Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 Smashes Land Speed Record

The speedrun was performed at Lake Gairdner in South Australia

A land speed record has been set at the Annual Speed Week in Australia by none other than the chaps at Mid Life Cycles motorcycle dealership. The previous fastest run of 193.058kmph was set in 2016. Now, that record has been broken, thanks to the 212.514kmph run -- a feat achieved on a Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 Salt Racer christened the ‘Sabre’. 

Charlie Hallam piloted the race bike in Class M-F 650. Mid Life Cycles had built the custom bike back in 2019 for Royal Enfield’s Busted Knuckles Build Off competition. 

So, what does the Interceptor 650 Sabre pack that let it achieve the record speed? For starters, the engine, which features modified cylinder heads, altered camshaft, tweaked throttle body, forged pistons, polished conrods, balanced crankshaft (with counterweight balance removed), and an extensively modified gearbox. 

Now to the underpinnings. The Sabre sports Ohlins suspension, lightweight alloy wheels wrapped in Pirelli Diablo slicks, an extended swingarm, and custom-made front and rear sprockets for increased gear ratio up to 40 per cent. 

For the speed run, the engine was exclusively developed to test the performance parts that are available at the Mid Life Cycles dealership. While the availability is limited to Australia, we recommend you get in touch with the dealership to get all pricing and import-related details of the performance parts.  Of course, if that’s possible in the first place.