Modern Vespa

I wasn't really planning on purchasing another Royal Enfield 650, and was, in fact, almost sold on getting a Triumph Speed 400 next time around.....but! the local RE dealer is kicking out his out-of-current RE 650's for stupid-cheap numbers right now, and the temptation to snag one is almost irresistible.

Try a 'new''22 or '23 Interceptor 650 for $3,995, with the only dealer add-ons being a $299 'DOC' fee. No freight or setup charges.

I'll see if the orange Interceptor I'm interested in is still there next Wednesday, and if it is.....well...

Do you realise how much Colby cheese you can buy for that?

1091 pounds of Colby cheese in 8'0 ounce packages can be purchased at Walmart for $4299.

It's a tough call.

No ongoing service or insurance costs either.

Possibly some hefty gastroenterologist bills to auger out those cheese-plastered intestinal walls.

As the saying goes, 'there is no free lunch'.

This bike is the exact model, color, and year of my first RE 650, purchased from Baxter Cycle in Marne, Iowa.

Ad image of the 650 I went to Iowa to buy and haul back to Rapid City in the pickup bed, but not before a dealer showroom gas tank swap out for a chrome/red one, and the addition of a factory rear parcel rack, to be soon followed by a low handlebar, black rubber gas tank knee pads, and of course a set of eBay-sourced bar-end mirrors.

IF I buy the bike next week, I will do the same with the new one, but will likely opt for the chrome/black fuel tank rather than red. I can order the tank from RE India for under $400, and it includes the gas cap and RE tank badges.....with free international shipping.

Nostalgia is a very poor reason for making impulse purchases. Just sayin'

Not so much an impulse purchase as an unusual opportunity to buy a well-known (by me) new bike for an incredible price. The thought to buy another motorcycle has had me casually shopping for the past few weeks, and has become a planned and likely happening.

They're good bikes, and one that I have fairly extensive experience with, and I know that the 650 models are quite satisfying and even fun to ride. Also, they are easily owner-maintained and should seldom, if ever, require a $150 per hour dealer service department, at least on 'my dime' for three years after the initial purchase.

Did I mention that these new, out-of-current, RE's retain the three year factory warranty?

Another factor is that since trading in my GTS300 Vespa, there's been a big hole in the small(er) end of the household displacement range, with 'only' two 1200's and one 2500cc bike laying around, so the addition of a 'little' 650 machine fills that void nicely.

Some back-of-the-napkin math (assuming 110cal/oz and 2500cal/day consumption) says that this would only last you just over two years if you ate nothing but Colby cheese. Best case scenario.

If you only ate it for lunch (which is more likely to be survivable anyways), it would still only last you around six years, which seems rather short. I think the bike might be a better deal for year-on-year satisfaction and last you longer to boot.

I'd take the Colby over the Royal Enfield.

And that's saying something.

.

It is.

If I recall, and to offer an epic understatement, Colby is your least favorite cheese.

Myself, I'm partial to extra-sharp cheddar in blocks, sliced, or shredded, makes no difference to me.

My 2 cents. Before my back went south, I was able to ride all the Royal Enfield models at one time or another. The 500 single was full of character, but I figured I could buy a gallon of paint - unshaken - because the three mile ride home from the paint store (mounted on the back rack) would take care of any mixing needed. Still, a very cool looking machine. The Himalayan is sort of a dual purpose or using the new term, an ADV scoot. Decent enough as long as you take care of it and don't push it too far. The Classic 350, much like the classic 500, is a real looker. But at 18 hp at the rear wheel coupled with a 420 wet weight keeps it restricted to easy backroads and slow intercity travel. Lastly, are the Interceptor and the cafe racer stye Continental GT. I have only sat on the GT. I like the look, but not the ergos. To tell the truth I wasn't expecting much of the Interceptor with the curb weight of 468 lbs. and a supposed 47 hp, so I figure it was just a bigger 350. I took one for a long ride and I could not stop smiling inside my helmet. Finally! This is a bike I could get behind. I started so save the coin to move forward on a purchase until I retired when it was getting to painful to work. Fast forward to now and I don't think my local dealer will be putting forth any kind of sale on the 650 models as they sell every one on the floor. The pre-owned ones are hovering around the $4k mark on FBM. I have some more months of PT before I may be able to get back to riding, but If I could buy an INT 650 tomorrow, I would. And if you still fancy another RE 650, JB, go get it.

That's not quite it. Colby isn't my least favorite cheese, exactly -- it is just the cheese that I consider the most pointless of all cheeses. It has no reason to exist, IMHO. Cheddar is always a better choice, unless it's too sharp, in which case there are countless white cheeses that would make a better choice.

Apply that as you wish to the Royal Enfield. Cheddar is a perfectly cromulent choice.

