New 650 Twin

Well my new bike is home. I hope to take it out for a nice ride tomorrow before it gets to hot. Texas in the summer can be brutal so I do my riding in the cool of the day.
John in Texas
 
I sure know what you mean by brutal in summer. I've lived here on the coast so long I've grown gills too.
I'm on fixed income these days so don't wag that new dog too much in front of me or the other half could kill me.
 
First serious ride on my Interceptor. The bike is quick with plenty of power. Controls are well laid out.
Issues of course but nothing that I can't deal with. The seat is hard and a bit narrow. RE has "touring" seats that are supposed to be a bit softer. Easiest to get it directly from India faster and cheaper. Both mirrors are the curved ones marked things are closer than you think, better to have 1 of each. It could use a good windscreen there are fly screens but no real windshield. Again these might be available out of India.
John in Texas
 
I've become a connoisseur of some of the tastiest insects since making my Norton road worthy again. The easiest & fastest solution would be goggles & a bandana over the pie hole. I wear glasses, and enjoy extra food....excluding wasp & stinkbugs.
Just try to view it as a bit of nostalgia from the old days of cycling. Wind still sucks though on light bikes. Hate being blown halfway across a lane.
Your new bike is good & sound which is what really matters most. Good to hear your report.
 
I am scheduled to get my 300 mile service next week and I was blindsided by the cost.
First I must qualify this by saying that the last 2 new bikes that I got the first service "free" and by that I had to pay for the oil and filter and the manufacturer covered the labor. Granted my last new bike was my Norton Commando.
The RE dealer said that the cost of the 300 mile service was $200 to $250, maybe I'm just a cheapskate but damn. Yes, I'm sure BMW is a lot worse.
I called RE service and "in the US you have to pay for the first service", ouch!
Is this the same all over the world?

John in Texas
 
That sounds rather steep. Nope. You don't sound cheap after shelling out the cost of the new bike.
 
AND $1200 for transport from India and dealer prep beyond the MSRP+ taxes and license.....at least at my local vendor in California.
And given the piss poor dealer prep I experienced on a new bike I test drove, I expect each bike would require 2-3 hours of work
to get the bike back to good condition after the run-in period. My local vendor charges $100+ per hour for shop labor. Therein lies the
profit margin of a dealership. If all of this added up RE doesn't sound like such a great bargain unless you buy it in India.
 
Why not do the service yourself? it is only an oil and filter change. I don't know if it is the same in the States but over here we cannot be forced to use dealers for servicing, Use genuine parts and the recommended oils and document the service and the warranty should be honoured.

Looks Like Jay likes them.

 
storm42 said:
Why not do the service yourself? it is only an oil and filter change. I don't know if it is the same in the States but over here we cannot be forced to use dealers for servicing, Use genuine parts and the recommended oils and document the service and the warranty should be honoured.

Looks Like Jay likes them.

Click to expand...


Very true!! I wonder what the cost is for a service manual? I expect that valve adjustment should be checked and at least some of the
nuts and bolts should be re-torqued.
 
If I could avoid it the only time the dealer would see the bike again would be for work on warranty covered failures. This is providing RE accepts documented owner maintenance, which I see no problem in doing or keeping written record of.
Bottom line is I neither like nor trust folks I don't know messing with my property.
 
lazyeye6 said:
Very true!! I wonder what the cost is for a service manual? I expect that valve adjustment should be checked and at least some of the
nuts and bolts should be re-torqued.
Click to expand...
I an getting the factory shop and parts books. Taking a flash drive to the dealer and he is going to down load the info for me. Well at least the shop book for right now, he hasn't gotten the down load from RE for the parts. I used to work for a Ford dealership way back when and long before the new cars and trucks came out we had the books along with the service parts.
John in Texas
 
N0rt0nelectr@ said:
First serious ride on my Interceptor. The bike is quick with plenty of power. Controls are well laid out.
Issues of course but nothing that I can't deal with. The seat is hard and a bit narrow. RE has "touring" seats that are supposed to be a bit softer. Easiest to get it directly from India faster and cheaper. Both mirrors are the curved ones marked things are closer than you think, better to have 1 of each. It could use a good windscreen there are fly screens but no real windshield. Again these might be available out of India.
John in Texas
Click to expand...
New seat is on order. I will give you a review when I get it.
John in Texas
 
Got my new seat 2 weeks ago, then an extended heat wave hit so I waited. Rained night before last and cooled things down so I went out for an early morning ride while the ground was still damp and the sun wasn't up yet. Did 140 miles on the new seat. It is a vast improvement to the stock seat my back side wishes it were a bit softer.
I have also installed a Spitfire windshield which I like. Did have to take the cross bar off to fit it and that was a bit of a pain, oh well such is life.
John in Texas
 

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N0rt0nelectr@ said:
I an getting the factory shop and parts books. Taking a flash drive to the dealer and he is going to down load the info for me. Well at least the shop book for right now, he hasn't gotten the down load from RE for the parts. I used to work for a Ford dealership way back when and long before the new cars and trucks came out we had the books along with the service parts.
John in Texas
Click to expand...
I got the shop manual down loaded to a thumb drive. The dealer said that they had to log into the factory website to order parts and it didn't allow down loads. At least I got the shop book.
John in Texas
 
I got the luggage rack last week. It is a good fit but the welds are a bit crude. Shipping from India takes from 2 to 3 weeks, wish that was faster.
Did about 120 miles yesterday after a nice rain overnight. The rain took the edge off the heat which was nice. Put in about 60 miles before sun up and met up with a friend for breakfast before a toasty ride home. I do like the fuel gauge in the console its a nice touch. I kind of wish it had the fuel capacity of my Norton Interstate now that would be nice.
John in Texas
 
We had a killing frost here last night usually after a hurricane we have warmer than average temps for a week or so after , not this time .... I like your “mods” so far John , and I really like the interceptor , you lucky to have both an old Norton and the new improved RE .... had my Commando out this afternoon , cool air by your standards , it likes the moderate temperature so I had quite a Ride , woke up a rider who was coasting along on a two wheel lazyboy , he sat right up startled when I went by !
 
N0rt0nelectr@ said:
Got my new seat 2 weeks ago, then an extended heat wave hit so I waited. Rained night before last and cooled things down so I went out for an early morning ride while the ground was still damp and the sun wasn't up yet. Did 140 miles on the new seat. It is a vast improvement to the stock seat my back side wishes it were a bit softer.
I have also installed a Spitfire windshield which I like. Did have to take the cross bar off to fit it and that was a bit of a pain, oh well such is life.
John in Texas
Click to expand...

Is that seat any lower than the standard one?
 
N0rt0nelectr@ said:
Got my new seat 2 weeks ago, then an extended heat wave hit so I waited. Rained night before last and cooled things down so I went out for an early morning ride while the ground was still damp and the sun wasn't up yet. Did 140 miles on the new seat. It is a vast improvement to the stock seat my back side wishes it were a bit softer.
I have also installed a Spitfire windshield which I like. Did have to take the cross bar off to fit it and that was a bit of a pain, oh well such is life.
John in Texas
Click to expand...
Looks a nice comfy seat, but surely that seam being right where your sit bones are is an annoyance?

I was over on the Isle of Man for the Classic / Manx TT. There were a few 650's there. One had been fitted with peashooters and sounded great !!

Apparently it's been the top selling bike in the U.K. for the past quarter.

Cheers,

cliffa.
 
Last edited:

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