Continental GT 650

Overview

The Continental GT 650 is the motorcycle that gave Royal Enfield’s twins their credibility, because it used them for something other than nostalgia. The 648cc parallel twin — a real configuration, with a 180-degree crank and a firing order that sounds like the old machines were supposed to — makes 47 bhp and 52 Nm in a characterful sweep, and the clip-on bars and low seat turn every roundabout into a corner the rider plans to win.

Live with it, though, and the surprise is how civil it is. The assist and slipper clutch keeps the rear polite under downshifts, the six-speed box is the best-shifting thing the marque has ever built, and 27 kmpl from a 12.5-litre tank gives a highway range near 350 km. The 783 mm saddle flatters short riders in a way no other 650 here does.

The trade is the cafe-racer contract itself. The pegs are a touch forward of proper rearsets and the bars low enough that two hours becomes a conversation with the wrists; the pillion pad is decorative rather than hospitable. This is a cruiser in the relaxed sense, a racer in the styling sense, and a single-rider machine in practice — the buyer who accepts that trade loves the GT; the one who needs to carry a passenger should buy the Interceptor.

• 47 bhp and 52 Nm from the 648cc 180-degree parallel twin
• Twin-disc front end with radial-mount calipers
• 783 mm saddle — the lowest here outside the pure cruisers