COLONIAL COUSINS

Contrasts in chrome, that's what you get when Royal Enfield's Classics come together

- Ruman Devmane

When motorcycles come draped in chrome, they become a reflection of life around them. While paint creates a separation between a motorcycle and its backdrop, chrome, with its mirror-like qualities, lets it blend in. This seems funny when you realise 'chrome' was derived from the Greek word for colour. What exactly is the colour of chrome, again?

It makes sense why Royal Enfield reserves its heartiest helping of chrome for motorcycles it really wants to blend in with the masses — ones that bear the Classic plaque.

We've yearned for a larger-engined interpretation of the Classic 350, especially since Royal Enfield whisked away the 500 a few years ago, and now that it's here, we had to bring it around to meet its namesake, one that scripted the story of Royal Enfield's revival 16 years ago. Allow me to also pose a question early on — is the bigger, newer Classic really the better motorcycle? Is it also, importantly, the better Classic?

I then promptly reserved these questions to the back of my head as I set off on the Classic 650 on a hot Goan afternoon, with Manaal trailing on the Classic 350. We'd chalked out a brisk 100-km loop starting from the Royal Enfield Garage Cafe, featuring B-roads, NH66 and, hopefully, some traffic. This would see us return in darkness, and in time to crack open a few cold ones as you do.

Happy to be astride a motorcycle I'd been looking forward to, I settled into an early rhythm on the 650 — much to my surprise — as we navigated past villages transitioning into suburbs. First impressions: the 650 feels large and substantial but not cumbersome. I found its spiritedness odd until some corners came along. Then, I really began to enjoy it.