BOTH BARRELS

The new Shotgun 650 goes up against its own stable-mates. Does it deliver?

- Pablo Chaterji

I'm cold. No, I'm bloody freezing. It's a brutal, almost base feeling, and it's relentless. The... wait a second, I remember these words, because I've written them before, five years ago. On that occasion, I was describing being astride the new Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, on a beautiful Californian highway on a spectacular day. This time, I'm on the Royal Enfield Shotgun 650. On a beautiful Californian highway. On a spectacular day. And I'm still bloody freezing. Talk about full circles.

But enough about me; let's focus on the Shotgun, RE's latest blast across the bows of... well, its own motorcycles, for starters; the Interceptor/Continental GT and Super Meteor all have many things in common with it, beginning with their engines the 648cc parallel twin, making 46.4 bhp and 5.3 kgm. For years now, Royal Enfield has absolutely killed it in the realm of affordable, characterful motorcycles - the Bullet, the Classic, the Himalayan - each a testament to the company's legacy of building robust machines with a timeless, retro appeal. When news broke of the Shotgun 650 - a bobber based on the Super Meteor platform - we all held our breath. Could RE pull off a modern interpretation of a bobber, or would the Shotgun turn out to be a misguided departure from its core identity? That's what I went to the City of Angels to try and find out.