New bike dilema

So, I've been driving my Bajaj Pulsar 180 for the past 17 years. 17 years!! Can you imagine that? I am still very happy with my bike and I am never going to let it go. I plan to do a full comprehensive review of it sometime soon, so keep a look out for it.

In any case, 17 years is a long time and I think its high time I got a new bike. Like I said, my pulsar is not going anywhere. Its just not going to be my primary bike anymore that's all. I've been on the lookout for a higher capacity bike since the beginning of this year but 2018 has been such an amazing year for bikes. Almost every month some new amazing has been coming up and that has made deciding on the next bike a practically impossible task.

A lot of people suggested that I take the Royal Enfield Classic 350, but I don't know for some reason I just cannot imagine myself riding an RE bike. My next alternative was the KTM Duke 390, but I read from a lot of youtube and other reviews that it tends to heat up quite a lot and sometimes the engine ceases, so I had to cross that out also. My primary usage will be for daily commutes to office and I want something thats powerful and also a good looker. Another alternative I thought of was the Bajaj Dominar . I personally love this bike. I like the way its designed, I love that its a 400cc and I specially love the full LED headlights but for some reason it just hasnt clicked. The other alternatives I have are the RE Himalayan and now, the newly released RE Interceptor 650.

The Himalayan is known to have a lot of reliability issues so that bike has one foot out the door but the interceptor sure seems promising. I recently went on a test ride and I must say I am very impressed and am almost tempted to go for it. The price is also just about right for a 650 cc and it sort of fits perfectly into my requirement. The only downside is that its way too retro which hardly any digital elements and it looks a lot like my current bike as I mentioned in my previous blog.

I was contemplating on the Ninja 300 but after watching a review by Bulu Biker, I might not actually go for the Ninjas. That kinda makes it slim pickings for me. All I am left with are
1. The RE Interceptor 650
2. 2019 Bajaj Dominar
3. Jawa (cant believe I am even considering this)
4. KTM Duke 390

Royal Enfield Interceptor 650

I had been waiting for the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 for over a year. I had my eyes on it the moment it was introduced and finally it is here. The announcement was made on a weekday and so I had to wait till the weekend to finally lay my hands on it.

I went to the Royal Enfield Showroom in Himayatnagar and they had both the Continental GT and the Interceptor. Though the orange color interceptor was the most eye catching, the one they had here was gray. I went there after a nice 5k run and was a little skeptical if they would allow me to take it for a test ride considering I was in gym clothes and all sweaty. The executives at the showroom were really nice though they parked the bike inside, they let me take it for a spin.

At first as you can see from the picture on the right, the interceptor looked almost similar to my current bike the first version of the pulsar 180. RE stuck to the classic bike look and so they ended up having the typical round headlight and very simple dials as well. A speedometer on the left with a small digital display which had a fuel indicator and two trip meters and on the right was the tachometer with all the tell-tale lights. Even from the side both bikes looked more or less similar.  (I'm not going into much details because a lot of people have already video reviewed it and all the specs are also available online. I'm just giving a first had impression of the bike).

The scene was completely different as soon as I got on to the bike and I must say I loved it. The handle bar was slightly higher as compared to my bike but it took me hardly few seconds to immediately get adjusted to the Interceptor. One of the major USP of the interceptor is the twin exhaust and the new exhaust note. I must say it was music to the ears when I revved it. It was absolutely throaty and made it clear that there was a beast just waiting to let loose.

What was was incredibly surprising was how smooth it felt. It being a twin cylinder engine generating 47 bhp, was very very smooth. The gears just easily slipped into place and there were absolute no vibrations what so ever. Ive been driving my pulsar for 17 years now. It still is in great condition and doesn't rattle as such but when I push it, I do notice a lot of vibrations around the handle and the foot pegs. I hadn't driven any other bike apart from this so I didn't really have a reference point. The interceptor opened my eyes, the smoothness and the refinement was clearly evident.

It is a 650 cc and strangely it didn't feel as intimidating as I thought it would. I owned a Harley Davidson Iron 883 before and I still remember that I literally shivered when I first felt its power. I didn't have that issue this time but the surge of power was so smooth on this bike that it made me fall in love with it instantly. As soon as I opened the throttle the bike just shot through the streets and almost did a wheelie. The showroom guy behind me must've had his heart in his mouth when I was driving it.

It was a relatively short ride I took but I still could feel the weight of the bike and also the heat it produced. I wonder how hot it might get in the Hyderabad bumper to bumper traffic. Im still not at a stage where I could give a comprehensive review but I will surely test this bike a few more times before finally taking a call on whether to buy it or not.

All in all, it did leave a great first impression and Im really looking forward to familiarizing myself with the bike a little more over the next few days.

Keep watching this space for more.