Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650: your questions answered

All the little pieces of the Super Meteor 650 puzzle have slowly been falling into place over the last few months. At EICMA, we got an official look at the bike and its spec sheet, then, at Rider Mania, we managed to get up close for the first time in a walkaround, and now, we’ve finally had a chance to ride the bike, and RE has revealed its pricing as well. So, we’re now finally in a position to answer all the questions that you folks have been asking over these weeks and months.

Super Meteor 650: How easy is it to ride?

This is the big question that many of you have been asking, and understandably so. This is a larger, heavier motorcycle than the existing RE 650s, which are already fairly hefty bikes that can become a bit handful at times. There are no two ways about it, this motorcycle weighs upwards of 240kg. And when manoeuvring the bike at low speeds, you do have to be cognizant of this fact, and plan a little ahead. That being said, it’s certainly not what you’d call cumbersome. Because it’s a long, low motorcycle with much of the mass concentrated between the wheelbase, it’s not as top-heavy as something like an Interceptor, and the low seat height is also a confidence boost. Overall, it feels well balanced, the steering effort is fairly light, and it is a manageable motorcycle.

Super Meteor 650: How stable is it at high speeds?

This is a cruiser, so it’s expected to hold high speeds for long durations. But this is an area where the Interceptor, for example, is known for having a bit of a weakness – especially once you’re into the triple digits, where you can have some stability issues. But this is an all-new frame and an all-new suspension set-up, so the short answer is that the Super Meteor feels perfectly planted and sure-footed at all speeds. The longer wheelbase and more raked-out front-end certainly help here and there was never any wallowing or wobbling over the course of our ride. Body control was also excellent, and the suspension set-up kept things well in check, even when we encountered bumps and undulations at triple-digit speeds. 

Super Meteor 650: Is the ground clearance enough?

The issue that’s been playing on a lot of people’s minds is ground clearance. It stands at an eyebrow-raising 135mm. On our test, we hunted for some broken patches and speed-breakers, and attacked them with a pillion onboard. Loaded up with close to 150kg, the bike managed to clear everything, never once scraping its belly. So, as long as you don’t try to ride this like an ADV, ground clearance should not be an issue. It’s also worth pointing out that the erstwhile Thunderbird X offered an identical amount of ground clearance, and that motorcycle sold in large numbers with no widely reported issues of grounding out.

Super Meteor 650: What’s the long distance comfort like?

We were fortunate enough to spend the day with two versions of the Super Meteor – the range-topping Celestial variant, which gets a windscreen, a deluxe touring seat and a pillion backrest as standard, as well as the Interstellar variant, which misses out on these bits.

Long-distance ride comfort aboard the Celestial variant is excellent. The touring seat is supremely comfortable, and the rider’s triangle puts you in a nice and relaxed position, but without placing any excessive pressure on your tailbone. Overall, this is a motorcycle that you could happily spend a full day on, but there is a bit of a weak link here, and it’s the windscreen. Riders of different heights experienced varying amounts of buffeting at high speeds on our ride. For most riders of average height, the wind protection zone will end about halfway up your helmet, and so the turbulent wind catching the top of your helmet will cause a little discomfort at high speeds.

On the Interstellar variant, you won’t have to deal with buffeting, but you will have to contend with windblast if you want to sit at speeds of over 100kph. But what you really miss on this bike is the touring seat. The stock seat does look cooler, with a split design and a scooped-out look, but it becomes a literal pain in the backside after a couple of hours on the road.

Super Meteor 650: What about pillion comfort and luggage?

All the comfort that the touring seat gives to the rider is transferred to the pillion as well. Not only is the seat base much larger than stock, there’s also significantly more padding, meaning you’re seated much higher up, with your legs in a more relaxed position. Throw in the pillion backrest, and your passenger will have no complaints even after a long day of riding. So, on the Celestial variant, pillion comfort is top notch.

Once again, the stock pillion seat is nowhere near as comfortable, and is best used for occasional short-distance trips within the city.

As far as luggage goes, RE is offering a very neat looking pair of hard panniers as accessories, which can be fitted onto any of the variants. Total volume is a decent 35 litres, and there’s also a top box under development, which will measure 28 litres and is being designed to fit a single full-face helmet.

Super Meteor 650: It’s the same engine, does it feel any different?

