Starting with the design, the BSA Gold Star 650 boasts a captivating retro motorcycle aesthetic that should resonate with enthusiasts of classic bikes. From the round headlight and the contoured fuel tank to the gracefully curved fenders, every element contributes to its sophisticated look. The Gold Star 650 is offered in several color options: Insignia Red and Highland Green at Rs 2.99 lakh, Midnight Black and Dawn Silver at Rs 3.12 lakh, Shadow Black at Rs 3.15 lakh, and legacy Edition – Sheen silver at Rs 3.34 lakh. All prices are ex-showroom. Beneath its stylish exterior, the Gold Star 650 features a cradle frame suspended by a telescopic fork at the front and twin shock absorbers at the rear. It rolls on wire-spoke wheels equipped with tube-type tires. Braking is handled by a single disc at both ends, and dual-channel ABS comes standard for enhanced safety.

The BSA Gold Star is driven by a 652cc, 4-valve, DOHC, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine. Producing 45bhp and 55Nm of torque, this engine is mated to a five-speed gearbox. BSA asserts that the engine, designed to be smooth for a large single-cylinder unit, can push the bike to speeds over 160 km/h. Feature-wise, the Gold Star is equipped with a twin-pod, semi-digital instrument cluster and a USB charger for added convenience.

The BSA Gold Star 650 is now available for purchase through authorized dealers, with bookings officially open. It competes directly with the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, which starts at Rs 3.03 lakh.

The post BSA has launched the Gold Star 650 in India at Rs 2.99 lakh (ex-showroom) first appeared on Turbocharged.

It has been six years with this Jap, and I am impressed by its versatility. Having ridden it across India through all kinds of terrains and even on a racetrack, I can confidently say that Suzuki did a fantastic job of honing this adventure tourer. But, as every greedy human, I am craving for an upgrade. Having owned the 650XT, could the new Suzuki V-Strom 800DE be that choice? Should one choose this over its rival, the Honda Transalp 750? I am here to decode exactly that.

Design-wise, Suzuki has done a complete overhaul. As it is a generation change and not a mere facelift, you won’t find any common ground between the V-Strom 800DE and the 650XT whatsoever. The front gets a stacked dual-pod headlamp design with LED lights. The forks now get a golden finish, which gives the motorcycle a bit of a premium look. Compared to the 650XT, the 800DE gets a shorter windscreen which results in wind buffeting at higher speeds. The windscreen can be adjusted manually, but even in its highest setting, wind buffeting remains an issue.

The side profile is pretty minimalistic, with the shroud panel extending to the front beak. At the bottom, you get a fibre guard as a sump protector, which definitely won’t serve its purpose if you are planning to hit rocky trails. The rear end also follows a minimalistic approach with an LED tail lamp and LED turn indicators.

Along with the design, Suzuki has also made extensive updates in the equipment and features department. The 800DE gets fully adjustable front suspension. You can adjust the rebound damping and preload from the top and compression at the bottom of the forks. The rear monoshock is completely adjustable as well and also gets a remote preload adjuster. This has been a major addition to the 800DE. While I have been riding with the non-adjustable telescopic forks on the 650XT, it was quite fun and refreshing manhandling the 800DE on the trails.

The seat height has been increased to 855mm compared to 835mm on the 650XT. So, people shorter than six feet will find themselves tip-toeing a bit. The 800DE has put on some weight compared to the 650XT. It weighs 232kg compared to the 650XT’s 216kg kerb weight. Even after the increase in weight, the 800DE feels lighter to manoeuvre than the latter, thanks to the improved center of gravity and overall ergonomics.

Keeping with the global market standards, Suzuki has slapped in a colour TFT display. It is neatly designed with crucial information placed right in front of your eyesight, and you do not need to toggle between the options. The 800DE gets three levels of traction control, two levels of ABS, and engine power modes, whereas the 650XT gets only two levels of traction control and no modes for ABS or engine power. I must say, this is a fantastic leap of engineering taken by Suzuki as far as the V-Strom nameplate is concerned.

With 21-inch front and 17-inch rear wheel sizes, the 800DE proves its identity as an Adventure Sports motorcycle rather than an Adventure Tourer, the latter being more apt for the 650XT. It is kind of disappointing, though, that the 800DE does not get tubeless tyres, whereas the 650XT gets tubeless spoked wheels. Having travelled across India on the 650XT, the tubeless tyres were a great advantage to have in case of punctures. Overall, the 800DE has made a great leap in the features department and is at par with the competition.

