Drool Over Royal Enfield’s Retro Racer

Published October 23, 2021
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2 min read

A closer look at the Royal Enfield GT-R650 race bike

Drool Over Royal Enfield’s Retro Racer highlights

Last month, Royal Enfield announced its new one-make race, called the Royal Enfield GT Cup. We are out riding the race-spec GT-R650, but before we tell you our experience with the retro racer, take a closer look at this beauty:

Drool Over Royal Enfield’s Retro Racer details

A retro-styled motorcycle is charming to begin with, and making it an all-out track weapon adds more oomph. With the GT-R650, Royal Enfield has stayed true to the retro charm, while making it faster and lighter.

Drool Over Royal Enfield’s Retro Racer overview

A retro racer can’t truly be complete without a good old-school Monza fairing. The GT-R650 gets one with a big bubble windscreen for the riders to tuck in and go faster.

Drool Over Royal Enfield’s Retro Racer gallery

For the aggressive tuck required for track racing, Royal Enfield has installed low-set clip-ons for the GT-R650.

Drool Over Royal Enfield’s Retro Racer showcase

Complimenting the lowered clip-ons is the new, repositioned rear-set footpegs which should give more cornering clearance.

Drool Over Royal Enfield’s Retro Racer glimpse

Royal Enfield has retained the 648cc parallel-twin engine to belt out 12 percent more power with the new stainless steel race exhaust. For reference, the stock bike makes 47.6PS and 52Nm.

Drool Over Royal Enfield’s Retro Racer snapshot

The Royal Enfield GT-R650 comes with stiffer, adjustable fork and dual shocks. These are sourced from Gabriel, a well-known OEM supplier for many brands.

Drool Over Royal Enfield’s Retro Racer visual

Royal Enfield has made no changes to the braking setup of the GT-R650. It used the same 320/240mm disc from the stock Continental GT 650.

The Ceat tyres from the stock bike have been swapped with special rubber sourced from JK tyres. These tyres use a softer compound which should offer more grip.

Royal Enfield has trimmed the sub frame and removed all the unnecessary bits to make it lighter by a respectable 24kg. But even at 174kg, it is a heavy track bike.