Exclusive: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 650 Spied On Test in India - Launch Soon?

Royal Enfield is a very popular two-wheeler manufacturer in the Indian market. The company currently has the BS6-compliant Bullet 350, Classic 350, Himalayan and the 650 Twins in its India line-up. The Royal Enfield Meteor 350 will also be launched soon and it will be a replacement for the Thunderbird 350. But, it seems that Royal Enfield will not part away with the Thunderbird moniker as a new RE cruiser has been spied on test in India. So, is this spied test mule the upcoming Royal Enfield Thunderbird 650 BS6? Let's have a closer look at it!

This test mule of the upcoming Royal Enfield Thunderbird 650 (speculated name) was spied in the state of Tamil Nadu. As one can see in the above image, it looks like a big cruiser motorcycle. It gets twin exhaust pipes on either side and a big fat engine with RE badge, hinting that it gets Royal Enfield's famous 650cc twin-cylinder mill. This test mule of the upcoming motorcycle clearly hints that the Madras-based Indian two-wheeler maker is working on a serious cruiser motorcycle to take on the likes of the premium cruisers from the likes of the Kawasaki and Harley-Davidson.

While we don't have many details about this upcoming cruiser motorcycle at the moment, we can make out some details about it. For instance, we can see it gets a round headlamp with chrome inserts. We believe it might get a LED unit for the headlamp but the test mule possesses a halogen bulb. Also, it gets chunky USD or upside-down forks at the front and twin shock absorbers at the rear. For braking duties, it gets big disc brakes at the front as well as at the rear. It will get dual-channel ABS too as standard.

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Talking about the powertrain, so it is expected to borrow the mill from the Continental GT 650 and the Interceptor 650. It will be powered by a BS6-compliant 648cc, parallel-twin, air-cooled, fuel-injected engine. This motor will churn out around 47.65 PS of power at 7250 RPM and 52 Nm of peak torque at 5250 RPM. However, it might be tuned differently to match its cruiser characteristics. The engine will be likely mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox. It might get a slipper clutch too. Also, since it will be a new-age RE product, we expect to see connectivity features on this motorcycle.

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Lastly, talking about the launch timeline and price, we believe the Royal Enfield Thunderbird 650 might be launched in India in the first half of 2021. We expect it to be priced around Rs. 2.80 lakhs - Rs. 3 lakhs, Ex-showroom Delhi. What will be the exact name of this cruiser from RE? Only time will tell that but we strongly believe it might be called the Thunderbird 650 as the Thunderbird badge is very popular in India. What are your thoughts on this upcoming RE cruiser? Do share with us in the comments below. You can also join our 91Wheels Auto Enthusiast group (click via mobile to join) curated exclusively for the fans, enthusiasts and the owners. Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel for more such amazing motoring updates.

Picture Credit: WhatsApp Forward