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Again dwelling in Amsterdam, we simply had the primary experience of the 12 months minimize quick as a result of rain, actually chilly rain that’s…
So, once I acquired invited to check the brand new Royal Enfield (RE) Tremendous Meteor within the South of France, ‘sure please’ was the one attainable reply!
Our hosts Motomondo and Sima had ready a bunch of brand-new bikes for us to experience in Marseille, most of them with 10km or much less on the clocks. So cautious with the tyres on the primary kilometers! Particularly as we had some rain within the early morning, happily the one rain we’ve seen that day….
The RE Tremendous Meteor is a retro cruiser – with all of the cruiser traits you may count on – low seat, hourglass form seen from above, giant tank, ahead controls, excessive and broad handlebars. You sit upright along with your legs and arms stretched ahead. Probably not acquainted for a sportsbike rider like myself, however I’ve to confess, it’s snug and means that you can hold driving all day lengthy!
The 648cc engine – the identical principally because the engine on the Interceptor INT 650 or the Continental GT 650 bikes – is a 4 stroke, Air-Oil Cooled Parallel twin. A so-called ‘mid-segment’ bike, not as huge – or intimidating if you happen to choose 🙂 – as your typical Harley or Indian cruiser. However loads of ‘oomph’: 47 horsepower, accelerates fairly rapidly, numerous torque with 80% of the ability delivered under 3.000rpm, and a really regular and comfy experience at freeway speeds.
As talked about above, I’m a sportsbike rider, so particularly cornering had a little bit of a studying curve for me. Having the peg feelers scrape the asphalt in almost each flip – most of them are 180 levels on the fabulous ‘Route des Crêtes’ – was a bit scary at first. However you study to lean much less and to not fear an excessive amount of concerning the scraping.
And you then’re set – it is a bike that may be very straightforward to experience. Easy throttle, easy shifting, good acceleration, greater than sufficient braking by the only disc brakes back and front. There even is ABS on board. Plus USD forks with a 120mm stroke, an RE first. The bike has a low middle of gravity, feels fairly steady on the straights and is straightforward to steer into the corners. This may be attributed to the 16” rear wheel and the 19” entrance wheel in true cruiser fashion, however, in accordance with RE, is definitely additionally courtesy of the brand new body and swingarm which have been developed together with Harris Efficiency within the UK.
While you first sit on the Tremendous Meteor, it feels larger than you’d count on standing subsequent to it. However that peak works – for me, I’m of common peak at 1m75, but in addition for the extra ‘vertically challenged’ colleagues on the experience, and even for these exceptionally tall Dutch guys that have been driving with us.
Shifting to the appears then: the Tremendous Meteor is unmistakably a cruiser with its slim waist and massive teardrop-shaped tank. It additionally displays the RE heritage fairly nicely, for instance by its chrome tank badges with historic RE brand.
The Tremendous Meteor 650 is accessible in 5 colours: black, blue, darkish inexperienced, gray and darkish purple. There’s a minor worth distinction between the only shade painted ‘Astral’ fashions and the two-tone ‘Interstellar’ fashions.
Nevertheless, what actually struck me is that for €300 extra, you get the Tremendous Meteor 650 Tourer, which comes with a pleasant luxurious one-piece touring seat with embroidered brand, windscreen, and a pillion backrest. That seat doesn’t solely look nice, however is a bit softer and extra snug as nicely. So even if you happen to’re not into backrests or windscreens, I’d nonetheless go for the Tourer mannequin and simply retailer the windscreen and backrest.
All in all, the RE Tremendous Meteor was a blast to experience on the curvy roads of the Route des Crêtes. The one minor setback have been the tyres, which have been no match for the brakes and lacked some grip at an angle. So I’d shell out for a pair of extra grippy touring tyres fairly rapidly I suppose.
The RE Tremendous Meteor is a really moderately priced mid-segment bike with an engine that has confirmed its value, and that includes high-end elements akin to ABS, upside-down entrance suspension, and LED lighting. Plus TBT (Flip By Flip) navigation, linking to your smartphone. We didn’t get to check this nonetheless, as we have been simply making an attempt to maintain up with Joel, RE’s Marseille seller, who clearly is aware of these roads very nicely…
So who’s this bike for? Effectively, clearly you must dig the cruiser fashion, however RE had some particular goal teams in thoughts after they constructed this bike:
- feminine riders, on the lookout for a basic fashion and easy-to-ride bike
- returning riders, on the lookout for a classic-looking, reliable weekend toy
- Royal Enfield afficionados who need an improve or extra fashionable bike
- first time patrons trying for lots of worth for cash, a model with historical past and an un-intimidating driving expertise…
Costs differ in Europe as a result of completely different taxes for brand new motorbikes (nonetheless…), however vary from €7.200 for the single-color Astral mannequin, €7.400 for the two-tone Interstellar and €7.700 for the Tourer in Italy, to €9.499 for the Astral, €9.799 for the Interstellar and €9.999 for the Tourer within the Netherlands.
So go and take a look at one out at your native RE seller if you happen to’re …
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