Now, addressing the elephant in the room, the engine. Suzuki has plonked in a parallel twin in the 800DE as opposed to the much-adored V-twin in the 650XT. This V-twin was a powerhouse on the DL650, one of the most reliable ADVs from the brand, and Suzuki’s decision to shift from this to a new parallel-twin has been a surprising move for loyalists like me.

The engine churns out 83PS and 78Nm, but it lacks grunt lower in the rev band, which the 650XT offers loads of. The power delivery is very linear, and that makes it less engaging. The power kicks in later in the mid-range, and thus I remained unsatiated on venturing off-road. The missing low-down grunt forces you to constantly stay at the higher revs, thus compromising the ease of navigating through obstacles, especially when you want to change lines spontaneously on a trail.

The engine shines, though, once you are on the highways. It gives you that sombre feeling every time you twist that throttle. There is no sense of aggression or urgency, which is perfect when you are globe-trotting. This trait also helps make the V-Strom 800DE an easy-to-ride motorcycle.

Handling has always been Suzuki’s strong suit, be it a sports bike, sports-naked, or an ADV motorcycle. The same applies to the 800DE. The on-road handling is pretty impressive, as it made me forget that I was riding with the 21-inch front/17-inch rear wheel combination, instead of the 19/17 configuration that I am used to on the 650XT. The handling experience is further enhanced by the fantastic ergonomics. In fact, the ergonomics are better than the 650XT.

The wide handlebar, a tall stance, and a grippy tank shape make it easy to manoeuvre this 232kg ADV through traffic. The off-road handling has also improved significantly. The ergonomics enable you to stand up comfortably, even in an aggressive stance for a longer duration. I quite liked the posture that the 800DE offered compared to the 650XT, where I had to always slouch in an inefficient way. This is definitely a big improvement in the 800DE.

So, to answer the million-dollar question: Is this the upgrade that I am seeking after owning the V-Strom 650 XT for six years? To put it bluntly, the answer is no. Though the 800DE packs in a lot of ammo, it is more of an upgrade to its own lineage rather than being one for the owner of a 650XT. With the 800DE, it feels like Suzuki has upgraded the 650XT, which was effectively an Adventure Tourer, to an Adventure Sports motorcycle.

The V-Strom 800DE, however, is a fantastic upgrade for those coming from quarter-litre ADV motorcycles. Priced at ₹10.30 lakh, the 800DE offers a great assortment of features and equipment, but I feel the Honda Transalp 750 is a more apt upgrade as it provides better performance for a premium of just ₹70,000. Simply put, the Transalp will keep you happy on the road, while the 800DE will keep you happy off it.

The post Suzuki V-STROM 800DE: First Ride Review first appeared on Turbocharged.

The Shotgun 650 was also quick to garner attention around the world as soon as it burst onto the scene in the last week of November last year. It isn’t a motorcycle you can slot into a particular category unlike the previous three 650s that are clear about their positioning though. That said, the Shotgun is pegged as a blank canvas for custom bike builders. Which explains why the press ride was held in the USA – after all, America is one of the biggest markets when it comes to custom motorcycles. Interestingly, we rode the Shotgun 650 in Los Angeles, one of my favourite cities in the USA, as it sits on the world famous ‘West Coast’ in California and is home to some really good riding roads!

I’d missed attending MotoVerse, so the first time I saw the Shotgun 650 in the flesh was in LA. And first impressions were that paint sheen and fit-finish levels are even better than the previous 650s! The overall design is in keeping with the Shotgun’s positioning – low slung, Bobber style, even though it is essentially based on the Super Meteor platform. The ‘classic’ bike recipe exists but with a lot of modern cues and I like the headlamp design, which integrates a full-LED setup like the Super Meteor’s, besides the asymmetrical pods for the instrument cluster. The Shotgun also retains a lot of the Super Meteor’s hardware, including the suspension mounting points and chassis but the design and body work help it look different. 

