Royal Enfield Classic 350

The Royal Enfield Classic 350 has been the best selling mid-capacity motorcycle in India almost ever since its first introduction back in 2009. The Classic is basically a retro-style motorcycle which many people mistakenly think of as a cruiser. But its design is based on vintage roadster motorcycles which were extremely popular in the 1950s and ‘60s. The Classic 350 is popular because of its macho looks, its torquey engine and its famous ‘dug dug’ exhaust note. Over the years since its launch, Royal Enfield has made many small improvements to the bike, with the biggest change coming in 2021, when the Classic was built on an all-new platform (which RE calls the J-platform) - new chassis, new suspension, new engine, but same design adored by retro bike lovers.

I’ve had the privilege of spending a lot of time riding the Classic 350. I’ve ridden the previous versions a couple of times to Leh, Ladakh, and I’ve used the J-platform version of the Classic 350 as my personal long-term test bike for almost a year. In that time, I’ve used it for commuting to and from work everyday as well as taken it on some long rides such as Pune to Goa among others. And while I personally prefer high performance naked bikes over retro roadsters, the Classic’s easy-going nature is something I’ve really come to enjoy and love.

On July 16, 2026, Royal Enfield launched the updated Classic 350 in India, with a slip and assist clutch, and a faster USB Type-C charger.

Classic 350 Design

The Classic 350 looks like a proper old-school bike with large round mudguards, teardrop shaped fuel tank, round headlight with a full headlight cover and a little chrome peak as well as a single seat setup as standard. The 2025 Classic 350 was updated with new colours as well as an LED headlight and LED taillight. There are also LED indicators on some colour variants. While these do add a bit of a modern touch to the otherwise unchanged design, I’m personally not a big fan of these additions, as I feel it very slightly robs the Classic of its retro charm.

Classic 350 Colours

The Classic 350 is available in different colour schemes - Madras Red, Redditch Red, Emerald, Stealth Black, Gun Grey, Commando Sand and Medallion Bronze. Some of the colour schemes feature spoke wheels, while others have alloy wheels. A few of the paint schemes also get blacked out treatment for the engine and exhaust, which does look very stealthy, but I feel doesn’t really go too well with the vintage design of the bike. Personally, I think the Emerald colour scheme looks absolutely fantastic as it features a unique shade of metallic emerald (blue-green) along with lots of chrome all around the bike. In August 2026, the brand launched a green shade for the Classic 350, called the Gorkha Edition, paying tribute to the Gorkha regiment of the army.

Classic 350 Build Quality

There was a time when the Classic 350, and all of Royal Enfield bikes, were plagued with quality issues. But since 2021, the J-platform Classic 350 has been largely trouble free. In fact, on the long-term Classic 350 which I rode for a year, the only issues I had were a couple of punctures.

Classic 350 Convenience Features

The 2025 Classic 350 features a semi-digital instrument console, which includes an analogue speedometer and a digital inset that includes a fuel gauge, gear position indicator, odometer, trip meter and other basic information. This console, although very basic, displays all relevant information in a very clear and concise manner, making it easy to read. The Classic 350 also gets the optional Tripper Navigation Pod, which shows turn-by-turn navigation along with a digital clock. This Tripper Pod has Bluetooth connectivity, but only displays navigation information once connected to the Royal Enfield smartphone app. In my experience, the Tripper Pod works well enough to find your way around a new city, but sometimes, when I was faced with complex junctions, the turn-by-turn directions themselves felt inadequate. There’s also a USB Type-C fast charger attached under the left handlebar to charge your phone while riding, which is a very convenient touch. But I think the charger unit should have been integrated into the bodywork, and looks quite ugly on the handlebar. My favourite features though are the adjustable brake and clutch levers, which make it easy for people with different hand sizes to comfortably ride the bike.

Classic 350 Safety Features

Royal Enfield has upped the Classic 350’s safety quotient by offering dual-channel ABS as standard in the updated 2025 colour variants. I think this will go a long way in keeping riders safer on slippery roads. However, there are a couple of base variants that get a rear drum brake and single-channel ABS. But I would not recommend these unless you have a really tight budget.

