I already had a Royal Enfield and for this motorcycle, I waited for over 4 months after booking.
BHPian nkchokshi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Hey guys, so here is my first and last review of my Super Meteor 650. I purchased SM650 on Raksha Bandhan 2023 and sold it yesterday 22nd October. So my journey with this bike was only for less than 2 months. And I rode about 1500 KM on this bike.
Before I start my bike review, I would like to add some things about the dealer as well. I bought it from a dealership in Ahmedabad. I bought my TB350x from the same dealership 5 years back so I booked the new one from him too.
But he was rude as hell. Initially, I had booked the Top of the Line SM650 back in April and got the Astral Black 650 as he had no idea when he will get my booked bike. Every time I asked for an update he said to write an email to the company they would update me.
After 4.5 months when he had Astral black available he called me and said that this was the one available and that if I wanted I could have it. So I booked it. The delivery experience was bad as well.
On the day of the delivery, my mahurat for getting the bike was about 6 in the evening, he didn’t even keep my bike ready & washed. And asked me to get it outside of the store. But we insisted him to get it done inside the store. No cake as well, lol. Did I expect more or it’s just me? I mean I am buying a bike for 4.45 lakh almost the same rate as a Maruti Alto. The costliest bike in the RE store and still such a rude and cold reception. So he is out of my future business.
Now about the bike, as I said I have been riding my Thunderbird 350x for the last 5 years now and made up my mind as soon as this SM650 came out because straightaway it was the update I was looking forward to. Took a test ride and fell in love with it. I took a test ride of the SM650 touring variant and loved it. But the showroom guy denied giving it for a long ride, at least for 50km (which I regret the most and I should have insisted him before booking).
Immediately after getting delivery on 3rd day I went on a Ahmedabad to Vadodara ride which was a 200KM breakfast ride, and I was happy for the first 70km, but on coming back at a speed of over 80km/h, the bike felt like jumping on small patches, and by small patches I mean the road correction patches and not the potholes.
Due to the stiff suspension, the bike was actually kicking those jerks back which was never an issue with TB350. Same time my right knee also started paining, which was unusual. Maybe that is because of my height of 6 feet but that was not an issue with TB350.
Went to Mount Abu, rode from A’bad 500km (total) with my wife and the same way both of us were happy for 100km and after that, we really felt the jerks and knee pain, especially on the right side. And both of us were tired when we reached the destination. Breaks on the road kind of increased after 100km.
The first service experience was okay as there was nothing much to do and the service people knew me from my past bike so never had an issue on that end.
I never had a heating problem. As I knew, the big air-cooled engine would have its cons, so I was prepared for it, and I knew it would give a heater-like heat on my legs.
But the only reason why I am posting this review is if you guys want to go with this bike or any bike for your touring, please insist the showroom guys to give you a long test ride. I will pay if I have to next time but I will take a long ride before putting my money on it.
The bike’s looks and build quality are amazing, fell in love with it at first sight, but the only issue was the suspension that made me lose interest. I mean I am not sure why RE would make the suspension so hard that the ride quality would get worse and worse as you move by.
The lower bike height was not an issue, but in the city if you are with a pillion and if you are heavy like me (I am 110kg), you will bump the bottom of your bike on every unusual bump. Normal bumps you get by easily, except the ones where you have to stop the bike and slowly move by. But you can get used to it, once you know. And funny thing was, my wife kept counting every time it scraped the bottom in our city ride as well.
I am not new to riding. I have done 300-400km single stretch with just one break and with a pillion as that was the only intention to get a more spacious bike and this one was perfect in all points, except one which was so bad that I couldn’t live with it. I believe it’s kind of psychological as well that once you find the worst point of something you can’t get it out of your mind, and ignore it. And the same thing happened to me. After these 2 rides every time I rode this bike on city roads, I kept examining the stiff suspension, and hell I was feeling each and every ups and downs patches on the road.
So you have to be sure if you can live with it. I could not. I know some of you will hate me for saying negative about this bike but, this is what I felt and before it was too late I decided to sell it. It was hard and I lost some money but still, I think I made the right decision. Because we go on rides once in a couple of months and if that ride makes us miserable, I don’t think it is worth the money spent. I rather take a small slow machine that makes us smile at the end of the journey, which I was totally missing.
So the moral of my story is please take long rides of costly bikes, city use is fine, and you will not feel any issues but it’s when you are touring you will get an idea about how bad or good it is. And don’t ever fall for YouTube journalists’ hype.
Keyword: Why I sold my new Super Meteor 650 in less than 2 months