Wheel sizes are different as well with the Shotgun using an 18-inch/17-inch front and rear wheel set up as opposed to the Super Meteor’s 19/16-inch combination. I also like the fuel tank besides the seat height, which while higher than the Super Meteor’s by 50mm at 795mm, is still very approachable. Attention to detail is excellent – switchgear cubes are made of metal and wear a premium, brushed metal finish and overall, the Shotgun 650 does feel like a high-end motorcycle. There’s also a certain charm to low slung motorcycles that makes them very pleasing to look at and the Shotgun has that charm in heaps. 

That said, as a personal preference I’ve never been fond of bikes sans a pillion seat and if I were to nit-pick that’s my only grouse on the design front. Even the pea-shooter exhausts look nice, especially with their matte black finish and the Shotgun 650 presents a very pretty picture wherever you park it, especially from the rear three-quarter. And the hills around the Angeles Crest Highway we were riding across only amplified this sentiment with their natural beauty. The exhaust note complimented the surroundings well too, as the Shotgun 650 sounds like a British twin should, though of course, it’s all too muted in the interest of a greener planet.  

The Shotgun uses the same 650cc, air- and oil-cooled parallel-twin cylinder engine as the rest of its siblings, in the same state of tune as well. So outputs are the same at 47PS and 52Nm, sent to the rear wheel via the same tried and tested, slick-shifting 6-speed gearbox. It’s an engine-gearbox combination that has only gotten better with time and while it really impressed me with its refinement on the Super Meteor, engine smoothness, fueling and throttle response feel even better on the Shotgun. 

California’s freeways also proved to be the perfect playground for the Shotgun, allowing me to wring the throttle open at will. Gear ratios are well-spaced too, as I discovered on the highway and then in the hills as well. Some of the sections allowed us to hit the proverbial tonne too, and the Shotgun felt perfectly composed and relaxed even at 140-150kmph, as you would expect of a middleweight machine. Of course, acceleration is quick, but a set of lighter, free-flow exhausts should help it sound better, besides also helping make it even quicker. Needless to mention, the chassis and suspension have quite a role to play in the bike’s likeable feel too. 

The 43mm upside down Showa forks felt firm but not stiff on the well-paved tarmac in the USA, and while I’m yet to ride the Shotgun 650 in India, I hear the overall ride quality is more pliant than the Super Meteor 650’s which faced a fair amount of criticism for its stiff ride quality. More importantly, the Shotgun comes across as a far sportier and more engaging machine than all the other 650s. This was a pleasant surprise as given the positioning and steering geometry I wasn’t expecting it to be as much fun in the hills, but with our lead rider, a bloke from Royal Enfield’s UK facility keeping this throttle wide open at every opportunity, we had no reason to not give the Shotgun 650 the beans. 

The bike letting us commit to corners, limited only by the cornering clearance of its low set footpegs. The foot position isn’t as cruiser-esque as the Super Meteor, but the pegs are slightly forward set and you also need to lean ahead slightly to reach the handlebars. The confidence offered by the bike was more than commendable around switchbacks and the Shotgun was in fact egging us to flirt with the law when it comes to the speed limits with its sporty dynamics! Hands down, the Shotgun 650 is the best handling twin from Royal Enfield yet – the front end feels firmly planted, while the revised rear suspension setup (as compared to the Super Meteor 650) ensured the bike held its line even when leaned over fully. I suspect, this affable behaviour is also thanks to some of the ex-Triumph engineers working at Royal Enfield in the UK! 

To sum it up, while the Super Meteor 650 is a brilliant package, it didn’t exactly set tongues wagging in India because ours isn’t a hardcore cruiser country. But the Shotgun 650 I feel is the right approach by Royal Enfield to strengthen its positioning in the increasingly important middleweight segment in India. More importantly, the Shotgun 650 should help RE cement its position further in the space globally, as we have seen the brand emerge as a strong player in international markets over the past half decade. And with its design, performance, dynamics and overall premium feel the Shotgun 650 should help the cause further. As for the prices, the Shotgun 650 retails between Rs 3.59 lakh and Rs 3.73 lakh ex-showroom depending on the variant, which slots it above the Continental GT 650 but below the Super Meteor 650. It would be easy to say that’s a little steep (we all say that all the time, don’t we?), but fact is, this is the best 650 from Royal Enfield yet and I expect buyers to look past that price tag as this is genuinely a motorcycle to fall for. 

The post 2024 Royal Enfield Shotgun 650: First Ride Review first appeared on Turbocharged.