Why The Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Is Their Best Bike!

 this is the new 2023 Royal Enfield super meteor 650 and I reckon it’s the best bike they’ve ever made so let’s get stuck in with my eight favorite things about it so number one and apologies for starting with something so superficial but it has to be the styling the overall stance of this bike looks really nice and retro and it really does fit in with the cruiser segment I like the shapes of the Bodywork the tank I think the upside down forks at the front give it a bit more of a birch and purposeful look as well but I also love that they haven’t gone too far down that sort of cliched Harley rip-off clone kind of look and it’s still its own sort of thing there are plenty of Royal Enfield specific shapes and design features across the 

whole bike and I think that would be number two for me it does feel like it’s got a bit of Heritage and backstory I mean take this area specifically around the rear shocks for example if you compare it to something like a meteor or a constellation from their 60s or 70s you’ll see some of the same shapes in the way that the frame loops around the back of the side panels here and also the plate for mounting the top of the shock here has a very similar shape and then you’ve got things like the long straight silencer that runs beneath it and I mean look overall this is a much more modern looking bike but it’s still nice to see those little nods to the past and I think it helps make the super meteor all the more Charming I also think this might be the best sort of level of finish and attention to detail that I’ve ever seen on an Enfield it just goes to show that they’re constantly improving and this bike for me is right up there with other bikes from any other major manufacturers certainly at this price point anyway in fact I think it might surpass other bikes at this price point and it’s just all the little details I love the sort of switch gearing the way it feels a little bit retro you’ve got those chunky Cruiser style levers here both are adjustable as well which is a great feature at this price point I love these Barrel shaped grips with the Royal Enfield logo and they feel really nice in your hand and then there’s plenty of details on this bike like the fuel filler cap or the yolks or the headlight brackets that just give it a much more premium look than I was 

Why The Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Is Their Best Bike!

expecting for a Royal Enfield I also also really like the use of the Enfield logo across the whole bike you’ve got one in the headlight there a couple on the clocks you’ve got one on the tank one on the mud guard at the rear and then down on the side of the engine cases on the foot pegs all those little touches just make it feel a little bit elevated lastly on the Finish as well we’ve got this beautiful dark green paint job now this is one of the base colors so one of the most affordable but I think it might be my pick of the bunch it looks really nice and sort of stealthy and dark green in more shady conditions but get it out in the sun and the metallic flake really does pop and it looks quite special so definitely this paint job is another great feature on this bike now the cockpit is also very nicely designed you’ve got a really usable Speedo here it’ll be familiar to you if you’ve ever seen the smaller sibling of this bike the meter 350 and you’ve got a nice easy to read Speedo around the outside and then a more functional LCD insert in the middle that gives you some handy extra information things like gear position you also get the Tripper navigation pod which basically gives you simple easy to follow navigation prompts you pair it with 

your phone over Bluetooth and then plot your route using the Royal Enfield app and I think it’s a really good feature on this bike especially considering the price point and the fact that it’s actually as standard on the super meteor 650. now the other option if you want more advanced navigation information from apps like Google Maps or Apple Maps or Waze is to use a phone mount and so this is a great point at which to say a massive thanks to today’s video sponsor quad lock for me they make the best motorcycle phone mounts in the business and today I’ve got the handlebar mount Pro on here which is CNC aluminum fits the bars of most bikes with a variety of shims and is super adjustable with this little extension arm so that means you can always get your phone into the ideal spot now I’ve paired it with their vibration dampener so that minimizes harmful vibrations from the road surfaces and the bike’s engine which can be damaging to the camera on your phone and then all you need on top of that is one of their phone cases to get it mounted on the bars and I actually really like this case regardless of whether I’m using it to Mount the phone on the bike or not because it’s just got a nice feel to it and also 

it feels very robust and protective it’s a brilliant range of products for me it’s the complete setup for mounting your phone on the bike and so do check out the link down in the description if you fancy picking one up and down there you’ll also find a 10 discount code specifically for our viewers so once again a massive thanks to quad lock for their support now number five is the riding position and the comfort that it offers now probably wasn’t expecting to light this bike as much as I do and let me explain why you see normally I’m not much of a fan of forward foot pegs I don’t really enjoy that sensation of having your feet right out in front of you and I prefer to be able to put my weight onto the pegs easily just to control the bike and also take your weight off the saddle if you’re going over like speed bumps or potholes but actually it’s not a particularly big bike so despite the fact that they’re mounted right at the front of the engine there it isn’t a big reach with your feet and so for somebody in my height around five foot nine it’s perfectly comfortable and I actually really quite enjoyed the foot Peg position the other thing is the seat height so a lot of Cruisers around this sort of price point and stature things like the rebel 500 or the Vulcan s from Kawasaki you know those bikes sit super low to the ground the rebel is just 690 mil in the seat height for me it’s just too low out on the road especially 

