Interceptor 650 breaks speed record
The Mid Life Cycles Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 Salt Racer has smashed the class record at the annual Speed Week at Lake Gairdner, South Australia.
Ridden by first-time salt racer Charlie Hallam, the Interceptor nicknamed SABRE broke the four-year-old class record on each of its runs, leaving the new mark at 132.050 mph (212.514 km/h) in Class M-F 650, for 650cc un-streamlined motorcycles running commercial unleaded fuel. Charlie Hallam broke the record on Day One of Speed Week (Monday 8 March 2021), with his first run at 121.782 mph. The Geelong-based HRA team, headed by experienced salt racers Andrew and Kate Hallam, thought this was an extraordinary result for a 650cc single-cam, air-cooled Twin, but Charlie believed there was a little more to come. Later, the Interceptor ran 130.370 mph and was then impounded overnight until it could do a back-up run the next morning. This run, under increasingly stormy skies, saw a stunning 133.779 mph, for a new record average of 132.050 mph.
For Mid Life Cycles, the trouble-free record passes by the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 reinforced the confidence the team has in the Royal Enfield 650 Twin engine package and traditional twin-loop steel frame that was carried over from the road bike to the racer, with minimal modifications allowed under the class rules. For HRA Geelong, and particularly renowned engine builder Andrew Hallam, Speed Week 2021 was an unparalleled success. All three bikes entered by HRA set new provisional records. Even after a successful opening two days, this year’s event threw up further challenges with a storm sweeping across Lake Gairdner on Day Three (Wednesday), causing the eventual closure of Speed Week ahead of schedule as the lake surface proved unsafe for high-speed passes after subsequent heavy overnight rain.
The Mid Life Cycles Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 was developed for competition by HRA Geelong (Andrew Hallam) and Hallam Cycle Works (Charlie Hallam). The team modified a 2019 Interceptor
650 frame, engine and ancillaries to meet the specifications for entry to Class M-F 650. The engine has been developed as a test bed for performance parts and ancillaries that are available to Mid Life Cycles customers who want the ultimate road-going Royal Enfield 650cc Twin.