I’ve been riding the new Triumphs since 2004. Their sport touring 2001 Sprint, the naked streetfighters — 2006 Speed and the 2010 Street Triple; the wonderful 2010 Thruxton and the equally excellent 2018 Street Cup. They’ve all been great bikes but all have had electrical gremlins (with the exception of the Thruxton, which was flawless.) I’d kept the Thruxton for just shy of 7 years, and traded it for the Street Cup, which other than a lackluster top end, was better in every way.

So why the hell am I riding a Royal Enfield Interceptor now?

One of my riding acquaintances showed up with one a few months back — a lovely creature with chrome tank and classic styling that Triumph tries to evoke, but Enfield just does. He let me ride the thing and it was surprisingly fast and nimble…easily as good as my Triumph. Most importantly, it was fun. Fun in a way the Thruxton had been but the others never were — fun at slow speeds, fun doddling about, as much as ripping up mountain twisties. I went back to my bike and was perfectly happy…then my local Triumph shop, Motopia New Mexico, started carrying the Enfields at the start of the year. This coincided with some electrical issues the Street Cup had started having, usually the harbinger of a whopping big repair bill on the electrics in the near future: my heated handgrips wouldn’t work save sporadically, my four-way turn signals would keep my normal turn signals from working (a fault in the starter switch module.)

And there was the Interceptor. I’d looked at the Continentals when they first came out, but we didn’t have a dealer in Albuquerque at the time, and having ridden the Bullet 500…well, that was not a bike to blow your kilt up (but it would put your hands to sleep from vibration.) A friend of mine and I decided to test ride the new Conti and Interceptor, trading off halfway through the ride to get a feel for them. I liked the Continental riding position better, but that chrome tank with the classic badging was calling me. My buddy bought one.

One day on old Route 66 (yes, that one), we decided to see how they compared. The Triumph was kicking the Enfield’s ass for the first 30mph or so, then the Conti with its 650cc motor hit third gear and blew the Street Cup with its water-cooled 900cc away. While getting the electrics sorted on the Triumph, I noted the presence of a chrome Interceptor on the floor. I went home on her.

After that long way to get to the point, here we go. The Interceptor is a 650cc parallel twin motorcycle in the style of the old British bikes (including Royal Enfield). It looks the part, it doesn’t just crib some styling queues like Triumph’s Modern Classic line, or the BMW R9T; a new bike pretending to be a classic — like the Moto Guzzi V7, this is a legitimate “old school” bike with a few new tricks up its sleeve. Yes, it has ABS and it works okay on the ByBre brakes. (Apparently ByBre is Brembo made in India…) It’s got electronic fuel injection and the map is very good and adaptive to conditions. Other than that, well, that’s it.

The frame was designed by Harris Performance and the steering geometry and weight distribution is fantastic. The bike is very nimble — easily on par with the Street Cup — and fast enough for what it is. The suspension is pretty basic, although the rear shocks (no, the reservoir isn’t real) are adjustable to five points, and with a tick over the bottom setting, it’s done quite well on most terrain. The front definitely needs progressive springs; it’s soft in hard bumps. The stock tires are the same Pirelli Phantom Sportcomps the new Triumphs use. They’re also the ony ties I’ve had slip on me in damp. Not wet, damp. They’ll be coming off first opportunity, but they are serviceable and some folks really like ’em.

The motor is smooth, sounds good (especially with the addition of a pair of S&S silencers and a K&N air filter with DNA airbox removal), and on paper is anemic as hell, producing only 45ish horsepower at my mile up. (I probably made back the altitude changes with the pipes.) It’s not anemic. The gearing on this thing is superlative. Once you hit third, the Interceptor runs hard. Hard enough to smoke a 900cc Triumph. It’s getting about 60mpg for me with mixed highway/city riding and a few miles lower in town. I figured this out by calculating the mileage at gas stops; the gas gauge is, not to put too fine a point on it, execrable. It shows me as on reserve with a good 1.5 gallons left in the tank. Low end, you should get about 160 miles on the tank, high end 200ish. Fueling is smooth and gives no hiccups. You can use lower octane if you have to, but I’d stick with premium.

And the looks… That chrome tank (soon to be joined by a chrome fender instead of a plastic silver one.) That classic badging. That motor: sculpted, clean, shiny. Everything about this bike comes together beautifully.

The downsides: The foot pegs are in an awful position when you stop. They’re right under your feet. When just out of the crate, the handlebars are way too high and forward. I had the mechanics rotate them about 30 degrees toward me. It’s not a cafe position, but it’s much more comfortable. The saddle’s a bit hard, but I did a 230 mile day on her the other weekend with just a bit of butt and hip soreness. The instrument cluster is very basic and compared to the gorgeous brushed aluminum of the Triumph, it’s a letdown. But you also won’t crash while admiring your dashboard. Another unfavorable comparison with Triumph: the Enfield’s gearbox is so-so. It shifts well enough but you’ve got to give it a kick; it doesn’t like a leisurely throw. It’s nowhere near as smooth as the Triumphs, which are some of the best shifting motorbikes I’ve ridden.

To give my Triumph a good send-off, I named her Lakshmibai, the Rani of Enfield as a tip of the hat to the (in)famous queen of Jhansi who led her troops against the British in the India Mutiny of 1857. That’s three history jokes rolled into one.

My buddy bought the white and silver/blue striped Continental, and nearly all the comments about the Interceptor hold for it, as well. The Conti shares most of its bits and bobs with the Interceptor. The footpegs are further back (and those rear sets will eventually make it onto my bike.) It has low cafe-styled bars that are well positioned but might be uncomfortable for those with back issues. I found them more comfortable. The tank is GP styles, instead of the classic teardrop. Otherwise, same bike. They do a lovely chrome one for the Continental, as well, but you don’t get the badge.

Out the door, the bike was a hair over $7000US with a 3 year warranty and 1 year roadside assistance, and was almost a straight trade for me. I had them removed the awful plastic mudguard extensions on the fenders, drop the S&S cans on, and over 1300 miles, she’s been flawless. On a “spirited” trip through the Valles Caldera and the twisty Route 4 to Jemez Springs, we were pushing these bikes hard in the turns and they were on par with any modern bike I’ve ridden.

But sometimes…that’s not quite enough. S&S has partnered up with Royal Enfield to develop a line of mods to improve the bike. This weekend, the Interceptor went in to receive a new high-performance camshaft and a set of pistons that brought the compression up from 9.5:1 to 11:1 — and it is glorious! My butt dyno tells me this thing is much faster off the line, with power coming up pretty much immediately. Where she would just scratch 100mph maxed on the throttle at 6500rpm (so at least you won’t blow up your motor…), she’s hitting 75 at just under 7000rpm in second gear! Cruising at about the same throttle position and revs, I’m getting about 5mph faster on the freeway. I anticipate (but cannot yet confirm) that she will probably bury the needle at the advertised 120 on the speedometer. Parts are ridiculously cheap: about $600, but labor is pretty intensive, so the labor costs if you don’t do it yourself are going to be spendy.

So if you are looking for a machine that will happily doddle around at 40 while still entertaining you, but can still carve canyons with the other bikes, the price point is definitely right.