Royal Enfield Super Meteor vs Interceptor 650: Which Is Better?

so the Royal Enfield Interceptor launched about five years ago and ever since then it’s been one of the best-selling bikes in the UK certainly in the Retro segment and for good reason just like my good friend Tim here it’s good looking hey sounds nice easy to ride hello and most of all cheap nice that started as a compliment but fast forward to this year and they followed it up on the same 650 engine platform with a cruiser style bike in the form of the super meteor now this one is a little more like myself refined a bit heavier a bit wider not as tall either but which one is the best well myself and Tim are going to take them both for a spin today to find out which one you should buy I like that was that rehearsed did you your I just wrote it last night all right so first up mate a massive thanks to Farmers for Lending us the Interceptor today they’ve got a whole stock of enfields of course but loads of other retro bike brands so definitely check them out if you’re in the market for something like this and as usual team we’re going to do our little scoring exercise throughout the video so we can declare a winner at the end first up we’re going to talk about styling yeah it’s obviously the one that you’ve got over there is your standard retro Classic Bike very similar to a Bonneville especially in terms of Aesthetics and looks so that one in 

Royal Enfield Super Meteor vs Interceptor 650: Which Is Better?

particular obviously got that Chrome tank which looks fantastic dual clocks quilted seats spoke wheels all of the pretty things that we like from a classic bike but more of an upright riding position and obviously the one that I’ve got is low lower to the ground at least actually as far as cruises quite a sort of dinky cute little Cruiser yeah and it’s got like the big wide bars the forward fee you know it’s raked out and it’s much more of a like I think it looks a little bit more quality and premium and yeah that’s kind of what you’re wondering the finish on that one’s good but actually I think this one is a slight step up actually it’s just more like fanciness to it yeah a little bit generally just a little bit fatter in certain areas as well like the indicators for example the tail light just kind of chunky round yeah I get what you’re saying chunky Forks chunky tank even the levers quite feel you know a bit more harley-esque I would say honestly they get big chunky levers so which one’s your point going to looks wise oh I mean really tough one in it it honestly it would be fractional between the two but I think at the moment I would go for the super meteor I’m gonna have to say this this is sort of bike that I love the looks of I get why 

you’re saying that but we’re calling it one all I think also before we get on the road it’s time for a quick sound check they should sound roughly the same it’s the same engine basically but there is a little bit of difference between the silencers I’ll operate the Muff today if you want to be the river okay gonna say I wasn’t expecting him to sound that different but actually the Super Meat has got a bit more like beefiness and base to it hasn’t it whereas that sounds a bit stifled uh yeah I would agree like it’s a really small difference between the two but they actually do sound different and it’s got to just be because of the the exhaust setup on this one compared to that one so I think we’re both saying a point to the super meteor so that’s one each makes two but I think we need to take him for a bit of a spin now and find out what they’re actually like on the road but before we get on the road a massive thanks to insta360 for sponsoring this video we use the X3 360 cameras to capture all of our riding footage and I absolutely love using them because you can stick them anywhere on the bike you can hang it from the bar end or on the engine bars or up on the handlebars and then you can reframe it in the software afterwards to get loads of different angles for me definitely the most fun and creative way to capture and share your rides and they’re not just for professionals like myself and Tim you know they’re super easy to use anyone 

can get the hang of the app and get great footage out of it so if you fancy picking one up check out the link in the description where you’ll also find a code where you can get a free gift and once again a massive thanks to insta360 for their support and with that we’ll get on the road all right so we’ve got the same engine in these bikes it’s the 650 parallel twin 270 crank gives it quite a nice sound despite the sort of slightly restrictive exhaust systems six-speed box 47 horsepower at each bike Peak talks around 53 and they make it at sort of similar levels there’s minor differences mate But ultimately they do feel really similar don’t they these bikes yeah I think so I’m not noticing a huge difference if any I’m sure there is no difference between really in terms of where they make that power and obviously as that is kind of a retro bike and a twin you kind of expect it to be a bit talky and Punchy anyway and the same is true of this I will say the super meteor is about 25 kilograms heavier so it’s not going to feel quite as sprightly for the same power it’s gonna you know suffer a little bit under acceleration but I think we just got to go even points here I’d say handling those where they are going to start to diverge I will say though despite the fact that that is a little bit heavier than this bike it still feels quite petite for a crew freezer doesn’t it it’s compact definitely it’s class 100 it feels petite for a cruiser which is quite an 

