Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 (2023) - Technical Review

Price: £6799 | Power: 47bhp | Weight: 241kg

A year ago, Royal Enfield unwrapped the SG650 concept bobber to demonstrate how its air-cooled parallel twin could find a home in a cruiser-style machine and now the same idea is to reach showrooms in the form of the Super Meteor 650.

Developed in the UK at the firm’s technical centre at Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire, under the eye of design chief Mark Wells, the Super Meteor continues to show the burgeoning confidence that Royal Enfield has as it explores a market where it faces few direct rivals. Wells said: “Our goal was to create a motorcycle that captures the very essence of British cruisers. The design language is influenced by styles of the 1950s, including our own motorcycles, but with a contemporary twist. The Super Meteor 650 is a carefree motorcycle for riding until you decide it’s time to stop, for crossing immense, immersive landscapes, for heading towards the horizon's vanishing point”

Siddhartha Lal, MD of RE’s parent company, Eicher Motors, adds: “Inspired by some great cruisers we’ve built through our history, and by actual riders, the Super Meteor is distinctly Royal Enfield and every bit a thoroughbred cruiser in form, factor and design. It is an absolutely stylish, refined and enjoyable motorcycle that is intended to make cruising pleasurable and accessible even for riders who never really considered cruisers before.” And Royal Enfield CEO, B Govindarajan, said: “Even at the start of the development journey of the 650 parallel twin platform we were clear about our intentions of designing and building a true-blue highway cruiser. It’s been a while in the making but we are very glad that it is finally here. The 650 twin engine has been at the heart of the resounding global success of the Interceptor and the Continental GT 650 and we are confident that this platform, in a new cruiser avatar, will create new audiences for Royal Enfield across the world.”

Review – In Detail

2023 Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 price

How much is the Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650? from £6799 OTR. The company’s reputation for affordable bikes continues.

The Continental GT that shares the same 650 twin starts at £6239 while the Interceptor 650 is £6199, so that’s the ballpark that the Super Meteor is playing in – a couple of grand less than the most affordable of Triumph’s twin-cylinder ‘modern classic’ machines.

Enfield is offering two versions of the bike, the standard Super Meteor 650 and the Super Meteor 650 Tourer. The former comes in five colours – black, blue, green and two-tone grey/black and green/black – while the Tourer, with a screen, a deeper seat and pillion backrest, is offered in blue/white with gold pinstriping or red/white.

The Super Meteor 650 is available in five striking colourways: Astral Black, Astral Blue, Astral Green, Interstellar Grey and Interstellar Green. The Super Meteor 650 Tourer, which comes kitted with a touring windscreen, deluxe touring seat, pillion backrest, is available in two distinctive two-tone finishes: Celestial Red and Celestial Blue.

Astral: £6,799

Intersteller: £6,999

Celestial: £7,299

2023 Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Engine & Performance

The engine is the same oil/air-cooled, 648cc parallel twin used in the Continental GT 650 and Interceptor 650, making an A2-licence-friendly 47hp (34.6kW) at 7250rpm and 38.6lb-ft (52.3Nm) of torque at 5650rpm. It’s an old-school design, with a single overhead camshaft and prominent cooling fins, but far from being a criticism that’s a bonus for the Super Meteor. The performance is already at the limit for A2 class riders, so more complexity would provide no benefit, and the engine’s retro construction means it fits the bike’s look perfectly without needing to find space for a radiator.

It's not all old, though. Like every other major manufacturer, Royal Enfield needs to hit Euro 5 emissions limits that have already pushed many rivals out of the air-cooled arena. It achieves that target with modest performance goals and the use of electronic fuel injection. There are also four valves per cylinder despite the single overhead camshaft, and the engine drives through a six-speed transmission – something that’s actually surprisingly new tech for Royal Enfield, which was still using four-speed boxes well into the current century.

2023 Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Handling, weight and suspension

The Super Meteor doesn’t try to be too clever with its chassis, which – like several of the firm’s current models – was developed by Harris Performance in the UK. Rather than carrying over the frame used for the Continental and Interceptor, the Super Meteor has a new design with a more low-slung look and weight distribution. There’s a central spine under the fuel tank, with two hoops at the back to provide upper mounts for the rear shocks and a substantial strut hanging down from the headstock to the front engine mount, splitting into dual cradle sections running under the engine.

The suspension includes 43mm USD forks with 120mm of travel and twin rear shocks, each with preload adjustment and 101mm of movement.

Unsurprisingly, it’s no flyweight, coming in at 241kg with its 15.7 litre fuel tank filled to 90% capacity.

2023 Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Comfort & Economy

With a low, low 740mm seat height, the Super Meteor isn’t going to penalise the short-of-leg, but the extreme forward-mounted footpegs and controls are very much in the cruiser mould and won’t suite everyone’s taste. For long rides at modest speed, the layout should be comfy, though.

While the base model does have a pillion pad, it’s really aimed at one-up riding, and those planning to go longer distances or carry passengers will be looking at the Tourer model with a deeper, wider, full length seat, a pillion backrest and a screen.

On board, equipment levels aren’t extravagant but there’s the same part-analogue, part-digital display that current RE riders will be familiar with, combining a conventional speedo around the edge with an LCD centre section including a trip computer, fuel gauge, gear position and clock. On the right, a second pod features the Tripper turn-by-turn navigation system that’s also featured on other Enfield models.

Royal Enfield hasn’t made economy claims but with the same engine as the Interceptor and Continental GT, the Super Meteor is likely to achieve similar consumption figures to those bikes, which both manage well over 60mpg.

2023 Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 brakes

There’s nothing too exotic to be found here, with a single 320mm front disc and twin-piston floating caliper assisted by a large, 300mm rear disc, also with a two-pot caliper. As on most cruisers, the low-slung weight distribution means you’ll be using more rear brake than you might on a sportier bike. Dual channel ABS is standard.

2023 Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Rivals

There aren’t many direct rivals to the Super Meteor in the affordable, middleweight cruiser market, but you might want to try one of these:

BSA Gold Star | Price: £6800

The reborn BSA brand is clearly targeting Royal Enfield, and while the Gold Star is more a direct rival to the Interceptor 650 it might also interest some Super Meteor customers.

Power/Torque: 45bhp/40.5lb-ft | Weight: 213kg

Kawasaki Vulcan S | Price: £7249

A more modern take on the cruiser idea, the Vulcan has substantially more power (although a 47hp A2 version is offered), but lacks the classic looks of the Super Meteor.

Power/Torque: 61bhp/46lb-ft | Weight: 229kg

Honda CMX500 Rebel | Price: £6299

The parallel twin Rebel 500 is smaller and lighter than the Enfield, but again lacks the classic looks.

Power/Torque: 45.6bhp/32lb-ft | Weight: 190kg

2023 Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 Technical Specification

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