By nigelp 
Cycle Torque has been to the USA to ride the new Royal Enfield Bear 650, a variant on the Interceptor with flat-track style, longer travel suspension, a flatter seat, digital instruments, laced wheels (with a 19-inch front) and five new colourways.
The story behind the bike, its naming and Eddie Mulder, who at age 16 won a huge desert race at Big Bear Lake and was a special guest at the launch of the bike, is worth watching the video for even if you’re not particularly interested in the machine.
Transcript of the video’s audio (auto generated, apologies for errors).
I’m out in Southern California for the launch of the new Royal Enfield Bear 650.
So another variation on theme for Royal Enfield and its 650s, why your new engine?
Well, I think the small team of Brits and Indians that work in research and development at Royal Enfield just haven’t had time.
We’ve had a new 350 and a new watercooled 450 since the launch of the 650s back in 2018.
And while I’m sure they’re working on something new and exciting in the background, they’re still nothing wrong with the air-oil cooled 650 engine that powers all these different motorcycles these days.
So why fix something that isn’t broken?
Let me go back a little bit here, back to 1960 and a young man named Eddie Mulder was racing through the deserts of California riding a Royal Enfield, when the Big Bear desert race happened up at Big Bear Lake and 750-plus riders entered into this race and Eddie was just one of them.
However, Eddie by his own admission, was one of about 100-odd who were actually serious about the race, rather than just up there to have a bit of fun, and so even though he got a delayed start because of a inopportune toilet break, he was up into, you know, the top 20 or 30 after just the first loop. There was lots of loops to this race and he was out there doing his best and chipping away from the back of the pack and eventually he would win this race at age 16 against hundreds and hundreds of other riders, many with a lot more experience, a lot more racing experience. But he did it anyway, the bike was broken by the time he won the race, but win it nonetheless.
Eddie went on to a successful racing career and even more so a stunt riding career for Hollywood and was at the launch of the Bear 650 for Royal Enfield and he was a lovely guest of honor. In fact, the 249 model you can see here is dedicated to Eddie.
They’ve given him one, and it’s a lovely looking motorcycle.
You know, it’s a variation on the 650s that Royal Enfield’s been producing since about 2018.
And as such, it’s got a few changes with the same engine.
So the engine is that 270 degree crank equipped parallel twin 648 ccs, and it’s just a lovely motor to use.
It’s got around about 50 horsepower.
It’s just under that, about 35 kilowatts and there’s 56 and a half Newton-metres of torque.
It’s up 8% on the previous models, and I thought I could feel that, but it’s only 8%.
It’s not a huge difference . It’s a really nice engine, it’s got a six speed gearbox, it’s got a system, it’ slip a clutch, and it feels very old school.
And I like that.
It’s a nice engine without being a powerhouse.
And the Bear 650 is the modern version of Royal Enfield’s way of creating a tribute by playing on the history in such a way that you can go out and buy a bike that looks really cool, looks really retro, rides far more like a modern bike, is non-threatening, lots of fun to ride, and you can even take it on a little bit of tame dirt.
I could have a lot of fun on a decent piece of dirt on a Bear 650, but I’ll always be more confident and probably faster on a Himalayan 450, especially if conditions got a little bit rough and snotty.
So, while the Bear 650 can be used on a dirt road, and I’m sure Royal Enfield will put some hotshot riders on to make sure people know that can do all sorts of crazy things.
Most of us would be better off on the 450 Himalayan, if we really want to do any real distances on the loose surfaces.
The Royal Enfield Bear 650 on the bitumen, though, is a different thing.
It’s a hell of a lot of fun, even though it’s designed to look like a flat tracker or early scrambler.
The fact is that Royal Enfield work with the time manufacturer MRF to produce block tires that look like off-road rubber, that actually handle fine on at least dry bit bitumen.
We didn’t get to ride it in the rain at all . And the bike handles very well on a nice winding road.
It’s actually a hell of a lot of fun without being quite so serious as a modern sports bike.
That means you’re actually having a lot more fun at a more moderate speed, probably closer to the speed limit.
You’ll also be doing this with an upright riding position, which is delightful in traffic, and only becomes tiring on more open roads and freeways above 100 kilometres an hour.
I literally could ride this bike all day if the pace was under that speed.
I think most owners of Bear 650s, however, won’t get out onto dirt roads, freeways or country byways as often as they would like, though.
I think this bike will be purchased predominantly by people who live in cities, and as a machine to get around the city, it’s actually very well suited to the job. Back in California, though, I had a good look at the changes they’d made to build the Bear 650.
It’s essentially the same chassis as the old interceptor, but they have strengthened the subframe.
The other major changes are, of course, the wheels, tyres, the two into one system, the styling, the handlebars and the upside down forks, upside down forks is critical, they are actually really good.
The rear shocks have also been changed.
However, they’re only average.
They worked fine on the nice smooth roads, but would have got a bit rough.
Well, you know, they’re still a little Achilles heel on the bike.
Such a privilege and a pleasure to have you here tonight sharing the memories with everybody. I think everybody in a degree it’s an incredible story. I think if you could show your appreciation again for the living legend.
We’ve got trouble.
When Eddie saw that bike, we all had a conversation and we said, Eddie should have one of these bikes.
So this is Eddie’s bike.
So this is the bike you’re going to take home with you Eddie.
So thank you out very much, thank you Royal Enfield.