around traffic you do feel a little bit vulnerable and I tend to find that you actually have to put your feet down and out a bit when you come to a stop to make room for them for me this is a much better seat height it sits at 740 mil and it sort of feels like a bit of a compromise it’s kind of like halfway between a proper low down Cruiser and a sort of upright retro like the Interceptor 650. it also feels a little bit more like you’re on top of the bike so when you do start to ride quicker you know you feel like you’re up and over the bars a bit and you can lean into the bike and so while it’s a little bit of an unusual riding position you might expect to be lower on a feet forward Cruiser I actually think it’s one of the main benefits of this buy now number six would be the handling and I think the major factor here is the way it comes in at 240 kilograms curb which sounds heavy compared to sort of like naked bikes and sports 

bikes but actually if you set it against other Cruisers like mid to large capacity Cruisers it really is quite slender and I think that makes it a great alternative for anyone who’s a bit over-faced by that style of bike it makes it feel much more chuckable and much more maneuverable so it’s great around town I took it around Bristol out riding with Tim last week and it was perfectly good through sort of quite congested traffic but also out on the open road you don’t have all this Mass sort of barreling into corners and so it really is quite engaging and fun to ride and I think I was actually expecting it to feel a bit sort of sluggish compared to a regular retro bike like the Interceptor 650 you know you’ve got the big 19-inch front wheel it’s got that extra little bit of weight and length the geometry is naturally a little bit more relaxed and of course you sit that little bit lower but really the difference isn’t as pronounced as I thought and I was having just as much fun on this bike if not a little bit more perhaps the upgraded Fork versus something like the Interceptor helps this is an upside down shower Fork it does have a nice composed feel at the front end and also true to Cruiser style you’ve got a big rear brake on this bike and also a two-part caliper and so despite that extra little bit of weight the brakes are actually perfectly good if you use both in tandem for bringing this bike to a stop now you’ve also got the joys of this proven 

engine as well this has been up for a few years this 650 parallel twin in both the Interceptor and the Continental GT Cafe Racer style bike and look it is air and oil cooled so it’s not particularly revvy but it does have a nice amount of torque right down in the mid-range that make it quite a satisfying bike to ride the big thing though for me is that versus the competition in this sort of more affordable end of the market is the fact that it gets a 270 degree crank as opposed to a 180 degree crank it gives it a lot more character and soul in terms of the sound and the feel of the end engine foreign and look most big Cruisers are v-twins and so this gives you a little bit of a slice of that flavor just in a more compact bike now number eight is the price and I think when this bike was announced at ikema last year given the extra size of the bike and the extra sort of specialness of the finish and also the slightly improved spec are some of the components I was expecting it to come in significantly more expensive than the other twins have now line up like the Interceptor 650. maybe I was thinking more around the seven and a half to eight grand mark But actually at the moment in this base color you’re looking at 6799 pounds on the road which is actually only a few hundred quid more than the Interceptor now whether that will change over the next few months whether it’s an introductory sort of launch price I can’t say but based upon the 

price that we got today that is very impressive value for money and I think it’s a really endearing and fun bike to ride an extremely tempting price point in fact it even undercuts the closest competition which I would say is the the vulcaness genuinely I’ve been super impressed with this bike and really enjoyed it the only thing I might change is maybe put in mid position controls on it it does have the bosses down on the frame there and I think given that there are plenty of spy shots recently of the shotgun 650 which has the same frame but with mid position controls you know we might have something on the way that would tick that box but if you do get on with the forward position pegs then I thoroughly recommend taking one of these out for a demo now I’ve already shot a head-to-head with the Interceptor 650 to figure out which one is the Best Buy and also a comparison with those two competitors so the rebel 500 and the Kawasaki Vulcan s so do hit subscribe if you’re not already if you want to see those videos as soon as they go live and in the meantime if this bike looks a little bit large or perhaps a touch out a budget then there’s the meteor 350 the smaller version of this bike single cylinder and I reviewed it last year so do check out this video if you think that looks like your cup of tea and let me know what you think of it in the comments many thanks for watching today and I’ll catch you in the next one