Classic 350 Rider Comfort

The Classic 350 comes with a split seat setup as standard, and the pillion seat is removable if you want that cool single-seat look. The handlebar is decently tall and wide, while footpegs are fairly centre-set, making for an upright riding posture, which I found quite comfortable. The rider seat height is 805mm, which is fairly short. But because the bike itself is quite wide, especially around the engine, shorter riders might struggle to get both feet on the ground easily. With my height of 5’9”, I had no issues placing both my feet flat on the ground. But some of my shorter colleagues, who are about 5’4” or 5’5” did struggle, especially when trying to move the bike around with their feet.

The rider’s seat itself is quite wide and well padded, which makes it extremely comfortable during short rides around the city. But for my weight (around 82kg), I found the stock seat foam quite soft, so I tended to sink into it over longer rides. This did give me some back aches after riding non-stop for a couple of hours. Thankfully, Royal Enfield offers a firmer Touring seat as an accessory, and you can even opt for it using the company’s online configurator. Once I swapped out the stock seat with the firmer Touring seat, then even 6-7 hours in the saddle left me with no pain in my back or butt.

Classic 350 Pillion Comfort

The Classic’s pillion seat is also quite spacious and well padded and the pillion footpeg position is perfect for a neutral and comfortable seating posture. The rear seat suffers from the same problem as the stock rider seat - the foam is too soft. This too can be replaced by an optional Touring rear seat, which offers firmer foam. That said, most of my pillions said that what they would really love instead is an optional pillion backrest. But that will spoil the clean, retro lines of the Classic 350 for sure.

Classic 350 Engine

That 2025 Classic 350 is powered by the new 349cc J-series single-cylinder, air-cooled engine that makes 20.21PS of peak power at 6100rpm and 27Nm of peak torque at 4000rpm. The engine is paired to a 5-speed gearbox, and on July 16, 2026, the brand also launched the Classic 350 with a slip and assist clutch. Although we have not ridden that version yet, but it is expected to offer much lighter clutch action and smoother gear downshifts. That said, while the engine output may feel quite low for such a large capacity engine, it’s important to remember that the Classic 350 has been designed for laid-back riding rather than high performance. And in my experience, the engine’s output figures work perfectly given the easy-going nature of the Classic. But for your reference, here’s how my Classic 350’s tested performance figures compare to its immediate rivals:

Classic 350 City Performance

The Classic’s engine has a lot of low-rpm torque, which means when you’re riding at city speeds, you can carry higher gears quite easily. In fact, I would end up shifting to fifth gear as soon as I would cross 35kmph, and the engine would never struggle. And because it has so much torque available at low rpm, I didn’t need to downshift all the time for overtaking traffic in the city. 

Classic 350 Highway Performance 

The 2025 Classic 350’s J-series engine is extremely smooth at speeds of up to 80-90kmph. So riding it on the highway was always an extremely relaxing experience. Unlike the previous Classic, the newer Classic 350 can get to 100kmph quite easily, but not super quickly, which honestly never felt like an issue for me. I could also go faster if I wanted - say 110-115kmph (speedo indicated), but at this point, I experienced some noticeable vibrations on the footpegs and handlebar. Plus the engine also felt a bit strained at this point. Every time I was riding the Classic 350 on the highway, 80-90kmph really was the sweet spot.

Classic 350 Mileage 

The 2025 Royal Enfield Classic 350 offers a good mileage for a 350cc bike. I got a fuel efficiency of around 41.93kmpl in the city traffic. Whereas, the bike returned a mileage of around 38.46kmpl while touring on the highway. With its 13-litre fuel tank, I could usually travel 350-400km before I needed to refuel.

