Royal Enfield INT650 Desert Runner Looks Elegant, Tough, and Old-School All at Once

This project was commissioned before the production INT650 was even revealed to the broader public, along with non-disclosure agreements binding Revival to silence until a predetermined reveal date. Needless to say, the Texas-based firm was a perfect candidate for a build of this magnitude, with a history stretching back to 2008. It all began with the vision of one Alan Stulberg.

He’d been in love with two-wheeled machines ever since the age of five, when his grandfather gifted him a Honda minibike to ride around the family ranch. Over time, what had first been a curiosity turned into sheer passion, then something bordering on obsession. He left his IT day job to establish Revival at 33-years-old, never stopped to look back, and the rest is history. Nowadays, Alan has more than 30 employees and all the public attention he could ask for.

Revival Cycles have garnered a ton of worldwide attention with their incredible work as the years went by, and were already regarded as a world-class outfit when the collaboration with Royal Enfield came around. Heck, the shop has been hosting the annual Handbuilt Motorcycle Show in Austin since 2014, fueling people’s enthusiasm for custom bikes and helping the scene grow as a result.

With all that being said, it’s no wonder Royal Enfield entrusted them with building one of the first-ever Interceptor 650 customs. The brand-new specimen was delivered to their shop in its factory crate by nighttime and things quickly got underway the following day. Inspired by the British desert sleds on yore, the guys decided to turn the INT650 into a capable off-roader with elegant looks and thoroughly upgraded running gear.

The street-oriented stock suspension simply wouldn’t cut it, and it was therefore swapped with more suitable hardware fore and aft. At the front, Revival’s specialists fitted a pair of longer forks taken from a Suzuki DR-Z, but they fitted added internals prior to installation. Rear-end suspension duties are now assigned to adjustable gas-charged shock absorbers supplied by Ikon.

Together with the DR-Z forks, they give the Interceptor some extra suspension travel and ground clearance. Unsprung territory is home to shouldered aluminum hoops measuring 18 inches fore and aft, with Michelin AC10 knobbies providing ample grip both on and off the tarmac. In the cockpit, we’re greeted by a digital Motoscope Pro dial from Motogadget, sitting right ahead of a wide flat-track handlebar with off-white grips.

As a cool little touch, the Desert Runner features two interchangeable front fenders. One of them hovers down low right above the tire, while the other is a high-mounted unit better suited to off-road use. Moreover, there’s a beefy aluminum sump guard a bit further back, keeping the engine and exhaust pipework well out of harm’s way. Speaking of its exhaust plumbing, this INT650 scrambler features a bespoke stainless-steel setup fabricated from scratch.

It ends in dual reverse megaphone silencers with accompanying support brackets, mounted in close proximity to a set of motocross foot pegs. The stock fuel tank and side covers were retained, but the subframe got shortened, looped, and topped with a handsome bench seat we can’t get enough of. Fabricated in-house by Revival’s gurus, the saddle comes with plentiful padding and elegant brown leather upholstery.

An alloy rear fender was fitted right beneath it, complete with a Bates-style LED taillight. Up north, lighting comes from an aftermarket headlamp mixing old-school looks with modern LED internals, with custom-built mounting hardware holding it in place. The build was nearing completion with all these goodies installed, and the final step had to do with the paint job. Once again, Alan and his team knocked it out of the park.

Off-white, green, and gold were the colors of choice for the fuel tank livery, with the two latter hues also making their way onto the side panels. On the other hand, items such as the fenders, wheels, and skid plate have been left unpainted, as were the engine covers left and right. The Desert Runner was officially done once the paintwork had been applied, but we’re yet to tell you the best part about it.

Apparently, the pros at Revival Cycles will gladly build a similar (or even identical) entity for those who are interested and have the necessary funds. We’re not sure how much it would cost, though, because the pricing details will only be provided upon request. However, what we can tell you is that anyone riding this scrambled Interceptor 650 will have no problem turning heads wherever they go.