Drool Over Royal Enfield’s Retro Racer

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:

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.

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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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.