TRIUMPH VERSUS ENFIELD
Can £5k Interceptor beat £8k Street Twin?
Fast, fun, stylish bikes have always come at a price; it’s what separates them from the cheap and cheerful, but things are changing. The establishment is being rocked by leftfield, Asian-backed brands, like Benelli, Fantic and Zontes. They are often affordable, capable and wellbuilt; and you can now add the newgeneration Enfield to that list. Developed in the UK and made at Royal Enfield’s long-established factories in India, the new Interceptor 650 costs a piffling £5299. It’s simple, basic and does without designer chassis labels and fancy electronics, but to actually
ride and enjoy around the MCN250 it’s as engaging as retros from the likes of BMW, Ducati and Triumph. Producing 47bhp from its 649cc air-cooled parallel twin, the Enfield will never rip your arms off, but it still gets a wiggle-on and will happily gallop past the ton. The simple meat-and-potatoes engine makes all the right rumbling noises and the fuelling is spot on.
As light and easy to control as a commuter, the 650 is roomy and comfortable, even after hours perched on its flat, quilted seat, but best of all is the way it handles. Clearly its upside-down forks and piggy back rear shocks are built down to a price and will never glide along on a cushion of Öhlins opulence, but the suspension is set to perfection, offering riders a more than acceptable balance between comfort and control.
Its chassis is beautifully balanced, which is always the result of clever development rather than throwing money at fancy components (there was never any such thing as a decent-handling Bimota, for example). The Enfield doesn’t understeer, wobble, or weave; tip it into a corner and it rails through. Front and rear Bybre calipers have ample stopping power and 18in Pirelli Phantom Sportscomp tyres (100-section at the front, 130 rear) give us the grip and confidence to let our hair down on the MCN250’s best bits. In fact, the Interceptor 650 is so well rounded it feels as unruffled as a Triumph at speed, which shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise when you consider that a fair few Royal Enfield engineers and test riders have defected from the Hinckley factory… and probably worked on the original 2016 version of the Street Twin you see in the pictures. Despite its budget price, the Interceptor 650 is nicely finished with classy paintwork and detail touches. We love the uncluttered engine design, spoked wheels, polished megaphone pipes and dished engine covers, Monza-style fuel cap and tasteful old-school speedo and tacho. And we reckon that badge is every bit as evocative as a Triumph’s or Norton’s.
Old single-cylinder Enfields came from the era of the greasy finger nail. They could break down at the drop of a hat, which was then known as ‘character’, but it didn’t take much to get these simple bikes going again.
‘The Enfield’s balanced chassis is the result of clever development’ ‘The Street Twin’s ride isn’t as plush as the Interceptor’s’
I rode a Bullet 350 (a rough Indian import), as a fresh-faced MCN road tester in 2002. Tasked to follow fellow Enfield riding ‘Mad’ Mike Carter for a charity ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats, in the gloom of a cold and wet November, as part of the trip we visited every Royal Enfield dealer in the UK.
My bike broke down within five miles of leaving the south west and once Mike had fixed it, his broke down shortly after. Inching our way up the country via a succession of breakdowns, I dreamed of a warm recovery van and prayed that each mechanical would be terminal, but he got us going every time - even unseizing an engine at the roadside with a mallet. Seventeen years later I can just about look back on it with some kind of fondness. Things are different now and the Interceptor 650 doesn’t miss a beat, nothing falls off around the MCN250 and you get the sense that’s the way it’ll stay for miles to come. Think of it this way: the Interceptor 650 isn’t a reverse-engineered retro, it’s the freshest, most modern machine Royal Enfield have ever built. Triumph’s Thai-built 900cc Street Twin (not to be confused with the 1200cc Speed Twin), is the firm’s entry-level retro. It was the first of their new-generation Bonnevilles to be released and I tested it at its 2016 launch. You just knew that with its mix of style, performance and friendliness, they’d sell like flat whites, and they did. Updated for 2019, lighter internals boost power from 54bhp to 64bhp, but its 59ftlb remains unchanged. Electronics are tweaked, 41mm KYB cartridge forks upgraded, a Brembo front caliper replaces the
old Nissin unit and it even has a new magnesium cam cover.
It’s a lot of bike for the money, costing a reasonable £8100, but that’s almost three-grand more than the Royal Enfield. But is it threegrand better? Well, its bigger engine has more shove and a deeper growl, it has a wider 150-section rear tyre, a multi-function dash, traction control, riding modes, and beefier brakes. The Triumph has a more substantial feel and the fit and finish is slightly up on the Interceptor’s. But its extra power and cubes don’t add up to a lot more in the way of more speed and acceleration, because it’s carrying more weight. The Speed Twin appears 4kg lighter on paper, until you realise the Royal Enfield’s claimed weight is fuelled and ready to ride and the Triumph’s a less meaningful dry figure. Surprisingly, the Street Twin’s ride isn’t as plush as the Interceptor’s; it’s more of a beast to lug from side to side at speed and its Pirelli Phantoms can tramline on groves on the road. But it still handles and stops beautifully, is swift and just as easy to ride, thanks to its smooth gearbox, light clutch, throttle and a lower seat. Overall, the Street Twin is the more accomplished of our two retros and compared to its mainstream retro rivals it’s a bargain. It’s the one to go for if you’ve got the dosh, but it isn’t three grand better than the remarkable Royal Enfield, which is why, for this test, the Interceptor 650 claims victory.