I sold my Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 & Himalayan & I feel that the CB500X gives me the best of both these motorcycles.
End of an Era – February 2022
It is with mixed feelings that I have to write this post to inform you about the sale / upgrade / swap of my Interceptor 650 Swiss army knife, to a somewhat better Swiss army knife in the market.
All along I was happy with the three bike garage model at home – the Ninja 1000 for those thrilling long weekend trips, the Interceptor 650 for urban duties + commuting and occasional solo rides and of course the Himalayan took care of leisurely weekend rides and off-the-beaten-path routes.
Post-covid, my urban usage of the bikes reduced to almost zero, and my workplace as well as a side hustle both don’t need me to commute to the workplace anymore. I had mentioned in some of the earlier posts too that I was having to find excuses to keep using the Interceptor at least once a month. Meanwhile, I had absolutely no complaint with the Himalayan and that bike was easily clocking miles on weekend trips (considering I mostly tour 2-up).
Some pictures from recent breakfast rides on the Interceptor 650.
I used to always say over the past year of reduced usage, if there could ever exist a Himalayan 650, then maybe this Interceptor’s role might get redundant and I could consolidate the two bike roles into a single bike to do better justice and kill both birds with one stone. So in essence this purchase is more of a consolidation of the two RE bikes into one single bike rather than seeking an outright upgrade.
That brings me to the next part of this update – I did find one bike which can take on both the Interceptor and Himalayan and beat or match both on almost all significant factors and better them both on some other counts too! I had briefly considered the bike when it launched in early 2021 but it was so prohibitively expensive that I couldn’t even venture near the showroom for a test ride. Come January, I took a test ride with my better half in tow and both of us were blown away by the sheer simplicity and perfection of the bike on almost every factor which the two REs were satisfying. And it was even more refined, even more comfortable, even more reliable and an internationally proven product to boot.
In February there was a price correction for this product and so we finally bit the bullet. The consolidation plan eventually happened – we sold both the Interceptor and the Himalayan, clubbed the two and bought a Honda Himalayan with the power of an Interceptor, the reliability and refinement of a Japanese bike and a reputation of being one of the best entry-level adventure tourers in the world.
Yours truly and my better half welcoming home the very capable adventure tourer to help us do more enjoyable trips and rides – the Honda CB500X in Grand Prix Red!
The red Jap joins another Jap missile to complete our touring-oriented garage for a long time to come.
Sharing garage space with the Japanese elder sibling from Kawasaki.
Just a day before the RE siblings departed, this was the last picture of the trio before they were separated.
I’ll bring out a separate ownership thread on the Honda CB500X after a few thousand kilometres of usage as I always take time to observe and pen down my experiences over a slightly longer duration of usage, rather than post a review in a hurry immediately after purchase and risk missing out on some important aspects.
For now, I end this thread with this lovely picture shot by BHPian and friend deepfreak15, thereby thanking the Interceptor 650 for 3 years of lovely memories, enjoyable rides and trouble-free ownership experience through and through. This bike will definitely be missed!
Keyword: Garage goals: Bought Honda CB500X to accompany my Ninja 1000