won’t have much engine heat to deal with when you encounter a space you can’t fit through and are trapped in traffic. The motor is still acting rather nicely, but Mumbai is now still fairly chilly. So we’ll hold judgement till the height of summer. The 648cc twin is perfectly suited to city living in other ways as well. Riding in Bombay is usually more enjoyable with a powerful, torquey engine, and not having to continually swap gears or rev the Super Meteor results in a lovely, relaxed ride, something I’ve grown to much appreciate in the bustle of the city.
Real-world Evaluation of the RE Super Meteor 650: Comfort and Fuel Efficiency
The Celestial variation, whose touring chairs we particularly appreciate, especially over long distances, took up some of our time. The celestial’s huge front windscreen, though, is a little problematic here in the city. All the curves and kinks cause a lot of distortion. Which makes it difficult to manoeuvre through small places and frequently forces you to look past it. The windscreen performs well at higher speeds on more open highways up to around 100 kph; after this. There is a very large amount of buffeting, which makes maintaining high speeds impossible. You’re probably better off without it overall.
Significantly, we were able to run the bike through our standard performance and fuel economy testing cycles. Results are about what you could anticipate given that this bike is significantly heavier than the other 650s in RE’s lineup. It takes just under 7 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour, which is somewhat longer than the Continental GT by 0.7 seconds. In an effort to counteract the slower acceleration caused by the extra weight, RE lowered the gearing on the Super Meteor, but this (and the weight) also had the consequence of making it substantially less fuel efficient than something like the Interceptor. The results, 22.4 kpl in the city and 30.2 kpl on the highway, are still respectable.
Super Meteor 650 Real-World Evaluation: Conclusion
Overall, the Super Meteor strikes us as a nice and simple bike to live with, and it can surely fulfil the duty of being the lone bike in your garage. More so when you take into account that you may outfit it with items like hard baggage straight from the factory. The bike will be operated as a member of our long-term test fleet and will change throughout the course of its stay with us as it receives accessories. Keep a look out for updates on the bike from time to time (the first one is right around the corner).
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