Considering a Royal Enfield Continental GT? Read this

Royal Enfield 535 GT takes an in-depth look at Royal Enfield's cafe racer.

Continental GT owner Mike O'Reirdan pointed me toward a "wonderful new site on the GT. The guy has put a lot of work into it."

The guy is Stephen Feber, who writes that he built the Royal Enfield 535 GT website "for an number of reasons." Such thoroughness makes this a good site to consult if you are considering purchasing a Continental GT.

Feber's "reasons" really strike home. For one, he wants to correct the reviews that have appeared.

"While some of the reviews have been good and accurate there have been some very strange remarks about the bike — the gear change is notchy (it isn't), vibration is excessive (it isn't — but you can feel the engine working) paint finish is poor (it's good). Some reviews have found the ride too soft and some too hard."

Thoroughness is not surprising in Feber, who served as Curator of the Future at the London Transport Museum for its Sense and the City exhibition. He is owner of Stephen Feber Ltd., which develops social enterprises from an idea to the finished project. As such, he thinks about things such as sustainable transport and "resilient design." He also designs and develops museums and exhibitions.

In the end, Feber likes the Continental GT for solid reasons. Based in the UK, he has done more than 2,400 miles on his GT, including a 500-mile two-day trip. He "went the Long Way Round in most cases," and so rode about seven hours each day. A pleasant pace.

The Continental GT is not fast, but he has an answer to that:

"Speed is an essential part of motorcycling but I ask how much speed you need to have fun?"

Still, after his trip, he concluded "it could use more top end power." He has entitled one page of his site "Tuning for Speed."

Other pages cover Frame, Wheels, Suspension, Quality, Induction and Fuel, Maintenance and Improvement.

All in all, it's a deeper dive into the Continental GT than you will get in any magazine review.