Honda Highness CB350 vs Royal Enfield Classic 350: Image Comparison

Japan’s finest has India’s top-dog firmly in its sights. We see how these two bikes compare in a series of pictures

Honda has flexed its muscles and rolled out the H'Ness CB350 with one single aim: to take on the Royal Enfield Classic 350 and end RE’s dominance of the middleweight segment. Since the two bikes will go head-to-head in the Indian market, we thought we’d put them side-by-side in a series of images and see how they compare:

The different design philosophies and cultures are plain to see, with the Classic mimicking the good ol’ British singles while the CB harks back to its vintage Japanese roots.

Not quite the teardrop-shaped unit seen on the RE, the CB’s fuel tank is equally gorgeous, especially with this classy badging and lustrous paint finish.

Both motorcycles sport round headlights but while the Classic’s is an ageing and simple halogen unit, the Highness gets a neat-looking neo-retro LED design similar to that seen on the CB300R.

Powering the Highness is an all-new 348cc single-cylinder air-cooled engine developed specifically for India. It may be only 2cc up on the Classic 350’s 346cc unit, but output on the CB is up by around 2PS and 2Nm over the RE.

Both bikes send their power to the rear wheel via 5-speed gearboxes, but the Highness gains the upper hand once more by offering an assist-and-slipper clutch which the Classic misses out on. Honda has also thrown in traction control, though its necessity can be argued.

In the instrumentation department, the CB350 once again one-ups the Classic 350 by offering a semi-digital cluster to the Classic’s fully-analogue unit. Honda has also packed in Bluetooth connectivity and mobile phone charging, but the digital inset does seem a little small and we’re unsure how useful it will be.

One area where both bikes are quite evenly matched is suspension, with each of them getting a conventional telescopic fork up front and preload-adjustable twin shock absorbers at the rear.

Royal Enfield allows you to choose between wire-spoke or alloy wheels on the Classic, but on the Honda, you’re stuck with alloy wheels in the same 19-inch/18-inch size Combo as the RE. The Highness does offer slightly wider tyres at both ends, though.