Yes, this is pretty much the same engine as in the Interceptor and Continental, but that’s no bad thing, because the 648cc parallel-twin is well suited to this cruiser role. It’s as tractable as ever, gutsy at the bottom-end, and fuelling is clean and smooth too. There’s then a noticeable surge in the mid-range, and the top-end actually feels quite strong, too, which isn’t really the case with the Interceptor or GT. We’ll have to ride them back to back to be sure, but the Super Meteor does get a new airbox and exhaust system, and therefore different mapping too.

This is a heavier bike than the Interceptor, but it’s running slightly shorter overall gearing; so, on the whole, it feels about as quick. It’s a flexible motor, and sounds and feels great at leisurely cruising speeds as well as a steady 100kph pace. Up to this point, the vibrations are perfectly acceptable, and whatever little there are, only add to the character of the bike. Beyond 100kph, we had a buzz that began to creep into the handlebars, but these were brand-new bikes with fresh engines, and the buzz was beginning to smoothen out a little by our second and final day of riding. Engine mounting methods have changed on the Super Meteor, and we’ll need to spend some more time with this bike to see what engine smoothness is like in the long run.

Super Meteor 650: What about fuel efficiency?

Usually, when talking about a bike at this price point, fuel efficiency isn’t a big consideration. But as this is a cruiser, you will want to know is what the range is like on a full tank. We didn’t have a chance to run our usual efficiency tests on this bike, but the same engine in the existing models returns around 25kpl, give or take. Combine that with the 15.7-litre fuel tank and you should be able to get roughly 350km between fill-ups.

Super Meteor 650: How does it handle?

You’d think a long, heavy motorcycle would need some muscling around, but this one is actually a reasonably willing handler. You don’t need a lot of effort to tip it in, and unless you’re riding like a hooligan or using some really poor techniques, you’ll have enough cornering clearance to have some fun in the twisties. Obviously, it’s no lightweight corner carver, but it’s well-behaved and predictable in the corners.

It’s a similar story with the brakes too – they aren’t super-sharp, and you wouldn’t want them to be on a bike like this. But give them a good pull and the bike comes to a stop well, always feeling in control. As is typical with cruisers, the rear brake ends up contributing quite a bit to stopping, so it’s nice that there’s a big 300mm disc at the back. 

Super Meteor 650: What does this bike do best? And what can it do better?

Now that we’ve assessed the individual strengths and weaknesses of this bike, let’s talk about how it all comes together. 

Quite simply, this is a motorcycle that makes the call of the open road very difficult to ignore. The Super Meteor just makes you want to hop on-board and chase the horizon. And you can do this at a leisurely pace with the motor purring along and the scenery slowly changing around you, you could also do it at a 100kph cruise with the world blazing past in the opposite direction. On the top variant, you can do this in a great deal of comfort for pretty much the entire day, with a pillion and luggage too. So, as far as cruisers go, this is a very good one, and one that also works well in the Indian environment, from everything we’ve experienced so far.

Of course, it’s not flawless though. The standard seats, for both rider and pillion, can improve, to offer a better baseline level of comfort – somewhere between the current seats and the touring seat. The windscreen, too, could do with a little redesign to address the buffeting. And there’s also the question of seeing how much the engine smoothens out once it is run in, because a buzz-free handlebar at high speeds would be nice, even though this bike isn’t really about high-speed cruising.

Super Meteor 650: Is it worth the price?

The Super Meteor’s starting price is Rs 3.49 lakh rupees. And yes, that makes it over 60,000 rupees more expensive than the Interceptor. But then this also feels like a much more expensive machine than the Interceptor. First, there’s all the additional hardware you’re getting here – a Showa upside down fork, the Tripper pod as standard, an LED headlight that works quite well, alloy wheels, and beefy and premium adjustable levers. And then there are the materials used, the solid build quality and the excellent finishing across the motorcycle. There are a lot of aluminium components in sight and in reach, panel gaps are neat and tidy for the most part, and paint finish is great.

So yes, the Super Meteor is the most expensive RE on sale today but it feels it. And even the top-spec Celestial, coming in at Rs 3.79 lakh rupees, manages to justify its asking price. Like RE’s other 650s, the Super Meteor also stands in a class of its own, in the sense that nobody can offer anything remotely similar for the asking price.