Engine Comparo: Royal Enfield 650cc Twin vs Kawasaki Ninja 650 vs Harley-Davidson Street 750

This is momentous! After almost half a century, Royal Enfield is finally ready to offer a multi-cylinder engine. Much like the engine on the Interceptor, the last multi-cylinder motorcycle from Royal Enfield, the new engine is also a parallel twin. We got a chance to take a look at the new engine at its unveil prior to EICMA 2017. Let’s take a look the engine’s DNA and how it fares against some its fiercest rivals. 

Engine Architecture - Compared to the V-Twin unit seen on the Harley-Davidson Street 750, the upcoming Royal Enfield flagship and the Kawasaki Ninja 650 pack a parallel-twin engine. The simple construction of a parallel-twin engine should help the Chennai-based manufacturer keep costs under check.

Royal Enfield has employed a 270-degree crank for the new motor. This should give the upcoming flagship motorcycle that is set to be unveiled at the 2017 EICMA the distinctive exhaust note of a V-Twin motorcycle. The parallel-twin configuration also helps the bike produce more torque at a lower rpm.

Bore and stroke numbers might seem like a side note to some, but these indicate the nature of the engine. 

Get latest updates on
the automobile community

Login Now

Royal Enfield 650cc Twin     -   78mm x 67.8mm.  

Kawasaki Ninja 650              -  83mm x 60mm.  

Harley-Davidson Street 750 -   85mm x 66mm. 

The Royal Enfield engine has the longest stroke and the smallest bore. This simply means that the new engine won’t be a screamer! However, this should help the RE 650 produce more torque in an easy going manner.

Cooling - In terms of cooling, the new RE motorcycle uses air- and oil-cooling. The Kawasaki Ninja 650 and the Harley-Davidson Street 750, on the other hand, feature liquid-cooled engines. So, don’t expect the Royal Enfield motor to be a high revving, high performance engine. On the flip side, this should make the engine relatively lighter and less expensive to produce.  

Compression ratio - 9.5:1. Yep, that’s pretty easy going! Notice a recurring theme here? The new RE engine is tuned for a more relaxed and easy going ride. For reference, the Kawasaki Ninja 650 and the Harley-Davidson Street 750 have a compression ratio of 10:8:1 and 10:5:1, respectively. These numbers suggest the kind of punch you can expect from every power stroke. Yes, the RE isn’t going to be the punchiest of the lot. 

Performance - Right, the numbers! The (still unnamed) Royal Enfield 648cc parallel-twin motor produces 47.6PS of power and 53Nm of torque. This engine will be mated to 6-speed gearbox, a first in the company's portfolio. The Kawasaki Ninja's 649cc, parallel-twin engine, which is mated to a 6-speed gearbox, produces 68PS of power and 65.7Nm of torque at 6500rpm. The Harley-Davidson Street 750 employs a 749cc, V-Twin engine mated to a 6-speed gearbox and produces 59Nm of torque at just 3750rpm.

Pricing - The Kawasaki Ninja 650 is priced at Rs 5.69 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), making it the most expensive of the lot. On the other hand, the Harley-Davidson Street 750 is priced at Rs 5.14 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Royal Enfield is known for their aggressive pricing.  Hence, we can expect their new 650cc parallel-twin motorcycle to be priced in the range of Rs 3 lakh - Rs 3.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Spec’s speak?

Yes, Royal Enfield’s twin-cylinder engine seems to be the dullest of the three featured here. However, when you consider the fact that the engine isn’t focused towards outright performance and is instead built to offer easy rideability and a more relaxed performance, the new Royal Enfield motorcycle seems to be exactly what the manufacturer needs to cement its position in the middleweight segment. When you couple this with the estimated price, it won’t be so far-fetched to say that RE will have quite a hit on its hands. 

If you want to follow the action as it happens in Millan check out our 2017 EICMA: The Ultimate Roundup