So why did I travel 400 miles (~650 km) to the Himalayan foothills from Delhi just to ride and share my thoughts on a motorcycle? Well, you can’t really review a Scrambler by simply riding around town on flat tarmac, can you? So I scrambled.
It’s been a minute since Royal Enfield launched the Bear 650, a scrambler-style motorcycle based on its hugely popular 650 platform. And while you might think Enfield simply revised some bodywork of the Interceptor 650, slapped some knobby tires on, and said voila, there’s more to it than meets the eye.
Sixty-five years ago, a 16-year-old chap called Eddie Mulder rode a 500cc Royal Enfield Fury and won the Big Bear Run, an off-road desert race held in California. Why is that relevant. Well, that’s exactly the race that inspired the Bear 650. From its color scheme to the Two Four Nine numbering on either side (249 being Mulder's race number in the legendary race).
Design
Since we’ve started with the external elements, let’s get going from there. The styling is perhaps the Bear’s biggest strength. It looks downright beautiful. All the classic scrambler elements are there: wide handlebars, a long bench seat, the off-road-oriented riding position, and knobby tires (that are a like-for-like imitation of the Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR).
I like the color schemes – they’re lively and, quite honestly, a good break from the traditional, black, grey, white monotones. Especially the Two Four Nine version I had with its white tank and turquoise-green steel tube frame – it turned plenty of heads on my ride.
Engine
The Bear is quintessentially based on the Interceptor 650, albeit with a few (significant) tweaks to the engine. It’s the same proven 648cc air/oil-cooled twin-cylinder engine with a 270-degree crankshaft offset. It produces the same 47 hp peak power as the Interceptor, but the torque now gets boosted to 42 lb.ft (57 Nm). That's thanks to the new 2-into-1 exhaust system with a chic, blacked-out rear muffler at the top.
The engine offers a fairly broad, useful torque range that enables you to ride without frequently changing gears. And even though Royal Enfield claims there’s around 8% torque boost, on the saddle it somehow feels much more – from low revs all the way to the rev limiter at 7,500 RPM, the Bear never ran out of steam once.
Most modern-day motorcycles would absolutely smoke the Bear 650, but you’d be missing the point if you were chasing power here. In typical Royal Enfield fashion, it’s perhaps enjoyed best with the “less power” it has. Easy, unassuming, charming.
Underpinnings
That engine is mounted on a steel tubular spine frame, but Royal Enfield engineers have added a new subframe and strengthened the steering head to offer better stiffness. It gets an off-road-oriented Showa suspension setup that comprises a 43-mm inverted fork that offers 5.1 inches (130 mm) of travel and dual adjustable rear shocks that offer 4.5 inches (114 mm) of travel.
This brings me to perhaps this motorcycle’s Achilles heel: its suspension. While the front holds its own and does reasonably well, it's the rear suspension that’s so bad that you’ll immediately feel it in your back a few miles into the ride. Even at the lowest spring preload setting, the rear shock is plain poor.
Braking duties are taken care of by a ByBre 320-mm front disc and 270-mm rear disc with dual-channel ABS, which, by the way, can be switched off. You get wire-spoked wheels, 19-inch at the front and a 17-inch at the rear.
Compared to the Interceptor, the foot controls have been moved back, so your knees are more bent than usual. The handlebars are wider and a tad taller, but personally, I’d prefer handlebar risers to make it even taller to suit my 6-foot height. The seat height of 32.7 inches (830 mm) might sound intimidating, but considering the seat is nice and narrow at the front, you’d be able to flat-foot the bike relatively easily.
Tech & other features
It features all the important bits like LED lighting, a nice 4-inch round TFT Tripper dash with navigation via Royal Enfield’s smartphone app, and USB-C charging. And that’s about it.
The Bear is a bare-bones, no-frills motorcycle that doesn't confuse you with a thousand buttons and a big touchscreen. It’s simple – there’s the throttle, the brakes, and the clutch. You know what to do.
Summing up into concise points, here’s what I liked and what I disliked about the bike:
Pros:
- It is a well-styled motorcycle
- The engine feels relaxed, and there’s enough torque on offer across the rev range
- The digital dash with built-in Tripper navigation works like a charm
- The 19/17-inch wheel setup is very practical for what the bike is meant for
Cons
- The flat seat, while nicely contoured, is very firm
- The rear suspension is extremely stiff, regardless of how you toggle the preload
- It is heavier than the Intereceptor
- Not the cheapest 650 to choose from Royal Enfield’s catalog
Riding the motorcycle for a couple of days in the foothills of the Himalayas gave me a very good idea of what the Bear 650 is capable of. Throw fine tarmac, winding roads, and heck, even highways at it, and it’ll cut through miles like knife through butter. It even handles light off-road, trails, and dirt roads relatively well.
After the Himalayan, it’s perhaps the most off-road-adept motorcycle in Royal Enfield’s stable. One look at it and you’ll realize that it is perhaps the closest interpretation of the scramblers of the 1960s after Triumph. Speaking of which, it comes as a brilliant value-for-money alternative to Ducati Scrambler and Triumph’s Scrambler motorcycles.
The Bear 650 comes in at a starting price of US$6,849. That’s half the cost of the Ducati Scrambler and Triumph Scrambler 900. Heck, being a proper twin-cylinder motorcycle, it’s priced on par with Triumph's single-cylinder scrambler, the 400XC.
Where it falls short is in its suspension, and it’s handlebar – small areas that can probably be improved through aftermarket solutions. But nothing that is a deal-breaker in there.
You'd expect Royal Enfield to have come out with a scrambler sooner. Let’s be honest: building a scrambler around an already established road-going retro isn’t anything new. Triumph has been doing it for years, and with Royal Enfield already having the Interceptor 650 on its books for the better part of the last seven years, I’d say it was about time we got a legit scrambler motorcycle by Royal Enfield.
Which is exactly why I think people are sleeping on the Bear 650. It is, in my eyes, the most enjoyable 650 in Royal Enfield’s stable, the most good-looking, and maybe, just maybe, the most complete bike in there.
Source: Royal Enfield
