Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Review: Indian Cruising Machine With American Flavour

Royal Enfield has been promoting motorcycle touring culture in India for a long time. Brand’s models like the Classic, Bullet, and Thunderbird have been at the fore in doing so. However, I was only convinced by the brand’s seriousness about this campaign after it launched the Himalayan and Meteor 350 in India. The former is a thorough dual-sport motorcycle with adventure touring credentials, whereas you sit on your tailbone on the latter. Now, the line-up also includes a new flagship - Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650. So, does it take the motorcycle touring and cruising charm with the RE badge to new heights? We rode the bike for a few days with the same question on our minds, here’s what we could fetch out.

Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Review: Design

The Super Meteor 650 has taken the styling game northwards. It looks like a typical cruiser and certainly is crammed with American vibes. The round headlamp gets LED treatment and comes with DRLs too. There’s chrome around it. However, USD forks are finished in a shade of black. Also, this is the first Royal Enfield motorcycle to feature USD forks. They add bulk to its appeal.

Also, wide handlebars house chrome-finished mirrors and switchgear is like the Meteor but with better quality and colours. The tear-drop-style fuel tank is a must on a cruiser, and the Super Meteor 650 has it. Complementing it is a neatly contoured seat that fits best with the cruiser aesthetics.

The pillion seat slopes backwards a little, and it is small. It merges rather nicely with the rear fender, which houses a rather odd-looking circular pod for the tail lamp. Adding bulk to the Super Meteor 650’s presence is the motor, which gets dual exhaust pipes.

Moreover, the motorcycle looks bulky and has enough street presence. There are customisation options to add more visual bulk to the Super Meteor 650. The Super Meteor 650 also boasts great fit-finish levels and the attention to detail regarding the paint scheme is of a high order. And, so is the case with the paint quality. 

Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Review: Features

The instrument cluster is very much like the smaller Meteor, and it affects the flagship drama, which Super Meteor 650 otherwise carries in an uptight fashion. There’s a small Tripper navigation pod that is powered by Google, and it managed to keep us on the right roads all the time.

The cluster is readable in broad daylight too. However, the addition of fuel consumption or distance to empty on the digital readout would’ve made it easy to plan fuel stops on this cruiser. Although, with a 15.7-litre fuel tank, it has a range of over 250 kilometres with ease.

Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Review: Performance

Starting off with the powerplant, the 650cc, twin-cylinder, the engine uses a 270-degree crank angle. Subsequently, it sounds awesome. It develops a peak power output of 47 PS and 52 Nm of max torque. Also, the power curve is class-friendly. The meat is under the 3,000 rpm mark, to help the motorcycle pull well. The Super Meteor impressed us with its low-speed rideability and cruising capabilities. The 6-speed gearbox is tuned to perfection. After all, it is slick and also helps in lingering the motorcycle around town in 4th and 5th gears only.

Surprisingly, it can very easily roll off from 30 kmph in the 6th gear only, without any hassle whatsoever. Talking of brakes, they do their job of dropping anchors well. On cruiser motorcycles, the weight distribution makes it a little tough for the riders to grab the front brakes with confidence, which isn’t the case here. Also, with its kerb weight of 240 kilos, the Super Meteor 650 is easy to flick in moving traffic.

For suspension, the Super Meteor gets 43mm USD forks and twin shock absorbers at the rear. The setup is dialled for the stiffer side, and it feels good on smooth expressways. Around bad patches of roads or expansion joints, the energy is transferred to the rider.

Talking of ergonomics, the rider triangle on the Super Meteor 650 is near perfect. However, there’s one gripe I have - for riders shorter than 5’7”, the handlebars feel slightly further set than they would like. While the brake pedal and gear lever are set at the right position, the latter felt a little too big for a boot-size 7. The seat height of 740mm is accessible too. On the whole, the Super Meteor 650 is a great motorcycle to cruise on Indian highways.

Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Review: Verdict

The Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 is priced from Rs 3.49 lakh onwards. It is available in three variants, and there are multiple accessories and accessory packs on offer. All of these attributes mean that there’s enough to make the Super Meteor 650 fit the owner like a glove. With a great design, affordable price point, and pleasurable riding experience, the Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 makes for a perfect cruising machine that has Indian roots.