Hit 10,000 miles on my Enfield last week. Here's a long term review
It's a Royal Enfield Continental GT 650
Welp. 2.5 years and 10,000 miles. And still going strong. Just wanted to give. Long term review and what she's like to live with. Her name is Valarie.
I'll get the bad out of the way. The problems I've had, and any annoyances.
I will say the stock grips, while not horrible. They get uncomfortable after a while. I plan to upgrade to the new barrel grips on the new bikes.
This might be a short person problem. But I do find the peg and seating position annoying. When you stop the peg is in the natural foot rest position. I've gotten used to it. But it's there lol.
When I got the bike, it had a starting issue within a week. It was the way too much electrical grease issue. A cleanup and that was over. I blame the dealer more than royal enfield for that.
The worst thing with the bike is the tach malfunctioned on me. It's jammed at 1000k and reads 1000k high through the rpm range. It's covered under the warranty. They have my part and I just need to schedule it. And honestly. I've been riding motorcycles for 33 years. I don't even pay attention to the tach. I don't need it. It is a problem. But not a big one at all.
Now the good parts of living with my Enfield and even some of my mishaps.
Overall living with this bike has been fantastic. She is my daily driver. And all weather. It's southern California so just rain, no snow. I've done 600 mile trips, and could have gone longer. And I commute daily.
Around town riding she does just fine at. I know they aren't the lightest feeling bikes. But they are quite nimble. My 250 does much better at town riding. The less weight and smaller size makes it a beast at traffic. But the Enfield is more than competent.
Hitting the back roads is where this bike shines best. The narrow tire profile makes the bike so flickable. And it's only got 47hp. It has a nice low grunt. I never feel wanting for power
On the highway. Also fantastic. It's a bit windy. The riding position and no proper fairing doesn't help. I added a small wind screen and it eases it a lot actually. And the bike just swallows miles. Like I said, I've done multiple 600 mile trips. I do eventually want to get more comfortable diamond tuck seat. I don't find the stock seat uncomfortable. I have the full length seat setup on mine. I like that I can move around so much. Keeps you more comfortable on long rides and I find myself averaging around 45-50mpg on the highway. I'm sure I could get better if I wanted to as well.
There have been some mishaps that were my fault. I had a small fire on the bike. I had some canvas saddle bags I thought were clear of the exhaust. On a long ride and over loaded, the rested on the exhaust and thankfully I Noticed before it got bad. I lost a tablet, some gloves and other minor things. But thankfully Valarie survived.
I had a strap snap and then wind around the axel. The only damage to the bike is as it wound is broke my turn signal. I stopped immediately and thankfully that's all that happened. I'm not sure how the strap broke. But it was a deal. I've fixed the blinkers and all is well.
I made 2 50 cal ammo boxes for panniers. Really nice and gives me a sticker canvas. I have a guardian bell I have mounted next to the headlamp my wife got me.
This bike has me sold on the brand. I want more enfields in the stable
As this was asked. I average 45 to 50mpg.