Classic 350 Underpinnings

The Classic 350 is built on a standard diamond-type frame and gets 41mm telescopic front fork and twin preload-adjustable shock absorbers at the rear. It’s running on a 19-inch front wheel with 100/90 size front tyre and a 18-inch rear wheel with a 120/80 size rear tyre. The Classic is available both with spoke and alloy wheels (depending on the colour variant), and the spoke wheel version is running on tube-type tyres while the alloy wheel version gets tubeless tyres.

Classic 350 City handling

With a kerb weight of 195kg, the Classic 350 is a fairly heavy bike. And I could really feel this weight when trying to get it on its centre stand, or pushing it around the parking lot with my feet. But the moment I started riding, this weight just disappeared. Thanks to its fantastic weight distribution, it felt much lighter and it could change directions without much effort. So riding through moving traffic was really easy on the Classic. That said, when in crawling stop-and-go traffic, sometimes I could still feel the bike’s weight, and although I could manage it just fine, someone shorter and lighter than me might struggle.

Classic 350 Highway Handling

Surprisingly, even with that larger 19-inch front wheel, the Classic 350 feels fairly easy to steer even at highway speeds. Changing lanes on the highway required very little effort on the handlebar, and even in the corners, it felt comparatively easy to tip in. And once leaned over, it held its line really well and I never found a lack of confidence in the chassis or its tyres.

Classic 350 Braking Performance

The Classic 350 gets a 300mm disc brake at the front and a 270mm disc at the rear, with dual-channel ABS as standard. While I found the braking performance to be quite decent and predictable. The brake lever does need to be squeezed a little harder than usual if you want to stop in a hurry, but I believe, given the bike’s weight, it’s acceptable. Here’s a quick look at how the Classic 350’s braking performance compares to its nearest competitors.

Classic 350 Ride Quality

In my daily riding, I found the ride quality of the Classic 350 really good. It handled most bumps and potholes on our roads with ease, thanks to its softer suspension setup and larger 19-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels. I could only feel the bumps if I rode over really bad or broken roads. But these large bumps never threw me off my seat, even if I went over them a little faster. I believe this is thanks to the Classic’s ample weight.

If you are looking for a vintage-style motorcycle with equally good performance for city and highway rides, then the 2025 Royal Enfield Classic 350 would be the perfect bike to get. The new J-series engine on the Classic 350 provides a smooth riding experience, impressive mileage figures while maintaining an authentic classic feel. While it may not be perfect in every aspect, it is a nice blend of classic design and modern refinement. For those who love easy-going, old-school motorcycles, I believe there is no better bike in India than the Royal Enfield Classic 350. However, if you like your motorcycles with high performance and sharp handling, the Classic 350 simply won’t appeal to you.

Classic 350 Variants

The RE Classic 350 doesn’t really have true variants. Instead, it has different colour options at different price points. Here’s a quick look at how much each colour variant costs.

I would recommend any variant that gets dual-channel ABS, as that makes the Classic 350 much safer. Although my favourite would be Emerald, which just looks truly classic.

Royal Enfield Classic 350 vs Jawa 350

The Jawa 350 range is priced quite similarly to the Classic 350 range, and offers similar retro styling. But the Jawa offers more performance from its liquid cooled engine. If you like retro bikes to have more modern levels of performance, the Jawa might make more sense to you. But in terms of build quality and finish, the Classic 350 is still ahead of the Jawa. And if you want an easy-going retro bike, you really can’t beat the Classic. 

Royal Enfield Classic 350 vs Honda CB350

The Honda offers better performance and more features compared to Classic. It falls in the same price category as the Royal Enfield as well, and in fact, its top model is a bit more affordable than the Classic too. But although it has a retro design, the CB350 feels a bit too “modern” for a retro motorcycle. The CB350 is lighter, making it easier to ride in the city. But since it doesn’t make as much torque at low rpm as the Classic, it doesn’t have that same easy going feel as the Royal Enfield. The Honda CB350 requires constant gear shifts to keep the engine in its sweet spot, and that can get more tiring on longer rides.

If you are confused between this and the Bullet, here’s how the Classic and the Bullet are different.