Royal Enfield 350 vs Honda H’ness CB350 vs Jawa Classic Vs Benelli Imperiale 400: Specs compared

We all know the kind of cult following the Royal Enfield 350 carries. With its legendary thump and iconic design, the motorcycle has been loved by everyone despite its age. With many modern and contemporary bikes entering the segment, a major change was long overdue. It may look quite similar to the previous generation iteration, but the new Royal Enfield 350 is a completely new bike from the ground up. Has Royal Enfield done enough for it to fight against other 350cc bikes? Let’s find out.

Price

The Royal Enfield range starts at ₹1.84 lakhs for the single-channel ABS-equipped Redditch variant. The top-end chrome variant retails at ₹2.15 lakhs. Other variants include Halcyon, Signals, and Dark which are positioned between the base and top-end variants. The Honda H’ness CB350 starts at ₹1.86 lakhs for the DLX variant with dual-channel ABS and goes on to ₹1.92 lakhs for the DLX Pro variant. The Jawa Classic starts at ₹1.78 lakhs for the single disc variant and ₹1.87 lakhs for the top end dual disc variant. Lastly, the Benelli Imperiale 400 starts at ₹1.89 lakhs for the silver variant with dual-channel ABS and ₹1.93 lakhs for the black variant.

 

	Royal Enfield 350 classic	Honda H’ness CB350	Jawa Classic	Benelli Imperiale 400
Base	₹1.84 lakhs	₹1.86 lakhs	₹1.78 lakhs	₹1.89 lakhs
Top	₹2.15 lakhs	₹1.92 lakhs	₹1.87 lakhs	₹1.93 lakhs

 

Performance and handling

The Royal Enfield gets a 349cc, air-cooled, single-cylinder engine with a SOHC design. This engine makes 20.2 hp power and 27 Nm torque mated to a 5-speed gearbox. The Honda H’ness CB350 is powered by a 348.36 cc air-cooled engine which produces 21.07 PS of power and 30 Nm of torque mated to a 5-speed gearbox. It gets The Jawa is powered by a 293 cc air-cooled engine which produces 27.33 PS of power and 27.02 Nm of torque mated to a 6-speed gearbox. The Benelli Imperiale 400 is powered by a 374 cc air-cooled engine which produces 21PS of power and 29 Nm of torque mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox.

 

	Royal Enfield 350 classic	Honda H’ness CB350	Jawa Classic	Benelli Imperiale 400
Engine	349cc, air-cooled, single-cylinder engine with a SOHC design	348cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled, counterbalanced engine	293cc, Single Cylinder, 4 Stroke, Liquid Cooled, DOHC	Single-cylinder, Air-cooled, 4-valves/cylinder, SOHC
Power	20.2 PS	21.07 PS	27.33 PS	21 PS
Torque	27 NM	30 NM	27.02 NM	29 NM
Transmission	5-speed	5-speed	6-speed	5-speed

 

Dimensions

Royal Enfield has heavily reworked the underpinnings of the Classic 350 as it now utilizes a double-downtube frame as opposed to the basic single-cradle frame found on its previous iteration. Suspension duties are handled by a fatter 41mm telescopic fork. Ground clearance on the 2021 Classic 350 has increased by 35mm, to a fairly substantial 170mm. The braking department is taken care of by a 300mm front disc and a 270mm rotor at the rear with dual-channel ABS. It gets a 13-liter fuel tank. It weighs in at 195kg and its wheelbase is 1390mm long. The seat height is 805mm and the ground clearance is 170mm.

The Honda H’ness CB350 comes with telescopic front suspension and twin shocks at the rear. The braking duties are performed by a 310mm disc with a 2-piston calliper at the front and a 240mm disc with a 1-piston calliper at the rear. While the front tire measures 100/90 – 19 and the rear tire measures 130/70 – 18. On the dimension front, the Honda H’ness CB350 has a 1,441mm long wheelbase and gets a 166mm ground clearance along with an 800mm seat height. The bike weighs 181kgs and comes with a 15-liter fuel tank.

The Jawa Classic gets Telescopic Hydraulic Fork at the front and a Gas Canister – Twin shock hydraulic at the rear end. Speaking about the dimensions, the motorcycle is 789 mm wide, 1165 mm tall, and comes with a 1369 mm long wheelbase. The bike comes with a 280mm front and 183mm rear Disc with a floating calliper and ABS, to perform braking duties. The Jawa Classic gets a 90/90 – 18 tubeless tire at the front and a 120/80 – 17 tubeless tire at the rear. Its fuel tank capacity is 14 liter and its weight is 172kg.

The new Benelli Imperiale 400 sits on a double-cradle frame. Suspension duties are performed by 41mm telescopic forks at the front and preload-adjustable shocks at the rear. The front gets a 19-inch wheel with a single 300mm disc, while the rear has an 18-inch wheel with a single 240mm disc. Dimensions wise, the bike measures at a length of 2,170 mm and height without mirrors at 1,120 mm. Rider seat height is pegged at 780mm, and width at 820 mm excluding mirrors and the wheelbase spans 1,440 mm. Ground clearance is ample at 165 mm. It weighs 205kg and its fuel tank capacity is 12 liters.

 

Features

The 2021 Royal Enfield 350 gets an updated instrument cluster which now comes equipped with an LCD with a fuel gauge. It also gets two trip meters and the top-of-the-line Chrome series also gains a Tripper navigation pod. The switchgear too is borrowed from the Meteor 350. It also gets dual-channel ABS.

The Honda H’ness CB350  comes with several segment-first features like- digital-analogue instrument cluster which integrates the bike’s other features like HSTC, ABS, side stand indicator with engine inhibitor, ECO indicator, mileage features, HSVCS (smartphone connectivity), gear position indicator, and battery voltage meter. The bike also displays the fuel efficiency details in three different modes – real-time mileage, average mileage, and distance to empty. Apart from this, the motorcycle gets a full LED setup and dual-channel ABS.

The Jawa Classic does get a lot of standard features, which include- Speedometer, Tachometer, Gear Indicator, Fuel Warning Indicator, Fuel Gauge, Low Oil Indicator, Low Battery Indicator, Pillion Seat, Pillion Grabrail, Engine Kill Switch, Clock, Tripmeter Type Digital, Tripmeter Count, a Pass Light, and single-channel ABS.

The Benelli Imperiale 400 gets a retro-design semi-digital console with analogue pods for speedometer and tachometer and a small digital display for other vital readouts. Braking is handled by disc brakes at both ends assisted by dual-channel ABS.