Royal Enfield Bear 650 Review | LAMS Motorcycle Test

Royal Enfield Bear 650 Review

With the motorcycling world embracing the adventure bike craze, Royal Enfield has finally released a 650-twin with some off-road intent. Meet Royal Enfield’s Bear 650.  Rather than a big version of the Himalayan or a full-fledged adventure machine, the Bear is more of a scrambler-style motorcycle.

This means capitalising on the strengths of the 650 platform by maintaining excellent road manners while adding a little off-road capability—likely all that most aspiring “adventure” riders are realistically going to use.

On the one hand that does mean this bike is a pretty clear derivative of the Interceptor, even showing the moniker on the number boards. However, the Bear comes with valuable updates and scrambler-specific tweaks that make it a distinctive option.

Inspired by the historic Big Bear Run in the USA, famously won by Eddie Mulder on a Royal Enfield, the new Bear 650 kicks off from a competitive $11,490 ride-away. That’s decent value.

We spent two days testing out the new model, heading out of Melbourne and down to Lorne with some gravel roads thrown in. We stayed at the Cumberland River Camping cabins overnight, followed by a day down the coastal road before looping back up to Melbourne.

Navigating in and out of Melbourne involved some inevitable traffic and tedious highway stretches—easily managed by the bike—before transitioning to gravel and unsealed roads to test its off-road capabilities. Add in some fantastic twisty sections, and it was the kind of an adventure you might plan for a weekend escape.

So putting aside the puzzling ‘Grab the Bear by the horns’ catch-phrase, which seems to have lost something in translation, and onto overall impressions.

The Bear 650 is undeniably a handsome machine. The race plate, beefier tyres and blacked out exhaust all add up to a good look. A special note going to the ‘green frame’ Two Four Nine livery, while the Wild Honey (as tested) was my personal favourite.

Looking at the functional side of things, there’s a little extra ground clearance; spoked rims – 19 inch front, 17 inch rear; switchable ABS at the rear; full LED lights and some quite wide ‘bars.

When introduced in 2018, the 650 platform marked a huge step forward for the Indian brand and build quality has been improving further with each model release. Still, the 650 models always seem to be a step above their smaller capacity siblings when it comes to quality of finish and dare I say it, panache. The parallel-twin engine itself also adds a bit of charisma into the mix.

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The 830 mm seat height is a little taller than the Continental GT, but quite a bit taller than the standard Interceptor. That did surprise me a little, with the bike only lifted about 10 mm in the ground clearance department. At 184 mm that ground clearance figure is pretty reasonable for a Scrambler, but it is over 40 mm less than provided by the more off-road oriented Himalayan.

The wide handlebars are immediately noticeable. Some riders on the launch had them rolled back a little to decrease the reach and offer a more relaxed upper body position. I was pretty happy with them.

The big test for me was whether I’d be able to easily and naturally stand on the Bear 650 when getting on to gravel roads, and that did quite comfortably prove to be the case. At least for my 180 cm or so frame, keeping in mind I’ve been accused of having orangutan arms by my significant other. Of course T-Rex shouldn’t throw stones!

The bars are a little low and require a bit of a hunch to be comfortably reached when standings.

While potentially not the case for everyone, body proportions varying so widely, this is what I look for, as you can bet I’ll be standing in the off-road stuff, as it just gives me more confidence and feel on the bike.

The tank cut-outs were also ideal for my knees, although grasping the seat between my knees wasn’t so comfortable. I’m no off-road pro though, so take from that what you will. The foot controls, particularly the shifter, aren’t ideally suited to standing while riding.

The biggest boon for many will be the fact that the Bear is learner legal, meaning you can start on one as a new rider, jumping into the deep end somewhat, with just shy of 50 hp. That’s in the sweet spot of having plenty of ‘have fun’ power, but not ‘super easy to lose your license instantly’ power, regardless of your license type.

The air-cooled engine has been tuned for more torque, partially thanks to the new exhaust boosting that figure by eight per cent. Shorter gearing also gives it a bit more pep.

Peak power figures may be bandied about, but broad usable torque is where it’s at on a road bike and the Bear does not disappoint, with smooth fuelling backing that up.

The suspension package is notable at this price point with Showa providing the forks and shocks. However, the shocks on this model miss out on the external reservoir seen on some other models.

I was pretty impressed after the gravel roads of day one, enough so that I wouldn’t have minded doing more gravel, which I’d say is a really good testament to how comfortable I felt on the bike.

