The annual EICMA trade show is about to kick off, but some major OEMs haven’t waited to show off their latest offerings. We look at the new Royal Enfield Bear 650 scrambler and the Triumph Tiger 800 Sport. On the custom bike front, we profile two retro-fabulous racing restomods; a Suzuki GS1200SS from Japan and a Yamaha RD350 from Spain.
2025 Royal Enfield Bear 650 Royal Enfield is back with another new announcement. This time it’s their beloved 650 cc twin that’s getting a new variant, in the form of the 2025 Royal Enfield Bear 650.
Inspired by Fast Eddie Mulder’s win astride a Royal Enfield 500 at the grueling Big Bear Run in the Californian desert in 1960, Royal Enfield has finally scrambler-ized the Interceptor 650.
Straight away you’ll notice the upside-down Showa big-piston forks and the 19F/17R rear wheel combo. Shod with chunky tires, and sporting over seven inches of ground clearance, the Royal Enfield Bear 650 looks like an Interceptor in its health and fitness era.
Along with the suspension upgrades, the frame has been revised and strengthened. The scrambler-style seat is nicely contoured, and the rear subframe has been kicked up at the back.
The engine has been left alone, but the new two-into-one scrambler exhaust lets the 650 lay down its torque lower in the rev range.
The large LED headlight is backed up with a tech-heavy, but still classic, dashboard. The large round TFT display features Royal Enfield’s ‘Tripper’ navigation, which can be linked to a smartphone running Google Maps. There is also LED lighting all around, which is a first for a Royal Enfield 650 twin.
Even though the burly forks and chunky tires butter our toast, it’s the Royal Enfield Bear 650’s paint options that have us most excited. There are five liveries to choose from, and their names are wild; Boardwalk White, Petrol Green, Wild Honey, Golden Shadow, and the special edition, teal-framed Two Four Nine.
We’re having a hard time choosing between Petrol Green and Wild Honey [above], but the blue, white, and yellow stripes on the Wild Honey might have won us over. Prices in the US will start at $6,849 for the base model Boardwalk White and go up to $7,199 for the special edition Two Four Nine. Prices in the UK range from £6,749 to £6,949.
The big takeaway here is how fun the Royal Enfield Bear 650 looks. We’ve pointed the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 down a dirt road before, and came away thinking that it’s about the most fun you can have with 45 hp.
As far as we’re concerned, Royal Enfield has hit the nail squarely on the head. [Royal Enfield]
Suzuki GS1200SS by Iida Racing Factory Give us the choice of any inline four-cylinder Suzuki, and we’ll pick the Suzuki GS1200SS every time. Even though its two-year production run was short-lived, we can’t get enough of its retro endurance vibes—and it’s highly likely to appreciate in value.
This wild Suzuki GS1200SS belongs to Hiroki Iida, owner and proprietor of Iida Factory Racing in Kawasaki City, Japan. Iida-san has owned, modified, and raced his GS1200SS for over 20 years and he thought it was time to improve on his initial designs. Taking another GS1200SS from his workshop, he set about building this; the Iida Racing Factory “Demo-Two”.
The main focus was reducing weight and managing heat—but while the bike was torn down, myriad gussets and reinforcements were added in key areas, such as the frame neck and shock mounts. Carbon fiber bodywork from Custom Factory Tokaji adorns every surface, and it is perfection personified. An aluminum fuel cell is tucked away beneath the carbon shell, further reducing weight.
The 17” wheels are forged aluminum units from OZ Racing, which are slowed down (rather quickly) by beautiful Brembo calipers and Sunstar discs. The Öhlins FF521 forks are held in place by custom 7075 aluminum fork clamps and there are more Öhlins goodies out back, suspending a custom-braced swingarm.
Then there is the engine. It was torn down and reassembled with Wiseco forged pistons, Yoshimura cams, and titanium bolts, and has a balanced bottom end. It was also punched out to 1,216 cc (about 60 cc over stock) and features a TSS slipper clutch, a full brace of Yoshimura TMR-MJN carburetors, and a titanium exhaust system.
