I've experienced a phenomenon I don't with any other style of motorcycle on Royal Enfield's Bear 650

Ten pence a mile. That’s not a lot, is it? But on my recent, 350-mile, 7-hour ‘getting to know you’ ride on the new Bear 650, it worked out that’s how much it costs to run the new Royal Enfield retro.

The trip down to Southampton Docks was 156 miles. I arrived with 2 miles left on the range calculator, with the refuel squeezing 11.37l into the 13.7l tank and costing £16.14. That makes 62.37mpg and means I could’ve potentially got another 30-odd miles from the remaining 2.33l of fuel. It also means the Bear has a theoretical range of almost 188 miles.

As someone who automatically nods off whenever people start talking in numbers, I apologise if that opening gambit isn’t exactly thrilling. Eye-opening, though. Right?

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The scrambler style Bear isn’t my usual cup of tea. A habitual fan of giant adventure bikes, I like wafting far and wide with plenty of room, toys and preferably a fairing. Initial concerns that the Enfield wouldn’t be enough bike for me to enjoy what I like doing seem to have dissipated entirely though.

Sure, the 47bhp parallel twin is more ‘Gentle Ben’ than ‘The Revenant’, but it’s still got just enough guts and growl to make riding engaging and fun. Comfort is decent for a bench seat, too. My phone (2018 Samsung Galaxy S9) seems too old for the fancy Tripper dash, so I’m treating myself to an upgrade so I can use it.

In 2017 I had a Moto Guzzi V7 on test and that’s when I first noticed that people treat you differently when you ride a retro bike. It gets a lot of attention, and kids point and ‘ooh’ more. Kindly older folks want to stop and chat about when they “had one just like it”, and general passers-by smile at you more like an upstanding citizen enjoying a socially acceptable hobby and less like a pedestrian-frightening, wheelie-pulling psychopath.

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It’s a phenomenon not experienced on any other style of motorcycle and adds to the warm and fuzzies I get while riding the instantly charming Bear.

I think it needs a dash of extra practicality before I head further afield, and the official accessory list is full of temptations. A screen would help a lot. Hand guards would keep wind blast off my hands, which are rarely warm (no heated grips on the Bear). RE do a neat looking set of panniers too…

A couple of small niggles

For a modern machine, the clutch is far too heavy – the span-adjustable, thick, retro-style lever needs a strong pull in order to engage. Surprisingly, 71mph on the accurate speedo is 70mph on my GPS – so none of your ‘75’s OK’ mentality here.

Also, I’ve never failed to cancel an indicator more on any other motorcycle than I do on the Bear. The switch requires a very positive ‘click’ to cancel it…

The stats

• Miles this month: 547 miles
• MPG this month: 60.2mpg
• Costs this month: £39.08 (fuel)
• Miles to next service: 4211 miles (or 334 days)