About Royal Enfield Classic 350 vs Honda H’ness CB350
One of the many beautiful aspects of motorbikes is the variety of shapes, sizes, and colours available. Some are high-speed vehicles built to navigate a racetrack as quickly as the laws of physics allow. Others are exploring tools, designed to keep the journey going even after the route comes to an end. Whether it’s a cross-country trip or just the daily commute, odds are there’s a bike designed to meet your needs.
However, there is a class of bikes that strive to be time machines – they not only take you from point A to point B, but also take you back in time. Everything you need to know about the Royal Enfield Classic 350 is right there in its name. The Chennai-based maker has just released an all-new version of its most famous motorcycle, yet it still wants to deliver the most vintage experience possible in 2021. It has been the clear ruler of this class for almost a decade, but it now faces newer competition.
Last year, Honda focused its sights squarely on Royal Enfield Classic 350, and the bullet it shot was the Honda H’ness CB350. And, as its unusual name suggests, it wants a piece of that royal grandeur. In this class, ‘trivialities’ like horsepower figures and brake disc sizes simply cannot determine success.
Features
The journey down the memory lane starts even before we leave on these motorcycles. In a world full of false carbon-fiber finishes and ever-expanding tank extensions, the measured, straightforward designs here are refreshingly simple. A straightforward round headlight, an exposed tank, some side panels, and a pair of fenders. That’s basically all these two sports have in terms of bodywork, although each one has its own unique take on things. From six feet away, the 2021 Royal Enfield Classic 350 may appear unchanged from its predecessor. However, a close examination reveals that, while the fundamental silhouette has been faithfully replicated, this bike is entirely unique.
Know More About : Honda Genio vs Yamaha Fascino 125 Hybrid: Comparison
A cursory glance at the Honda H’ness CB350 shows a minor difference in design philosophy, as it has a slick LED headlight as well as alloy wheels (optional on the Classic, along with a number of other accessories that dwarf the Honda’s catalogue), giving it more neo-retro than true-blue retro. Nonetheless, it’s a very attractive motorbike, and its styling is heavily influenced by its rich CB history, with the square-ish tank and round headlight harkening back to the original CB750.
Design
The covered headlight and regal pilot lighting give it a fairly dignified appearance. And, because this pod houses the new semi-digital equipment and other cables and wires, the front of the bike is delightfully uncluttered. The rest of the bike has had equal attention to detail: the midsection has been significantly cleaned up, with far less stray wires and strange ends exposed, and the chrome finish is really superb. The Classic is so true to its classic appearance that every lamp on the bike features a traditional filament bulb.
Although being longer, broader, taller, and having a longer wheelbase than the Royal Enfield Classic 350, the Honda H’ness CB350 appears to be the less substantial motorbike in this comparison. A big part of this is due to the engine not entirely filling the space in the chassis. It’s also significantly lighter, at 181kg versus 195kg for the Classic. Both bikes are well-built, but the H’ness has a few too many tones of black, grey, silver, and chromium, and its chromium isn’t as crisp as the Royal Enfield Classic 350.
Acceleration
The Enfield stands out nicely against the landscape surrounding it, which appears to be in a constant state of acceleration. Its long-stroke J-platform motor delivers heaps of low-end torque to carry you around in a leisurely manner. It lightens the rider’s load by chugging along at low RPMs in high gears. However, unlike its predecessor, the forward thrust continues higher up the rpm range as well, unhindered by vibrations or a decreasing powerband. It doesn’t have the most powerful top end, but the air-cooled engine thumps its way to the top speed without ever feeling out of breath, and a 100kph cruise is very achievable, though anything over that becomes a strain.
The Royal Enfield Classic 350 is rated at 120-125kph, whereas the Honda H’ness CB350 is rated at 135kph – but with a higher amount of speedo inaccuracy. While the Classic’s thump is deeper than the Meteor’s, it’s a much faster beat, and thus best experienced at low RPMs (like the rest of the bike), when the thumps are neatly spaced out. Gear shifts are also quick and seamless for the most part, but it occasionally protests when shifting into first gear from neutral, and the clutch is also heavier than the Honda’s. Riding the H’ness for the first time is a bewildering experience that serves as yet another reminder of why we shouldn’t judge motorcycles only on their spec sheets.
Engine
So, on paper, this Honda has the same long-stroke engine as the Classic, producing greater power and torque at lower RPMs than the Enfield! In practice, though, the Honda’s motor seems the total opposite of the Royal Enfield Classic 350: flat at the bottom, then linearly building through the mid-range to a robust top-end. The expected low RPM oomph is noticeably absent, and the Honda H’ness CB350 dislikes pottering around at low speeds in high ratios. Part of this is due to the extremely high gearing.
| Royal Enfield Classic 350 | Honda H’ness CB350 | |
| Engine displacement | 349.34 cc | 348.36 cc |
| Max torque | 27 Nm @4000 rpm | 30 Nm @3000 rpm |
| Gearbox | 5 speed | 5 speed |
| Emission type | bs6 | bs6 |
When the engine is revved up, it’s noticeably faster than the Royal Enfield Classic 350, but it requires a lot more from the rider, with more shifts necessary and a greater emphasis on staying in the correct gear.
Price
Both bikes are reasonably priced: the Royal Enfield Classic 350 price has a single-channel ABS version (Rs 1.84 lakh) that is less expensive than the Honda H’ness CB350 price (Rs 1.94-1.99 lakh), and also numerous dual-channel ABS color options that vary from below the H’ness to well above – the top-of-the-line chrome red costs Rs 2.15 lakh (ex-showroom).
When it comes to acceleration, steering, braking, and the like, there seems to be no doubt that the Honda H’ness CB350 is the more capable motorbike here. It’s lighter, faster, and handles superior than the Classic. And if these are the metrics that appeal to you, the Honda is unquestionably the bike for you.
But that’s not the point of this section, and we weren’t looking for the most capable motorcycle; we were looking for the best time machine. And the Honda falls short in this area. Except for the design and sounds, the Honda H’ness CB350 rides like a totally modern motorcycle. It’s difficult to tell that it’s a retro bike if you ride it blindly (which we don’t recommend) or with earplugs (which we do recommend). Instead of a game of top trumps on paper, Royal Enfield Classic 350 has designed a motorcycle that excels in emotive invocation in the real world.
For more such bike-related blogs and news, stay tuned with AutoJankari.
