Surprisingly affordable: The Royal Enfield 650 twins

Siddhartha Lal announces U.S. prices for the new Royal Enfield 650 twins.

Disclosure: Royal Enfield provided transportation, accommodation, food, entertainment and keepsakes to me at this product launch. The following opinions are my own.

The U.S. MSRP of Royal Enfield's new 650 twin motorcycles emerged Tuesday in a bit of staged game-show style banter between Rod Copes, president of Royal Enfield North America, and Siddhartha Lal, leader of Royal Enfield's parent Eicher Corp.

In a press conference/party on the beach near Santa Cruz, Calif., the two executives kidded one another while revealing that the new motorcycles will be competitively priced and also carry three-year warranties and free roadside assistance.

The Interceptor 650 roadster will be slightly less expensive than the Continental GT 650. The two motorcycles each have three price points, which might be described as standard, custom and chrome.

The U.S. Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price of the base Interceptor 650 is $5,799. The base price of the Continental GT 650 is $5,999.

On the pedestal: Interceptor 650 will be lowest priced of the 650 twins.
Fly screen and leg guards shown are optional extras.

You pay more if you want the shiny gas tank on your bike. Less if you want a two-tone tank and still less if you choose a solid color. Frame and motor of the motorcycles are the same, as are the shiny twin exhausts, front and rear disc brakes with ABS, six-speed gearbox and full instrumentation.

Style and seating position differ between the two models. The Interceptor 650 is a roadster with an upright seating position while the Continental GT 650 has rear-set foot controls and a leaned-forward sitting position. The Continental GT 650 is shown with a solo seat with cafe racer hump, but has passenger foot pegs and can be fitted with a dual seat.

Sales of the new twin-cylinder motorcycles should begin early in 2019, Copes told the audience.

The announcement was accompanied by videos evoking the Interceptor's links to California, sunshine and surfing and the Continental GT's cafe racer heritage.

The Continental GT 650 on stage for the announcement.

International journalists in the audience asked about prices in India and other countries, but these are yet to be announced.