Royal Enfield Bear 650 Review: 650cc Scrambler Tested on and Off-Road

The Royal Enfield Bear 650 has been revealed, marking the fifth model from the Indian manufacturer to utilise its 648cc, liquid-cooled parallel twin-cylinder engine.

And it’s taken a while for the bike to arrive. Ever since Royal Enfield revealed the 650 twin-cylinder engine platform, riders worldwide have been calling for the factory to announce a rugged-looking street scrambler version of the bike.

It is though here, and Visordown was on hand for the global reveal in Palm Springs California. Here we took a deep dive into the new model and rode the new machine both on and off-road. You’ll need to wait a little longer to find out how the bike handled in both scenarios, but until then, here’s everything you need to know about the tech, specs and features of the new bike.

Bear 650 - What’s in a name?

Rather than lean on a bike model name from Enfield’s past for this bike, the team named the bike after the historical endeavours of one teenager who took on the Big Bear Run riding a Royal Enfield 500 way back in 1960. 

The rider was Eddie Mulder (AKA Fast Eddie), who, despite fluffing the start of the desert race, went on to take the chequered flag in first place. From there, Eddie moved into flat track racing, got scouted by Bud Ekins and even took on the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, winning it on more than one occasion.

What’s new

The bike is built around the same 648cc single overhead cam engine as found in the Continental GT, Interceptor, Shotgun 650, and Super Meteor 650. From there though, it goes in a much more rugged direction.

The frame of the bike has been bolstered and toughened up in a number of areas and has been engineered to feature a kick-up tail loop for that unmistakable scrambler look.

The engine of the bike is changed with the inclusion of a new exhaust that is said to give the retro-looking engine more mid-range punch and a broader powerband. Peak power is a claimed 47bhp at 7,250 rpm and a maximum torque of 41.6lb ft at 5150rpm is also claimed.

The new bike becomes the second in the 650 range to gain a USD fork, although these are very different items from those found on the existing Shotgun 650. The Showa big piston fork at the front of the bike boasts 130mm of travel and is non-adjustable. The fork is joined by Showa twin shocks at the rear which boast 115mm of travel and are adjustable for preload only.

The suspension, 19-inch front and 17-inch rear wheels, and revised frame combine to give the bike 184mm of ground clearance, while the spoked rims are shod with 50/50 on/off-road hoops with a blocky tread pattern. The tyres are reminiscent of Pirelli Scorpion STRs which are a fairly focused product. It’s worth noting that the press information from Royal Enfield mentions “mild off-road ability” so it’ll likely be more a soft-road or street scrambler than an out-and-out trail and dirt-track weapon.

The braking system for the new bike comes from Bybre and comprises a 320mm disc and two-piston caliper at the front, and a 270mm disc and single-piston sliding caliper at the rear. ABS comes in the form of a two-channel system, and the ABS can be switched off to the rear wheel should you wish to kick up some dust off-road. Switchable rear ABS aside, there are no other riding modes or electronic safety features to speak of, meaning no traction control or IMU governing how the bike rides. There are also no engine power modes meaning you get on and ride, which is a refreshing idea.

That doesn’t mean the bike is totally archaic, though, as you do get the funky and easy-to-read Tripper TFT dash and Bluetooth connectivity system. That means you get turn-by-turn nav, answering calls and text message notifications, as well as music selection should you be using a compatible Bluetooth headset. We’ve already used the Tripper on bikes like the Himalayan 450 and Shotgun 650, and can happily report that it’s a clear, easy-to-read and simple-to-use TFT that is perfectly in keeping with the Bear’s scrambler aesthetic. The bike also includes a USB-C socket located on the dash should you want to keep your mobile device charged while you’re out on a ride.

Royal Enfield Bear 650 UK price, colours, and availability

The Royal Enfield Bear 650 will be mauling its way into UK dealerships from February 2025, and will be joined by a full range of homologated accessories. It will be available in three colours, Petrol Green (£6,749), Golden Shadow (£6,849), and the Two Four Nine special edition colourway (£6,949), which is inspired by the race number Eddie Mulder used for his Big Bear Run win in 1960.

What’s it like to ride

The first point of note with the handling of the Bear is that it feels a very different bike to ride then any of the other 650cc parallel twin-cylinder machines. With a taller centre of gravity and tweaked rider triangle compared to Shotgun 650 or Interceptor and Conti’ GT, it requires a little bit more muscle when ridden hard on a twisty road.

And that’s fine, as this is a very different proposition to any of those other bikes, as it brings some off-road ability to the Royal Enfield 650 range. It’s less of a flowing bike to ride than the Shotgun 650, and partly due to the blocky pseudo off-road hoops that are fitted, you tend to carry less lean angle and end up squaring off corners a little more than you normally would.

The engine of the bike really is no surprise to me, and it’s as approachable and good natured as in any of the other bikes in the range and that’s despite Royal Enfield teasing some more mid-range poke from its bores. The throttle connection feels nice and the fueling is clean. It’s a bike that you can just get on and ride it pretty much to its limit straight away without too much bother. It’s best described as being a fun engine to thrash the life out of, without worrying too much about losing your licence!

One area where the Bear differs from the rest of the bikes in the 650 family is with the way it sounds - it’s got a very nice exhaust note that is perfectly in keeping with the look and feel of the bike. There’s a nice deep burble at tickover that rises to a bit of a bellow as you chase through the rev-range. In a world were bikes seem to be getting ever quieter and more restrained, it’s nice to hear that Enfield’s team have unshackled some decibels from their latest offering.

The press launch also gave us a chance to sample the bike on a short off-road section. It was a fire trail not more than kilometre in length and covered in hard-packed gravel with some deeper sandy sections. It wouldn’t be considered very technical had we been riding adventure bikes, but on the Bear it felt about right.

The first thing I notice when pulling into the trail is how the front washes from side to side as it hits the sand, it’s a telltale sign that these tyres have already hit the limit of what they can do - god help us had it been a wet and muddy green lane in the UK! The second point to note is that on one particularly big bump the front forks hammered through the stroke and clattered into the bump-stops, I can’t have been doing more than about 10mph at this point. So while the bear is a bike that can take on some very light off-road work, it’s not its preferred habitat. While some scramblers of this type come to you the faster you ride, the Bear will show you its limit fairly quickly. Yes it will powerslide (quite nicely as it happens) and do skids if you disable the ABS to the rear wheel, it’s still a street scrambler, and the emphasis is very much on the ‘street’.

Royal Enfield Bear 650 Verdict

Overall though, the Bear is a very enjoyable bike to go scratching on a B-road. It’s extremely chuckable, loves being thrown around and has a sweet engine with a light clutch and faultless gearbox. It also looks fantastic, and as it’s a Royal Enfield, those lovely retro looks won’t break the bank!

Summing the bike up I’d say this - if you want the best handling of the 650s for on-road riding, buy the Shotgun 650. And if you a Royal Enfield for true off-road riding, get the Himalayan. If you’d like a bike that can do a bit of both those things and look bloody good while its doing it - the Bear 650 is the bike to choose.

Royal Enfield Bear 650 spec