Even with all these mods, Iida-san has kept the big GS road legal with lights and turn signals. He also managed to shave a whopping 40 kg [88 lbs] from the overall weight, which means this thing would absolutely fly down the road. As far as retro sport bikes go, this might be the pinnacle. [Source]
Yamaha RD350 by Bolt Motor Co. When handed a box of bits and asked to make something go, stop, and turn, the team at Spain’s Bolt Motor Co. knew they had their work cut out for them. Somehow, that box of bits used to be a Yamaha RD350 that their new client wanted to look good while paying tribute to three-time 500 cc World Champion, Wayne Rainey. Oh, and it had to be fast.
Starting at the pointy end is a complete front end from a Yamaha R6. The wheels and swingarm came from the R6 too, and allowed for modern rubber to be fitted—including a 170-section rear tire. The client requested good handling and safe stopping, so the Bolt team sourced oversized discs and Brembo calipers to match the R6 suspension.
The clip-on handlebars are from Rizoma and are capped with Motogadget bar end turn signals. A Domino throttle speeds up the right wrist action and a KOSO digital temperature gauge monitors engine heat. The LED headlight wears a custom 3D-printed cover and the mirrors are from Highsider.
The tank is factory, but the rear end is a single-seat fiberglass unit meant for racing. It’s topped off with weatherproof suede upholstery. The red and white livery was specifically requested by the client as a throwback to the monster 500 cc two-stroke GP bikes from yesteryear.
Speaking of 500 cc monsters, that’s exactly how Bolt fulfilled the requirement that the bike be fast. The stock 350 cc twin was torn down and rebuilt to 500 cc with new cylinders, pistons, and crankshaft. The reeds were upgraded and a new pair of carburetors was bolted on for good measure.
The bike was then re-wired from scratch to ensure optimum performance and reliability, and a custom Turbokit exhaust was bolted on, complete with prerequisite enormous expansion chambers. From a box of bits to a work of engineering art that will out-accelerate most modern sport bikes, Bolt Motor Co. knows what’s what. [Source]
2025 Triumph Tiger Sport 800 The ever-growing ‘tall rounder’ segment has a new contender—the all-new 2025 Tiger Sport 800. Based on what we suspect is a bored and/or stroked version of Triumph’s 660 cc inline-triple, the new 798 cc engine pumps out about 113 hp and 84 Nm, and is wrapped in rather attractive bodywork (for an adventure-styled bike anyway).
Styled as a larger, more aggressive version of its smaller sibling, the new Triumph Tiger Sport 800 has a full-sized front fairing, an upright riding position, and a narrow tail. There is Showa suspension all around; the 41 mm separate function front forks are adjustable for rebound and compression, and the rear mono-shock is rebound- and preload-adjustable.
The matching lightweight 17” wheels are wrapped in Michelin’s Road 5 sport tires, and this gives away the intended use. Smaller wheels, adjustable suspension, and sticky tires—it all points to a road bike with the upright ergonomics of an adventure bike.
Speaking of adventure ergonomics, Triumph notes the 32.48-inch seat height as ‘accessible’, but it’s not. Knocking two or three inches off the seat height would make it more approachable for a wider audience. That said, the wet weight of 214 kg [472 lbs] will make the tall seat height more manageable – especially for a bike that will spend all of its time on asphalt.
Another letdown is the dashboard, which is simple, but a bit lackluster. An adjustable screen (with one-handed operation) and sleek daytime running LED save the day up front, as do the factory luggage options out the back.
The standard color is Sapphire Black, and it also comes in three premium colors; Graphite, Caspian Blue, and a very tasty Cosmic Yellow. We expect the new Sport 800 to be at the upper-middle level of the mid-sized touring segment, but the 16,000-kilometer [10,000-mile] service intervals might make it better, financially, in the long run. [Triumph Motorcyles]
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