Jawa 350 vs Royal Enfield Classic 350 vs Honda H’ness CB350 vs Harley-Davidson X440: Specification Comparison

Jawa Motorcycle has just launched the Jawa 350, replacing Jawa Classic in its lineup. While the latter had some niggling problems that, despite being a good bike in some areas, made it a bit difficult to outrightly recommend to someone looking for a fun, neo-retro bike.

So, has the Jawa 350, at least on paper, managed to shift the tide somewhat in its favour? Let’s take a look at how it compares to the Royal Enfield Classic 350, Honda H’ness CB350 and the Harley-Davidson X440:

Engine:

The Harley-Davidson X440, having the biggest motor by about 100cc compared to the rest of the three, has the highest power and torque output. And it produces 38Nm at 4,000rpm, which means the motor is very torquey and has great bottom-end performance. 

Among the three sub-350cc bikes, the Jawa 350 produces the most power output and redlines at 7,000rpm which should mean it’ll be more rev happy than the others. The Royal Enfield Classic 350 and the Honda H’ness CB350 produce their highest torque output at 4,000rpm and 3,000rpm respectively, which means they’ll be fun to ride in the city because of the bottom-end grunt. That said, it’s not really the case with the H’ness CB350 because of its gearing, more about which you can read in our review.

Underpinnings

The X440 receives a more sophisticated suspension setup in the form of an inverted fork, which should enable it to absorb bumps and potholes very well. And it gets the biggest front disc brake which should translate to greater stopping power. Since some details like wheel travel are not available for all the bikes, we'll not consider those metrics for this comparison.

The 300mm front disc brake and 270mm rear disc brake setup on the Classic 350 should provide a more balanced braking performance than the CB350 because of the smaller difference in disc sizes in the former.

Even though the Jawa 350 gets the smallest front disc among all the bikes, its 280mm front disc brake and 240mm rear disc brake should also provide a well-balanced braking performance, like the Classic 350.  

Dimensions

In terms of dimensions, the Jawa 350 gets the longest wheelbase, which should help in giving it great stability on straight roads. Also, it gets the highest ground clearance (which is always great for our Indian roads), most accessible seat height (meaning riders of all heights can enjoy the bike effortlessly) and is the second lightest among all the bikes, which should result in good manoeuvrability. 

On paper, the Honda H’ness CB350 has the second-best dimensions although you might have to ride a bit carefully around bumps and potholes as it has the lowest ground clearance. Its 15-litre fuel tank capacity, the biggest among all the bikes, means you’d have to stop for fuel the least amount of times during those long highway runs.

Features

Price & Verdict

(all prices ex-showroom)

Disclaimer: Since the rest of the bikes only get dual-channel ABS, we are not considering the prices of the Royal Enfield Classic 350’s single-channel ABS variant.

So, in this comparison of these sub-450cc neo-retro bikes, the Harley-Davidson X440 does come out on top but with some caveats. First, the bigger motor, sophisticated hardware and a more extensive feature has resulted in the most expensive price tag among these bikes. Second, the full-fledged smartphone connectivity that seems to give it a nod pushes the price tag to Rs 2,79,500 (ex-showroom) which is way more than where the other bikes top out. But that is expected because of the Harley-Davidson badge.

The Honda H’ness CB350 has the cheapest price tag and its top-end model, the Legacy Edition, only costs about Rs 2,000 more than the Jawa 350. On paper, it is a good deal if you are in the market for a neo-retro bike with a good bottom-end grunt, is easy to handle and not that heavy and gets a decent list of features. But it has lost out to the Classic 350 in terms of the spec sheet translating into the ride quality for some people over the years. So, we recommend taking a long test ride to check if it suits you.

Speaking of the Classic 350, it has never made sense on the spec sheet and its real beauty lies in riding the bike on the open roads at a pace that suits you. With the J-series engine, the old retro charm has been retained while taking care of most of the vibrations of the previous-gen bike. This means, you can never go wrong with the Classic 350 if you are looking for a retro motorcycle that you’ll use for long rides on the highway.

And now coming to the newly launched Jawa 350, the manufacturer has given it a bigger motor and dual disc brakes with dual-channel ABS. And combined with the light kerb weight and overall great dimensions, it should finally be able to provide a good fight to its competitors. Even though it is not as feature-rich as the other bikes in this comparison, as a retro motorcycle it seems to have gotten the necessary things quite right. And the affordable price tag certainly makes it an attractive option to consider.