After months of speculation, Royal Enfield officially pulled the covers off the Super Meteor 650 at EICMA in November 2022. Playing on the strengths of its internationally-acclaimed 650 Twins, the Super Meteor 650 takes the 648cc parallel twin found in both the INT650 and the Continental GT 650 and wraps it in a shiny new package, complete with brand firsts including LED lighting and an upside-down front fork.
It's now July 2023, though, which is a full seven months since EICMA 2022. What's Enfield been up to since that time? The rollout of the Hunter 350 and Scram 411 in various international markets has been ongoing, and rumors about updates to the 650 Twins, as well as the marque's first-ever electric motorcycle, have also slowly trickled out over time. We can't forget both rumors and official teasers about the impending Himalayan 450, to name just a handful of things that come to mind.
As a manufacturer that sells bikes worldwide, rumors about upcoming Royal Enfield projects abound. Since at least some of them end up coming to fruition down the line, here's the latest one: Royal Enfield may be working on a 750cc bobber, believed to be intended for release sometime in 2025.
The project is codenamed R2G, according to sources familiar with the matter and cited by Autocar Professional. The first bike, the sources say, will likely be a bobber, with additional machines to follow on the same platform that they allege is currently under development. It's not clear at this point if the 750cc mill would simply be an expansion of the existing 650cc engine, or a different engine entirely.
This isn't the first time that Royal Enfield has been associated with a rumor about an impending 750cc engine that was supposedly just around the corner, though. Back in 2017, a different rumor about an impending 750cc engine on the way from Enfield was making the rounds, allegedly as an intended challenger to both the Triumph Bonneville range and the Harley-Davidson Street 750. That rumor, which came from a parallel twin test mule that was spotted out and about on public roads, evolved into the very real 650 Twins, which had their global launch in 2018.
The motorcycle industry is rife with rumors, not all of which are necessarily even close to true. However, when it comes to Royal Enfield, the rumors have often been closer to the truth than not. The Hunter 350 eventually launched after months of rumors, and Enfield released an official teaser for the Himalayan 450 after months of rumors on that end, as well. It's not clear whether the Super Meteor 650 was the worst-kept secret in the world at the time of its release, but it's safe to say that its existence didn't come as a surprise to anyone who was paying attention.
Bearing all that in mind, it's not hard to see how development of such a machine may already be underway. However, we must caution that with solid information thin on the ground in 2023, it's difficult to predict what's coming in 2025 with any accuracy. Until and unless more concrete information becomes available, it's probably safe to file this one in the "intriguing if true" category for now. As and when further developments become clear, we'll of course be sure to keep you informed.
