My Interceptor 650 is up to about 2600 miles so far. It has been a very pleasant and reliable motorcycle so far. The only trouble that I’ve encountered has been a nail in the rear tire. Fortunately I was close to home and called my wife to pick me up so I could go get the truck and retrieve it. None of my Royal Enfield modifications have been necessary except maybe for the handlebar change.
The very first modification that was done was adding 1” handlebar risers. On the day I left the dealership after paying my deposit I ordered a case of oil filters and a set of handlebar risers. When I sat on an INT650 for the first time in the showroom I immediately felt like it would be more comfortable if the grips were just a little bit higher. When I did the first service it was just a matter of removing the bolts holding the handlebar mounts, placing the risers under the mounts and bolting everything up with the new extended bolts that came with the risers. Not a difficult mod to do if you feel you’d like to have your handlebars a bit higher.
One actual complaint that I had about this motorcycle was engine vibration felt through the handlebars. The bars are solidly mounted and the grips are made of a thin hard rubber so I purchased a set of Grip Puppies. These are foam rubber sleeves that slip over your existing grips and add a bit more cushion and they did help a good bit. Before you bother to comment that I’m holding on to tightly, I’m not. Over 20 years of mechanics followed by 20 years of CAD work have left me with arthritic hands that are a lot more sensitive than they should be. It is what it is.
Since I use this bike for commuting and weekend 2 up riding I installed a passenger backrest and luggage rack combo. While this has been a useful and practical modification it doesn’t help the looks of the Interceptor at all and if I were ever to seriously enter it in a show it would be temporarily removed. The rack is handy to have but it’s ugly.
From the crate U.S. models of the Interceptor 650 have black sidecovers with logos designating them as the INT650 to avoid copyright conflict with another motorcycle company. I’ve joined a couple of Royal Enfield Facebook groups and one of the members offered to sell me a set of painted sidecovers with the Interceptor 650 logo for a good price so I got them. Having the sidecovers color matched to the fuel tank is a huge improvement to the appearance of an already fantastic looking bike.
Vibration in the bars was still a problem for me and although the factory cross braced handlebars looked really cool they were not shaped right for me and put my wrists at an angle that wasn’t as comfortable as they could be so I decided it was time to get serious about the handlebars so I bought a set of Emgo flat track style bars. Now the Emgo bars are way too wide to use with the stock cables and wiring so I trimmed 3.75 inches from both ends so that they would fit. Afterwards I put some metal plugs inside them, filled the ends up with lead weights and then capped them off with plastic end plugs.
Next up was a set of ODI Mushroom Grips. The ODI grips are quite a bit shorter than the stockers so I had to shorten the throttle sleeve to fit right. Once that was done it was time to locate the switch gear and drill the holes for the locating pins that keep them from rotating around the handlebars.
Now when I reach for the grips my hands are in a more natural position and between the weights and the soft thick rubber grips handlebar vibration is greatly reduced. I’m actually thinking of removing the risers now & I like the looks too!
In the beginning I had zero plans to perform any “performance” modifications to this 650 but just couldn’t help myself. I looked at the aftermarket air filters and airbox lids and decided they just were not worth the cost so I fired up my 3d printer and made myself an airbox lid with the large opening that works with the stock air filter. Does it actually help anything? Without a dynamometer to test it who knows, I kind of doubt it makes much difference.
For the exhaust side I went with a set of Powerage stainless mufflers, the reason I chose these muffler is that after watching a bunch of online videos and reading reports in various forums is that they seemed to be the quietest of the aftermarket exhaust if you leave the baffles in. They come with a wrench that allows you to remove the db killer baffle if you want it to be extra loud. With the baffle in you get a nice snarl that’s a little louder than stock. I put a video on my Youtube channel giving you a sound quality and volume comparison.
Am I done with this motorcycle? No, for someone like me a motorcycle like this is a blank canvas, a never ending rolling art project that even if it were to seem finished I reserve the right to start all over and take it in a completely different direction just because I can’t help myself. The next thing to try will be a color matched quarter fairing from MK Designs, the pictures I’ve seen look really good and the price isn’t bad either.
In addition to the Royal Enfield modifications I’ve got a few other projects to tell you about, some of them are in progress but a couple of them are already completed I just haven’t had time to write about them. Until next time, happy wrenching.
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