Honda CB 500 vs Royal Enfield Classic 650: Price Comparison

Honda recently launched the CB 500 in India, which is the brand’s big-capacity, single-cylinder roadster. A few years back the CB 500 would have been a perfect rival to the Royal Enfield Classic 500, however, as that bike is not in production, here is how the Honda competes with the Classic 650: 

Price

The base Alloy variant of the Honda CB 500 is a good Rs 92,592 more affordable than the Vallam Red colour option of the Classic 650. While the top-spec version of the CB is Rs 80,197 more affordable than the Classic. This shows that the price difference between the two retro-roasters is a bit too much.

Honda CB 500

The Honda CB 500 is a minimalistic looking retro-roadster that gets most of its design inspiration from the smaller CB350 range and the much older CB750. There is a round LED headlight, tear-drop shaped fuel tank, simple side panels, and a premium looking brushed aluminium finish on the engine. All of this gives the CB 500 quite a likable stance.

It is available in a total of five colour options: Pearl Igneous Black, Rebel Red Metallic, Mat Steel Silver Metallic, Pearl Deep Ground Gray and Pearl Igneous Black (with stripes). Honda has given this bike a 501 cc single-cylinder, air-oil-cooled engine that makes 28.1 PS, 43.3 Nm and a 5-speed gearbox. The bike uses a steel-tube frame, conventional telescopic fork, twin rear shock absorbers, and disc brakes at both ends. It runs a 19-inch front and an 18-inch rear wheel setup, with road-biased tyres. Honda has given it a simple-looking analogue speedometer, with a digital inset that shows gear-position indicator, trip-meter, and odometer. For safety there is dual channel ABS, and a switchable traction control.

Royal Enfield Classic 650

The Royal Enfield Classic 650’s design is largely inspired by the popular Classic 350. It uses a similar looking headlight cowl with an LED headlight, along with signature tiger-eye pilot lights. There is a metal fuel tank, minimalistic looking side panels, and an overall low-slung design. The main design highlight is the chrome finish on the engine, and twin pea-shooter exhausts, that enhance this bike’s overall road-presence. It is available in four colour options: Vallam Red, Bruntingthorpe Blue, Teal and Black Chrome.

The engine is the same unit as used on the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 and some other bikes as well. It is a 649 cc parallel-twin motor, that makes 47 PS, 52.3 Nm and comes paired to a 6-speed gearbox. According to these figures the Classic 650 should offer much better performance, when compared to the CB 500. The Classic 650 also gets conventional telescopic fork, and twin rear shock absorbers. The bike also runs on a 19-inch front wheel and an 18-inch rear wheel just like the CB 500. Classic misses out on a switchable traction control system, but rest of the features are almost identical to the CB. The only extra addition is the Tripper Navigation Pod.

BikeDekho Says

Overall, the new Honda CB 500 and the Royal Enfield Classic 650 are not direct rivals, but they are both our good-looking retro roadsters with big capacity engines. The Classic 650 has got a much-bigger, parallel-twin engine, that makes more power and torque than the CB 500. This should result in far superior overall performance in the real-world. However, the CB 500 is expected to offer a more relaxed and calm riding experience, with an effortless and strong low-end and mid-range grunt. Also Honda has not yet revealed some of the other key details about the CB 500. But overall, both bikes should be great options to consider if you are looking for powerful, and good-looking retro bikes.