In today’s world of Motorcycling, Royal Enfield is mainly known for making low powered single cylinder bikes, who are good enough to ride around town at the speed of 80 km/h. This wasn’t the case back in the day. In 1960’s, Royal Enfield used to make twin cylinder roadsters which could do a 100 Miles per hour easily. One such bike was Royal Enfield Interceptor (1960), which was the fastest motorcycle the company has ever made. It did a top speed run of 120 Miles per hour, which roughly equals 193 km/h. Unlike the modern day Royal Enfield, this engine had way fewer vibrations and was probably considered the smoothest 750 cc twin of that era. The idea of the Interceptor came from another superfast Royal Enfield motorcycle, the Constellation. It was an 800 cc twin cylinder motorcycle which produced a massive 52 HP but due to some quality issues its production was eventually stopped. It inspired the development of Interceptor 750 in terms of engine and design.
Engine and Transmission:The Engine on the Interceptor 750 was a 4 stroke overhead valve vertical twin engine. It was a long stroke engine with a stroke length of 93 mm and bore of 71 mm. It propelled the bike up to 120 miles per hour all the way up to 8000 RPM in 4th gear. Despite having tall gears the torque was available throughout the rev range. The engine had twin carburetors, a balanced one-piece crankshaft and the ignition was controlled by Magneto with Automatic advance. There is no clear information on the power and torque figures of the motorcycle but is safe to say that they both were north of 45 HP and 53 NM, respectively.
Chassis and suspension:
The bike had oil damped front forks and swing arm with girlings at the front and the back, respectively. The rear brake was a 177 mm drum brake, the front too was the same but with 1.5-inch thickness. The ground clearance was 140 mm and the saddle height was 810 mm.
The weight of the bike was around 414 pounds which translates to 187 kg, it was surprisingly low for a 750 cc cruiser. Even the modern day 350 cc classic has a weight of 182 kgs. The weight advantage helped the bike further in its power to weight ratio.
Instrument console and accessories:
You can’t expect much from a 1960’s cruiser, but still, it had a tachometer and a speedometer. The bike had an “Exclusive neutral finder”, exclusive because it would have been one of a kind back in the day and neutral finder because it functioned as a single button neutral gear. You just have to pull in the clutch and press the button located over the engine, the bike would automatically shift to neutral. Pretty cool! I must say.
Royal Enfield also released several prototypes of the Interceptor up to 1970 but it was eventually discontinued. The new 650 Interceptor is the direct descendant of the original interceptor, which is being launched after 48 years of absence. It features state of the art features and technology like ABS, engine mounted oil-cooling, 270-degree crank and much more. Every one of those people who say that cruising at the speed of 80 km/h is what defines the charm of Royal Enfield, obviously knows nothing about the rich history of the company. It’s a company which has experimented and successfully established a number of brands throughout the history. It has seen depression, several wars, hippy movement and almost everything that happened throughout the 20th century. Royal Enfield has made all kinds of bikes. Now As the company is trying to establish itself in North America, it won’t be long before we would be seeing the company restored to its original glory.
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By: Yetnesh Dubey
