Honda Rebel 500 Vs Royal Enfield Classic 500 Comparison

The RE Classic 500 offers traditional-style ergonomics. Regardless of being a true classic, you should not expect the rider triangle to be extremely spacious for motorcycle touring. However, it is decent enough to be ridden in a relaxed manner. The seat on this motorcycle is 31 inches tall which is considered tall in the cruiser category. The legroom available on this bike is also not very commodious but the foot controls are forward enough for riders to not get their legs curled tightly while riding.

The old-school solo seat on the Royal Enfield Classic 500 is supported on springs to make it feel less stiff on bumpy and less maintained roads. The handlebars installed on the Royal Enfield Classic 500 are also comparatively flat and only bend a little, considering it's a cruiser, making riders sit in an upright back posture. However, if you are a shorter rider, you may have to stretch your arms a little and lean a bit forward to grab the bars to avoid riding with a slouched back.

The ergonomics offered by the Honda Rebel 500 are competitively comfortable for relaxed urban commuting and light cruising. Regardless of its sports-inspired cruiser build, the rider triangle is decently spacious so riders do not feel cramped on this motorbike. The foot controls are mid-mounted but thanks to the seat position, the legroom still allows you to contentedly adjust your legs.

The taller front end allows a moderately high arm position, making riders sit with an upright back. If you are a shorter rider with short arm reach, you will have to sit slightly forward to make sure you confidently grab the bars with a slight bend in your elbows.

The handling on the Royal Enfield Classic 500 feels pretty perfect if you are riding this bike within its limits. It does not resist turning corners at a good speed. For riding on countryside roads and canyon carving, you will have no complaints about how well the RE Classic 500 handles and maneuvers.

If you have any complaints regarding the handling and ride quality of the Honda Rebel 500, you must at least once take a ride on this bike. It is one of the most perfect motorbike in terms of handling and maneuverability. What makes the Rebel 500 a highly nimble and flickable motorcycle is its low weight, slim profile, and low seat height. All these characteristics make it extremely smooth around corners. You will be impressed to see how quickly the Rebel 500 can change directions, providing riders with supreme control.

The Rebel 500 feels lighter than it is thanks to its low seat height and low center of gravity. Even if you are a beginner, you can take turns with this machine confidently without being fearful about dropping this bike as it loves staying planted and stable.

The suspension setup on the Royal Enfield Classic 500 is extremely basic like most of the other components on this bike. There is a 35 mm telescopic front fork with 5.12 inches wheel travel and traditional twin gas-charged shocks with 3.15 inches wheel travel, offering little to no support when the rider experiences a bump or pothole. The ride is only better on smooth and paved roads and as soon as you hit a rough area, it will cause you and the whole machinery to bounce, and even the springs below the seat will not be able to help you.

The suspension equipment installed on the Honda Rebel 500 is also quite basic but it performs somehow better than the Royal Enfield Classic 500. It carries a 41 mm front fork with no adjustability and 5.5 inches of wheel travel. Whereas, there are dual exterior rear shocks with 3.7 inches of wheel travel.

Though there is nothing exceptional about the Rebel 500’s suspension setup, it still justifies the price tag and performs considerably better. The ride quality is adequately plush on paved roads and it also makes riding on the bumps sufficiently smooth.

The clutch feels as outdated and old-school as the Royal Enfield Classic 500 looks. It gives you the feeling that you are riding an old machine. Meanwhile, the gear shifting doesn’t seem to be stiff and difficult. You can easily shift between gears without messing up with cogs in the gearbox. However, being a low-powered and slow motorcycle with a five-speed gearbox, it can be hard sometimes to find the right gear that matches the speed. Also, there is no gear indicator so you must keep a count in your mind.

One of the most admirable features of the Honda Rebel 500 which makes it one of the easiest-to-ride affordable motorcycles is its slipper & assist clutch, ensuring a butter-smooth gear shifting and clutch pull action. The clutch feels extremely soft to pull and can be engaged with even a single finger. The smooth gear shifting and clutch operations make it ideal for beginners.

The Royal Enfield Classic 500 can be your stylish ride partner for urban commutes and daily use only if you are not expecting anything plusher, comfortable, and practical. It is a slow and underpowered motorcycle and if you can tolerate the wobbles and vibrations traveling throughout your body, you can take it on highways.

Considering the rattling it offers at high speeds, the Royal Enfield Classic 500 is not engineered well for cruising at all. The vibrations become speed wobbles when you are riding this bike at above 80 mph. It can turn into a nightmare if you take this old-school machine to a highway. You will not be able to ride this motorcycle for more than 15 minutes.

