Named after the Huge Bear run desert race, which Royal Enfield received again in 1960 with 16-year-old racer Eddie Mulder, the Bear 650 is a softish road scrambler, based mostly on the Interceptor 650. The Bear makes use of the identical air-cooled 47bhp 650 twin because the agency’s different classically styled higher middleweight machines, however with a scrambler restyle, barely completely different body, longer-travel suspension and 19” entrance wheel. I rode the Bear 650 on the using launch in California, and it labored nicely, within the vein of Enfield’s different trendy bikes.
The styling is sharp, construct high quality spectacular, and on the again roads round Palm Springs, it was simple to get on with. The engine is a bit underpowered for the mass (214kg) and the entrance forks fairly agency over potholes and catseyes, whereas the brakes might do with one other disc up entrance. The off-road efficiency is essentially nominal, due to that mass and the road-biased tyres, however some light, dry inexperienced lanes can be enjoyable for positive. The perfect a part of the Bear, after the styling and end, is the value: round £6750 for a brand-new, trendy retro scrambler. Choose one up on finance, park it subsequent to the S1000 RR, and use it for sunny backroad bimbles. You’ll have a ball.
