Royal Enfield, the global leader in the mid-size motorcycle segment (250 – 750cc), has announced Interceptor 650 as the most awarded motorcycle from the Royal Enfield stable. The Interceptor has won more than 15 prestigious awards across categories in India, Asia Pacific, Americas, Europe and South-East Asia. The 650 Twins have enabled Royal Enfield in its focused international thrust of leading and expanding the global mid-sized motorcycle segment (250-750cc).
Launched in September 2018 in Santa Cruz, the 650 Twins have been received extremely well by motorcycle enthusiasts in India and across the globe. The Interceptor 650 – the quintessential roadster, won several awards – The list of prestigious awards include – Cycle News Bike of the Year USA, Bikesales Best Retro Bike 2020, Bikesales Best LAMS Retro 2019, Thailand Bike of the Year 2019 award in the ‘Best Modern Classic Middle Weight’, “Best LAMS Retro: Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 Twin”, MCN Retro Bike of The Year 2019 and 2020 in the UK for Interceptor INT 650, becoming the only Indian brand to do so, not just once but twice in a row. It also won the 2019 best looking Naked/standard Motorcycle of the year from Motorcyclist magazine USA for Continental GT 650. In India, it had won Indian Motorcycle of the Year 2018 and has continued to dominate the upper end (500cc and above) of the mid-sized motorcycling segment in the country.
The Royal Enfield 650 Twin motorcycles continue to gather great responses from customers across the globe and have won many accolades and awards. The Interceptor 650 Twin has also been the highest selling naked style motorcycle for the entirety of the 2020 calendar year (as per MCIA data from January 2020 – to December 2020) dominating the mid-sized segment for over a year, propelling Royal Enfield to become one of the fastest growing motorcycle brands in the UK. In the APAC region, the 650 Twins contribute to more than 50% of the volumes with the highest demand of the motorcycles in Thailand where the 650 Twins account for more than 65% of the volumes. We have won awards in the Philippines, Thailand, Australia and various other countries in the APAC region too.
Commenting on the success of the Twins 650, particularly Interceptor, Anuj Dua, Business Head for APAC markets, Royal Enfield, said “The launch of the 650 Twins marked a new chapter for Royal Enfield and for the mid-sized motorcycle segment. The global success of these motorcycles over the last couple of years has been phenomenal with the Interceptor growing the 500cc+ category by more than 4-times in India, and also becoming the best selling naked motorcycle in the mid-sized category in the UK in 2020 and a volume contributor in the Asia Pacific region as well. Ever since Royal Enfield entered Thailand in 2015, we have been consistently working on becoming an integral part of the country’s rich motorcycling culture by offering differentiated motorcycles and strengthening our community. We have over 10,000 Twins customers now in Thailand and these motorcycles contribute to a substantial share of the pie. We not only have a passionate community of riders but also see a growing potential in the mid-size motorcycle segment. We are going to grow our portfolio, build a bigger, more exciting motorcycle community and continue to get many more avid riders into the Pure motorcycling fold.”
In record time, the Twins have proved themselves to be favorites of the custom motorcycle world, their uncomplicated design making them the perfect canvas for personalization. Endless possibilities in two motorcycles. The most recent custom build on the Interceptor was done during the Busted Knuckles Build-off competition in 2022 in Australia. MotoMax Perth built – ‘Regency’ Interceptor 650 Twin Scrambler, ‘RevElation’ 650 Twin Salt Racer by Revelry Cycles Sydney, Dr. No’ GT 650 Twin Cafe Racer by Fast Fuel Albury and No. 55 GT 650 Production Racer by Royale Motorcycles, Hamilton.
Motorcyclists aspire to exploring new possibilities and pushing boundaries and Royal Enfield endeavours to aid each and every such pursuit. Gaining such a milestone, Mid Life Cycles’ Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 Salt Racer set the class record at the annual Speed Week run at Lake Gairdner, South Australia. The Interceptor 650 Twin broke the four-year-old class record on each of its runs, leaving the new mark at 132.050 MPH (miles per hour) or 212.514 km/h. The Mid Life Cycles’ Interceptor was entered in Class M-F 650, for 650cc un-streamlined motorcycles running commercial unleaded fuel. The old record of 119.961 MPH was set at Lake Gairdner in 2016.
Royal Enfield also participated in the BRTS Speedway Championships at Mick Doohan Speedway, Brisbane Australia, where ace racer Josh Farrell was piloting our Interceptor 650 in the ‘Hooligans and Twins’ Class racing against 1200cc motorcycles. Josh came away with third place overall in his first competitive hit-out on the Interceptor at these invitational races and sure did entertain the crowds with bar-to-bar racing throughout the day. Josh’s next ride will be at selected rounds of the ‘Sultans of Slide’ series and the ‘Short Shift Showdown’ at Coffs Harbour in September.
In Thailand, a huge new audience of commuters is upgrading to Royal Enfield’s robust long-distance “leisure riding” experience. As a leisure motorcycling brand, we are not only growing our market share but also mindshare among the motorcycling enthusiasts.
