this is the royal enfield Continental GT it's a 650 CC twin cylinder retro cafe racer
royal enfield were part of the original cafe racing scene of 1960s even my old
dad he used to sort of ride bikes around in those days with a [ __ ] in his mouth
and no helmet on and it was a kind of a race between one cafe to the next and a
few guys have got on their bikes and make a day of it and this bike harks back to that
era you can buy this bike in the UK for five thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine pounds
depending what colour you get this particular colour is six thousand and ninety nine and
there's another sort of a shiny chrome looking finish for us six thousand three
hundred and ninety nine and whatever bike you choose is a jolly good price in the UK
as with all our reviews if you haven't seen our channel before we put ourselves in the
shoes of the 99% of people that would buy the bike we're looking at and this bike is people
of my age old guys who remember the sort of 60s and want to retro bike and it also would appeal
to younger guys who want to do the cafe race the kind of thing now it would be a great black to
commute on it's great on the motorway at speed it's very stable very easy so I'd be happy to
arrive hundred miles an hour on the motorway on it it's great in the country lanes it's great in
the bends it really does everything and I'm actually very impressed with his motorbike
as I said before it's a 650 CC air-cooled twin cylinder engine it's got an oil core
up the front here but you've got all the modern necessities like fuel injection
electronic ignition disc brakes front and rear so you've got the reliability with the
retro looks which is a marvelous combination you've got a twin cradle tubular steel frame
55 inches of wheelbase which is quite short which gives it its agility and you've got
about 7 inches of ground clearance and you've got a seat height of 31 inches so I would say
this bike is ideally sized for anyone between five foot eight and six feet I'm 6 foot 3 and
I probably look large on it although it feels quite roomy in fact quite spacious
but I would imagine people would say I look a bit big for it but it feels fine
Forks have got a 24 degree rake and a 105 mill which gives you some very responsive steering
Forks of 41 millimeters in diameter and you've got four and a quarter inches of travel which
is quite okay for a road bike at the rear it's a twin shock you've got five levels of adjustments
piggy back reservoirs and you've got about three and a half inches of travel at the rear
it's got a 12 lead to a petrol tank and when you're pushing this back about it
feels really really light it's ever so easy to maneuver you can push and Chum
sit around and turn it around extremely easily so I thought this must be quite
a light bike when I looked at the figures it's 198 kilos and it doesn't feel like that at all
the engine produces 47 course 7250 RPM and it produces 52 Newton meters of torque at 5250 RPM
but 80% of that talk begins at two and a half thousand rpm so the talk is there from low revs
right the way through the engine has four valves per cylinder and the compression ratio is nine
point five to one which means that the engine isn't highly stressed which will be good for
service intervals but also in the way it rides it has a six-speed gearbox Royal Enfield got
this bike absolutely right it's fabulous straight away you feel at one with the bike it inspires
confidence so you can open up the throttle you can take the corners and you feel at one with a bike
straight away with time after a few weeks you'd be carving up the bends and really riding this hard
the handling on this bike is so good you can really get into it you can ride round the corners
as fast it's a joy to ride the handlebars are sort of clip-on handlebar and they said there's
a pullback on them but it feels really nice I'm not used to that kind of handlebar because my
daily riders are highly dense and I'm used to having my hands up here and I thought at first
I'm not going to like this bike but as soon as you get on it it feels just right the power
delivery on this bike is Eva's good you've got plenty of acceleration and you've got plenty of
torque to get up the hills and overtake and you can have so much fun on this bike it's a true
got a very good lean angle on this bike so after a week or two once you get used to it you'll be
able to take the bends and really carve off the country lanes and it's a fabulous fun bike to
ride going back to the 60s where guys will be on their bikes racing from one cafe to the other the
big thing was to get to a ton 100 miles an hour and the point of this bike is that you can get
to the tongue and if you do it's an achievement you could go out and buy a 5 laid or something
and get 200 miles an hour very easily but with a bite like this you have to work it and you've
got to choose the right road and the right conditions and you've got to lay down flat
on the tank which you can do by the way quite easily and when you get to a ton you'll be proud
of yourself obviously law permitting now I love this seat it gives you enough movement forwards
and backwards so that you can get yourself right back get your chest on the tank and lie down out
the wind it's a very comfortable seat as well the styling obviously is incredible I love the
look at this bike this bike has the Pirelli Phantom sports comp tires and they suit the
bike really well you've got an 18 inch up front and an 18 inch on the rear but it's a bit wider
at the back as you expect the side here you've got this little panel which unlocks with a key
and you can flip it up take it off and you've got the battery and you've got a little toolkit here
at the back end you've got the enormous silly British number plate so if you've got a smaller
plate on that the back end will look lovely and if this was my bike I'd change these pipes I'll
get some raspy the louder pipes for it and it would be fantastic well they were really like
these analog dials and so many bikes now have digital displays which are to read and you just
can't beat the old analog dials it's nice to see that these days more ladies are riding
and I think this bike would be very suitable for lady riders because the seat isn't too
high it's very easy to push around it's not heavy so it's easy to maneuver in car parks
and what-have-you and it's an easy bike to ride so what does it sound like well obviously before
we started up we have the standard battles in which have to meet the sound regulations etc
so it's not going to be loud but it does have a nice tone to it if it were my bike as I said
before I would change these pipes for something must much more raspy but let's have a listen
so our verdict on the royal enfield Continental GT 650 it's a very very good bike you would not
be disappointed if you want this style of bike if you want a retro bike if you want
a cafe racer if you want a bike to have a bit of fun on to commute to go out of the
weekend and have a blast with your friends you absolutely will love this motorbike
you