Obviously we’re just getting a taste of light off-roading on the fairly road-oriented standard tyres, but it is clear the Bear doesn’t have the off-road chops of the go anywhere Himalayan.

Despite weighing just over 200 kg, the Bear 650 is manageable on the gravel and the ample torque of the air-cooled twin-cylinder gives plenty of drive.

I certainly wasn’t spinning the wheel through the corners, or locking the rear to turn, but my confidence quickly built up for the conditions, meaning I could also pick up the pace – always a good thing when you’re the slowest of the group.

Front end confidence and tracking was good. While I generally like a wider ‘peg for standing on a bike, they still did the job, and the suspension handled the conditions easily.

Brakes are from Bybre, with a single front 320 mm rotor and two-pot caliper. A generously sized 270 mm rear rotor and single-pot caliper provide a pretty decent amount of stopping power at the rear, especially with the leverage that standing gives you on the lever.

We did one slightly difficult section, with a steep downhill, only to turn around and head back up the same section. That did have me a bit worried (about my abilities), but keeping the power on and letting the bike do its stuff had the hefty Bear 650 climb up and onto easier sections in no time at all.

The ergos worked, the torquey engine was forgiving and easy to keep momentum up, meaning less gear changes, and those tyres gave reasonable confidence.

I’m no off-road guru, but I think for new riders particularly, this will be an easy machine to explore on. Which is important as a LAMS machine. I’d be pretty happy picking one of these over an ADV if I didn’t intend to do much more than the odd fire trail or easy gravel roads.

Our tarmac ride then gave a glimpse into just how capable the Bear 650 would be on the more everyday roads for most riders. Well, not your commuting roads, but the nicer rides that most of us really enjoy on a day off or a weekend.

The Great Ocean Road had the bike in its element, effortlessly linking together those corners, easily flicking from side to side, the Bear shining at the legal and fairly moderate pace of 80-100 km/h… or so.

You can really have a hoot on this bike at these speeds, cracking on a little, having fun and a bit of a go while also not really being too far in the danger zone for speed cameras. That may be a little conservative for the sportier rider. However, this is a Royal Enfield, so it’s pretty true to form.

I’m nudging towards 40 now, but I still find that there’s plenty of fun to be had on a bike ‘only’ pumping out around 47 horsepower. Still, you can stretch it up to more than 160 km/h, if you really want to.

Considering the MRF Nylorex-X rubber isn’t a brand or type I’m familiar with I felt they were okay. I’d be interested to see how they handle the wet, but for the dry, they got a tick of approval. For easy gravel or fire trails they should be up to the task.

A lunch stop at Duneed heralded the end of the great roads before the slog into Melbourne in 35 degree heat. Thankfully, my Dririder Exo 3 jacket and the lack of wind protection afforded by the Bear gave me plenty of air-flow and made the summer city drudge bearable. The amount of heat coming off the bike wasn’t too bad either, considering this is an air-cooled machine.

I did find the shocks a little harsh on rough conditions. When I’d checked the pre-load on day one I’d found it on the lowest setting, meaning there was no remaining range of adjustment for me to back it off further for my 75 kg weight.

It did feel harsher than the Interceptor, Continental GT or Super Meteor, which is surprising as the Bear actually has more suspension travel. 115 mm still isn’t all that much travel, but perhaps those Nylorex tyres play their part in the harshness equation.

Seat comfort is good for an hour or two at a time, and there’s nice mod-cons like a USB port in the dash for device charging, a TFT display and onboard nav (via the app).

Overall I think the Bear 650 has a lot to offer. The flexibility of a scrambler, powered by the most up to date iteration of Royal Enfield’s 650-twin, and still very competitively priced. Find yourself some fun gravel roads or fire trails to explore and some likeminded riders to share the experience with and you’ll be in cloud nine on the Bear.

What I like about the Royal Enfield Bear 650:

• Styling is on point.
• Good mix of performance and handling.
• Competitively priced.

The Royal Enfield 650 could improve…

• Rear shocks a bit harsh (for me at 75 kg).
• ‘Bars may be too forward for some.

Royal Enfield Bear 650 Introductory Pricing & Colours

• Boardwalk White – $11,490 Ride Away
• Petrol Green / Wild Honey / Golden Shadow – $11,690 Ride Away
• Two Four Nine – $11,890 Ride Away

See the Royal Enfield Australia website for more information or your local dealer.

2025 Royal Enfield Bear 650 Specifications

2025 Royal Enfield Bear 650 Images

Images by Tom Fossati & Matthew Hayman