Compared with the Royal Enfield Classic 500, the Honda Rebel 500 is a way better option for all types of riding, including urban commuting, daily use, and highway cruising. The Rebel platform is well-known for being the best urban commuter. The Rebel 500 is big and powerful enough to comfortably cruise on highways without the engine becoming asthmatic.

The straightforwardness and base-level performance of the Royal Enfield Classic 500 may be a down point for most young riders. However, the only best thing that comes with its extremely uncomplicated build is its superior fuel economy of above 85 mpg thanks to the Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI), one of the very few modern equipment installed on this bike. The 3.5 gal fuel tank capacity of the Royal Enfield Classic 500 is bigger than the Rebel 500.

The Royal Enfield Classic 500 is simple enough not to have a fuel level bar or indicator. It only features a fuel warning light indicator which sometimes gives a false indication by turning on when you accelerate rapidly, lean to turn a corner, or apply sudden brakes as the fuel splashes vigorously inside the gas tank.

In the modern bike category with sporty design and unique characteristics, the Honda Rebel 500 offers one of the best fuel mileage in the 500 cc category. For a motorcycle with great performance capabilities, quick throttle response, and unmatched agility, a claimed fuel economy of 67 mpg is more than enough thanks to the programmed fuel injection (PGM-FI). Though it is not as superior as the fuel mileage provided by the Royal Enfield Classic 500, it is still very substantial considering the compromises in almost every other performance department made in the RE Classic 500.

The instrument panel on the Royal Enfield Classic 500 is one of the simplest pieces of equipment you can find on a motorcycle. The panel is installed right on top of the triple clamp where it meets the headlamp binnacle. The main round dial displays an analog speedometer and odometer, and that is it. The other small dial on the right has light indicators, including a low fuel level warning light, an engine warning, and an ABS light.

The speedometer is only accurate while riding at low speeds. As you continue to open the throttle, the needle starts shaking excessively, indicating the wrong speed on the meter.

If there is one thing that you may dislike about the Honda Rebel 500 is its small instrument panel size which makes it difficult to read the information sometimes, especially when riding under the sun. The company has utilized only around 60% of the space on the round dial gauge for display. The digital display is also quite basic, displaying only the speedometer, gear position indicator, clock, trip meter, and fuel level indicator. There is no tachometer installed on the Rebel 500 which is considered as one of the disadvantages.

The juxtaposition of the Honda Rebel 500 and the Royal Enfield Classic 500 somehow seems a little less practical as both motorbikes belong to two different worlds. The intent behind manufacturing these motorcycles completely differs and so is the targeted market. The Rebel 500 is a modern-day bike with trendy styling components and contemporary performance. It would be true to say that the Rebel 500 is one of the finest motorcycles produced in recent times in terms of uncomplicated build, user-friendliness, practical performance, dependability, and being economical.

On the contrary, the Royal Enfield Classic 500 is an outdated motorbike manufactured in the 21st century with looks that resemble the post-war era. It doesn’t only look like a motorcycle from the 1940s, it also performs like one with only a bare minimum of safety equipment. The Royal Enfield Classic 500 is not devised to make riders feel the most comfortable and offer them the best riding experience on highways. It is to make you travel through time, back in the 1950s when vibrations produced by the motorcycle engine were directly felt at the handlebars, traveling through your arms to your backbone, to the point where your teeth start to rattle. The Royal Enfield Classic 500 is not the type of motorcycle a rider will be keen to buy, especially if he is a practical buyer and prefers a realistic and modern performance. It is a type of motorcycle a true motorcyclist would love to have in his garage as a part of his unique bike collection.

Another in-demand quality both these motorbikes possess is their ability to be styled and modified as per the users’ preferences. At Viking Bags, we provide easy and low-cost solutions to not only improve the motorcycle’s aesthetics but also the luggage-carrying capability and your riding style.

We have the most desirable motorcycle luggage product at our online store, called the saddlebags, specially made to fit on your Rebel 500. To ensure a more relaxing riding experience, Viking Bags also make tailor-made sissy bars for your Rebel 500 and Rebel 500 ABS. For your passenger to restfully enjoy long rides, you will also find backrests, specially made for Honda motorcycles.

There are dozens of other cruiser luggage bag products offered by Viking Bags to carry useful stuff on motorcycle trips, these include seat luggage bags, tail bags, tour bags, backpacks, tank bags & pouches, and sissy bar bags.