Royal Enfield has unveiled their upcoming scrambler based on the infamous Interceptor 650, with India launch following suit somewhere around the end of 2024 – most likely during or after post-EICMA 2024, which is scheduled in November, in Italy, where Royal Enfield will be showcasing its new product – the Interceptor Bear 650, and a likely price reveal for the Indian market shall be announced then, which is expected to be around the INR 3.3 Lakh mark and may vary from variant to variant, if any.
The Interceptor Bear 650 is the fifth bike in the Royal Enfield stable to incorporate the good ‘ol 648cc engine, alongside the Interceptor 650(obviously), Continental 650, Shotgun 650, and Super Meteor 650.
Although the Interceptor Bear 650 shares the same engine as the regular Interceptor 650 – but, with some clever engineering such as two-in-one exhausts and a few mechanical changes, Royal Enfield engineers have managed to eke out a bit more torque than the standard Interceptor 650’s engine – 4Nm of torque more to be exact.
To do justice to the scrambler name – the Interceptor Bear 650 although visibly has the same frame as the regular Interceptor 650 – Royal Enfield engineers have strengthened the key impact areas of the frame to handle the rough tarmac which it’ll be subjected to once out of the showroom floors.
 But the biggest change from the regular Interceptor is the mechanical hardware from which the bike is suspended – unlike the Interceptor 650’s telescopic front forks and the gas-charged twin shocks at the rear the Bear 650 sits on a new Showa USD fork and a twin shock absorbers at the rear – not only that the suspesnion travel has been increased to 130mm at the front and 115 mm at the rear as compared to Interceptors 110mm at the front and 88mm at the rear – all to suit its off-roading nature.
The Interceptor Bear 650 comes in five different shades -Broadwalk White, Petrol Green, Wild Honey, Golden Shadow, and Two Four Nine. There’s a slight chance that each shade will dictate the overall pricing of the bike, despite there not being any mechanical or technical disparities between the models.
Perhaps the biggest visible technical upgrade on the Bear 650 apart from the two-in-one exhaust is the TFT gauge cluster which is quite futuristic and a drastic shift from the interceptor dual pod gauge cluster which apart from holding a nostalgic value is quite beautiful to look at.
The TFT display apart from displaying the usual information such as speed, fuel tank, range and gear indicator also has the Bluetooth connectivity feature which can also project Google Maps onto the display – which one must admit is quite handy and impressive.
Visually, the bike doesn’t depart from its sister bike from which it has borrowed a lot, it does have an all-LED lighting system and shares other exterior bits from other Royal Enfield bikes – such as turn indicators and headlights from the Himalayan and the taillight from the hunter 350.
Royal Enfield will publicly launch the Bike at EICMA 2024, during the early days of November in Italy – and subsequently will also launch the bike and unveil its pricing for the Indian market. Deliveries are expected to begin from mid-November.
I really enjoyed your detailed coverage of the new Royal Enfield models! Your insights on the Interceptor Bear 650’s scrambler design and 650’s retro styling are spot-on. I recently wrote a blog on: https://twowheelerexplorer.com/royal-enfield-interceptor-bear-650-launched/