Wouldn't it be a bit like going back to an old girlfriend while trying to ignore the reason why you left her in the first place ?

Buy the bear

I did a quick search for a '23 Interceptor 650 and came up with a used "mint" (white/black tank) local to me. Seller is asking $7,000CDN/$5060US.
At $3995US BNIB, that's a great deal! I'd be happy to buy the orange one.....

Great deal. Known bike. We are not getting any younger. Buy the bike.

OFG

You're telling us you do the leaving?

JB At that price they may be impossible to flick off the Tuesday after you buy it.
Are you getting KTMs and Huskies dumped at similar prices over there?

KTM and Husqvarna bikes are so far off of my radar that I barely know that they exist, though I do occasionally spot a touring KTM rider standing on the pegs as he trolls a well-paved grocery store parking lot, obviously having watched too many Ewan and Charlie 'Long Way' bike films.

The local Honda/Triumph dealership in Rapid City always has a bunch of orange and white things taking up a large corner of their showroom, but I seldom venture that deep into the seedy underbelly of that shop to study them in any meaningful detail.

Sturgis BMW/Suzuki had Husqvarna bikes, but I don't think they do anymore ever since they were bought out by the Indian dealership up the road...but very few Husky machines were sold there anyway, and I almost never see one on the roads around here.

Do you think that you're in love with the romance of buying motorcycles ?

I get into that mode sometimes and I have to be really patient with myself until I lose interest.

Don't know about JBacklund, but I do with various motor-driven 2 and 4 wheel conveyances/trailers and do the same until the urge passes.

It appears that the Royal Enfield would be cheaper than the Triumph Speed 400. So, you will be able to buy the Royal Enfield and use the savings to buy a considerable amount of cheese. Need I say more?

A full $1000 (USD) left over for cheese if I would buy the RE650 over the Speed 400.

I just enjoy stumbling across interesting bikes and be able to sample them for a while, sometimes a relatively long time (for me), and often for no longer than one or two seasons before moving on to something else.

Don't know about the 'romance' of buying motorbikes, but the frequency and variety of bikes I buy goes a long way in keeping me interested in motorcycles in general.

It is truly my only serious vice at this point in my life, so I feel that I am justified in the indulgence, and it distracts me from the fact that I have never been able to afford airplanes, which is one of my life's great disappointments.

I think you should buy it.

Then we can all enjoy the 'Should I, or shouldn't I ??? when you go to sell it or trade it in for another bike in the late spring.

And I am guilty of standing on the pegs of my KTM pretending I'm Charlie Boorman. Normally not in parking lots though.

I have been able to sit , but not ride the Speed 400. It has a lot going for it. I would still pick the INT 650 over it. If nothing else, the RE bike has been out for a while, the Speed 400 is it's first year.

I first had a test ride on the RE Interceptor back in 2018 when the model first arrived in the US. It was only about ten miles, but afterwards I knew that I was destined to own one sooner or later.

It ended up being 'later' by four years, and I purchased one in 2022 from Baxter Cycle over (600 miles 'over') in eastern Iowa.

I rode it for two seasons, then sold it locally.

During it's time with me it performed very well, and proved to be reliable. It was well suited to our Black Hills region, with it's forested, curvy, and hilly geography, where raw power and extraordinary speed capability are of little practical value, and add nothing to the general experience (hence, the very positive times I had with my GTS300 riding in this area).

My only concern about taking advantage of the stupid-low sale price for a leftover Interceptor 650, is that what I REALLY would like to have is the new Classic 650, but buying the sale priced Interceptor now would kill any chance of getting the Classic model at least for the next year....IF the damn things ever show up here that is, and I've been unable to get a straightforward answer to that possibility from the dealer.

You certainly can't take it back to the dealer and expect a good price can you ?
So a private sale it's going to have to be.

I'd wait it out.

I'm going to hold off on the 650, cool my jets, take my time, and keep an eye out for something interesting to pop up over the next several months.

I had to go look for that one, but I did find it...

Good choice. The sweetness of a low price quickly fades……..

OFG

I recently heard somewhere that Royal Enfield has imported approximately all of its expected sales to the US before any tariffs would be imposed, so they'll want to get rid of those before importing any new ones.

Those crafty little Indians.

Probably sooner than the bitterness of a high price.

Damn! Well, so much for that highly-touted new $6000 entry-level Harley-Davidson then (CurryGlide?).

Now, it'll have to be $10,000...though it likely would have been anyway, what with added dealer fees and other miscellaneous add-on, point-of-sale, expenses.

Many find this chart helpful

The tariffs for Indian products are currently very high, compared to other countries, but all the manufacturers of motorcycles will be raising their prices as well. Not exacting great for sales that are down as it is.

I've owned many MCs. If I didn't have the medical issues that I have I'd buy that bike in a minute. You only live once.

That's definitely one way to look at it.