endearing thing really I can’t really think of a competitor other than maybe the uh Honda Rebel 500 for a sort of scale I suppose yeah I mean I really have enjoyed riding that on the open road because it doesn’t feel too big and like we’re saying much like the engine nice for Town and the handling is the same it feels Nimble and agile and that’s exactly what you want when you’re trying to pick your way through traffic yeah I would say in its favor massively it feels like that weight is held a little lower predominantly because I myself am sat a little bit lower so you know has a big heavy lump on top of it that helps better in a bit more the fact that it’s got a bit more weight just makes it feel planted secure but then because you’ve got a leverage with the bars actually probably for me a little bit more flickable than that one so I would say in a town this one for me would be my pick because your feet are lower you’re a little bit lower it’s a little bit more stable because the weight is held a bit lower yeah it’s a really nice little town bike and also just ride it on the open road like I’ve been doing this week it’s got a couple of other advantages like it’s got that shower upside down Fork which feels great at the front end and also 

the rear disc on that bike on the super meteor true to sort of Cruiser style is Big it’s 300 mil and it’s got a two pot caliper so much bigger than this bike single pot on this bike I think it’s like a 220 or something and as a result you do get a lot of braking power on that rear disc so the extra 20 or kilos doesn’t really matter to me if you’re willing to break with both you don’t really notice it slowing down yeah and your feet are automatically in the right position on a cruiser because it’s forward-facing you’re right there over that rear brake anyway yeah I think the Interceptor probably is the more you know sporty feeling bike but I’ll probably get the point to the super meteor just because I feel like for a cruiser it’s really impressed me definitely it’s a lot more engaging and more flickable and more threadable around town than I was expecting and I think it’s a massive you know selling point of that bike yeah I mean on a day like today where we’re riding definitely my points go into this ask me if we were out on some b roads and obviously I probably would go with the Interceptor but right now I’m not going to fight it for the keys put it that way right next category is comfort and this is you know as you’d expect very upright very regular foot Peg position I mean yeah pretty neutral I would say as far as a riding position definitely really comfy nice riding position nice squishy saddle comfy on the rear as well it’s quite soft on the shark but not in a way that it handles badly it just feels like a comfortable bike I mean definitely out of the two of us you’ve been having a better time over speed bumps yes yeah I think so and there’s been plenty of that today how tall are you gonna make people always ask that in the comments like 

when you’re sitting on the bike they want to know how big they’re gonna look on the bike so five foot ten so that’s what a five foot ten person looks like on a sort of middleweight Cruiser this is you know as you you’d expect feet forward bars are wide and a bit further back C is a little bit lower I wouldn’t say it’s like super low but it’s certainly more accessible down to the ground we’ve both found it a bit firm on the shock though yeah definitely maybe it’s because of your position as well because obviously less of the weight is on your feet as it would be underneath you personally I prefer mid position foot controls on Cruiser style bikes for the exact reason you mentioned you can get your weight off the saddle if you do hit a speed bump or something as it stands Comfort wise where’s your point going I’ve got to give it to that actually for yeah if we’re based on what we’ve been riding today my comfort level will be more on out yeah me too mate I think if this had the mid pegs I’d be very tempting but that has the right foot Peg position for me and also a little bit more Comfort at the rear end and so that’s two to the Interceptor now I always do a little bit of a tech section in my reviews but both of these bikes are very very simple there’s no Rider modes no um you know different throttle Maps or anything like that just ABS but I think the super meter earns the point here because it’s got the trip and navigation pod that’s got twin 

clock so speed and revs this has a more simple single you know part analog part Digital dash but that leaves room for the Triple pod which is basically like a very simplistic navigation device similar to sort of B-Line Moto you just plot a route on your phone haven’t really needed to use it today but I’ve used it in the past when I borrowed the meteor 350 and I thought it was really nicely done and it’s a great little extra bit of functionality a fairly affordable price point and so yeah one point here I think from both of us yeah right back to foul is to drop that bike off and then we’ll tot up the scores right mate last one is price I was expecting this bike to come in at about eight grand when they announced it but at the moment you can get them for just under seven I think it’s six seven nine nine or six eight nine nine really impressive might be a launch price thing and they might put it up in a bit this comes in at six five nine nine I think in the most basic color so for me they’re equal in terms of capability so I think you have to give the points to this so that’s one each for the styling two to the sound for the super meter one is for the engine two to the super meteor for handling two for Comfort on the Interceptor two for Tech back over here on the super meter and then finally two for the price of the Interceptor which makes it 

eight points for this one as the winner and six for this very closely run but as always mate does that reflect where your money would go which one would you buy on this occasion yeah it would be the meteor interesting I’d go for this and I was expecting you to go for the Interceptor as well just because we’re you know retro guys that’s true I mean I would still say this is a retro looking Cruiser yes that’s just a slightly different flavor than that one well you know a cruiser guy sorry you’re at the Retro Club all right but as always we love to know which bike you guys have picked down in the comments below so do let us know again a massive thanks to followers for letting us borrow their Interceptor demo both of us super impressed with the super meteor but if it looks a little bit big and expensive to you then there is also the single cylinder meteor 350 which I made a review of last year really enjoyed it and I’ll put a link to that review on the screen now so you can give it a click give it a watch it’ll probably be around here yeah exactly sorry mate I’ve covered you up there many thanks for watching and we’ll see you in the next article bye