This Is The Most Carbon Conscious Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 EVER
Homegrown custom built drag bike that’s good enough to race at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Homegrown custom built drag bike that’s good enough to race at the Bonneville Salt Flats
The sixth element. I think it’s safe to say that in the automotive world, carbon is more valuable than gold. Just a little bit of it can alter the dynamics of a vehicle. Lather up a drag bike with the coveted element and you’ve got a warhead on a diet. Bangalore-based Greasehouse Customs recently built a Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 that looks like those wind splitting aliens that race at the legendary Bonneville Salt Flats and it’s the meanest homegrown bike we have seen in recent times.
Racer, mentor, designer, tuner and outright speed demon, Anand Dharmaraj, owner of IndiMotard and Greasehouse, says the inspiration for the bike was simple. Royal Enfields in India have a sentimental value and with the arrival of the RE 650 twins, a new culture of speed has been stoked in the country. Hence the platform was a given, it had to be a RE 650 twin, with a Greasehouse touch, obviously. The objective was to keep the build simple, the import of performance parts to a minimum, and tune the bike to sprint like Usain Bolt on four cans of Red Bull.
The build began by stripping everything down, weighing everything, even the smallest bits, and identifying only the necessary bits that need to go back up. Most stock parts were custom-built from aluminum to keep that weight down. Sections like the subframe, swingarm, yokes were all built from scratch. To take things up a notch, the fasteners are made of titanium and stainless steel.
With that done, the design would still have to wait till maximum performance was extracted. A stock RE 650 makes 47.6PS–they managedto extract an impressive 62.2PS at the rear wheel. Greasehouse pulled out all the stops by throwing high compression pistons and bigger injectors at the twin-cylinder engine. It even ported and flowed the heads. Race Dynamics stepped in with its piggyback ECU and FuelX Autotune kits. Next up were the air intake system and exhaust. Velocity stacks for the deep inhales and custom-made two-into-one exhaust for the exhales. As they were going that extreme with this build, a lighter, lithium-ion battery made sense, as did a quick-shifter and a Rekluse clutch.
As this was a drag bike, the formula for the suspension setup was simple: lower the forks and stiffen them. Swap the stock rear twin shocks for a pair of preload-adjustable YSS aftermarket units. Then came the unsprung mass. The wheels were downsized from the stock 18-inch to smaller 17-inch rims. The front features an aluminum hoop, brake rotor, and hub while the rear gets an Excel rim hooked up to a stock hub. The finishing touches were Michelin race slicks.
Now finally came the turn for the bodywork to take form. Anand and team handbuilt a dustbin fairing from carbon fibre that met form and function with equal dedication. Even the carbon fibre tank cover, tail and side covers are custom built. In fact, there is no fuel tank, there is a fuel cell tucked away under the carbon fibre tank cover that accommodates less than four litres of fuel.
Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 (2018-2026) User Reviews
- Gt650 royal enfield
I always wanted a classic. The GT six still looks amazing. Sounds great when engine makes every ride good. Feel special smooth, the power delivery makes every ride enjoyable and give it a unique experience. The ride has been excellent. The engine is refined, acceleration, smooth, and the exhaust not active riding pushes 40, so it can feel tiring on the long right but incredible fun on highways smooth as it is. I would definitely recommend the GT to anyone full of classic styling and strong performance is perfect for the weekend rights and highway touring though the committed writing portion may not suit everyone for daily committing.
1 - About gt650
This bike is one of all fav bikes where every teenager trys to buy this bike becomes of it looks, especially in chrome colour and this is the only bike where we get looks and power for its price and it is the only 650 cc we get under good price. I ridden this bike around 20000 km and the positives are the power, the torque, looks the negative side of this bike is we need to get used to the position of the bike and for long travels we can't prefer it. The person who is into bike and who wants a pure power with zero modes and tech he can buy this bike and for the road presences it is the most sold bike. The person who wants to travel he should avoid this bike.
- Pro and cons of gt650
Its good bike only if you can handle it because of its weigth and high cc, its not beginner friendly but if you have experience with high cc and heavy bike its gonna be best bike for its price. but its still not good for day to day or city driving because of its heating and low mileage, its gonna be a problem.
1 2 - Good and bad
I wanted good classy looking cool bike and GT 650 is exactly what I wanted, it has no competitor. If given second chance of choosing bike, I would still pick this up instead of speedy KTM bikes. Only problem it has is the weight is hard to manage and it can be hard to turn in corners but I knew what I was buying. Its a good bike, I have some burn marks on my legs but that is what I expect it gets hot and you can feel the heat in city but it won't shut down and cause issue, you should treat it like a 600 cc bike and properly respect its weight in corners and city. Only if you have other bikes and cars. This being your primary day to day bike is not can be easy to use in a city or day to day commute to office. It will be too much of power and weight. Only buy for highways and sunday ride.
3 2 - Its a whole different vibe with 650
That bulky boy and speed makes the bike very attractive and muscular and it gives the vibe that other bike can't give you if you'er going to college or office the royal enfild continental gt 650 would be the best option. Eventually its good for mileage and comfort for short rides if you have the capacity for riding on full throttle then you will get deficiencies for mileage, if we ride like a gentleman then we can feel the comfort and safety. If you can maintain the bike and do proper maintenance it would be a great option to choose because this bike has its own aura and there is no similar bike like royal enfiled gt 650 in the market for a middle call this bike is best.
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