Welcome to PowerDrift!
Today we have the brand new Honda...
...Highness CB350 and the Royal Enfield Meteor 350.
Yes, I am still struggling with the Highness name.
But, in this video, we'll tell you what's good,
what's terrible,
what shakes loose,
what will rock your world,
and what Varun Painter is up to.
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Mr. Editor!
What are we doing?
The PDArmy is asking for a CB versus Meteor comparo.
Where is the Highness?
Please make some calls, please?
Bro, the people doesn't give orders to the king!
When the Highness needs to arrive, it'll arrive!
Then we'll do the story.
In any case,
it's not like there's signal here.
I am getting a call! What no signal and all. Wait, hold on, sorry!
Hello!
Yeah, Varun speaking.
You are calling from Royal Brothers?
Okay...
CB350?
You're sending it here?
Okay! Perfect, thanks!
Highness is happening!
I did what you couldn't!
Uh..thank you!
But if the Highness is coming,
should we continue to talk, or should we go ride the bikes?
Definitely ride!
Let's go! Come on then.
The immense success of the Royal Enfield has put a target on its back.
Honda's first arrow,
is the CB350,
and the quiver, is coming from
its Big Wing network as a part
of the Silver Wing plan.
The CB350 is likely to be the cheapest motorcycle in that showroom.
Watch out Royal Enfield!
And Royal Enfield is prepared.
They are promising at least one new variant
every quarter for next 7 years.
The crucial J series engine has debuted on the Meteor
and it soon it will be on other motorcycles too.
In fact,
the engines are the most crucial part of this comparison test.
Honda engines are refined,
it is no secret.
There is a little vibration
that you will feel as you reach
that indicated speed of 130kmph.
But I can assure you,
that it is no problem at all.
Along with this engine,
is a sound that Honda has tried to mimic
the Classic 350.
I like it! I love it when it's at lower revs.
I do not like it as much when it is in the 3-digit number.
Now, that's a personal preference.
I am really surprised to say that the
CB350 has a weak bottom-end,
but it does come to life
when you are in the mid-range,
and as we inch towards that top speed number.
When you pair it with the taller gearing
that the Highness has to offer,
you will have to do frequent gear changes
when you are riding it in the city,
or if you stay in an area where there's a lot of hill climb.
Now this gearing issue can be solved
through a sprocket change
but that is something that we'll have to decide once we get that on.
So what the Highness does not excel at,
the Meteor does it very well.
Yes, and in fact, if you think of the Highness as David Hasselhoff,
all top end,
the Meteor
is Gerard Butler.
The engine's spread of power is designed for bottom and mid
and honestly, the redline arrives before anything you call a top-end.
It is exactly how I put it the last time.
And from that perspective
it's just easier to the ride the Meteor
in almost every situation.
In the cities, stick it in second and third
and forget about the gearbox entirely
as you just open and close the throttle, and it works.
Out on the highway, fourth and fifth, you are doing easy speeds.
The difference is
The CB shows 130 (kmph) on the meters
which
the Meteor shows as 122 (kmph)
but they are more or less the same speeds.
So there's no real difference in performance
but it's just easier to ride the Meteor by miles.
That brings us to the question of refinement.
and they are about the same.
The CB is a little bit better
but the Meteor is smooth and refined.
It can sound busy but that's about it.
So, if you think about it,
in acceleration terms, the Meteor is ahead,
in refinement terms, it's close enough
and that means
I would actually rate the Meteor's engine as being better
than the CB's engine for what these motorcycles do.
Surprised?
We are!
The Meteor is very fuel-efficient
and it looks like Honda's tuned for that too.
Both engines are relaxed in feel,
offering a generous spread of torque.
The difference is how the spread is laid out.
Both bikes, it must be said, could have had more punch though.
They are nice, but given how big our highways are now,
both could have had little more performance.
But when you add the engines to the frames,
and look at how the bikes ride,
the differences become larger.
They are simple frames with basic suspension
but the CB is an upright naked
while the Meteor is a cruiser with more weight on the rear wheel.
Neither aims to be a cornering god, and just like the engines
The intention is to offer a stable, confident, easy-handling dynamics package.
When I first looked at the CB350 in pictures, it looked small
but when I saw it personally,
it's actually a big motorcycle.
It looks as if it's got a long wheelbase.
But in spite of all of this,
it turns really well.
So our longness is doing well around the corners.
The longness is definitely happy with the corners.
You know, motorcycles that have wider handlebars,
turn in very easily, because if you just push in and it just tips in.
This, in spite of having a smaller handlebar,
is a...
...let me just say it, a corner friendly motorcycle.
And I think a large contributing factor
to the way the CB350 handles
is going to be the weight.
I am not surprised because Honda's generally carry their weight really well
but I am surprised the Meteor does it really well too.
So the engine department
it has already shown that gearing overcomes
the 10kg disadvantage that the Meteor carries.
Honestly, the 10kg are not really visible
when you are going around the corners either.
So you are in the cruiser position
where your hands are high,
feet are forward,
which kinda weird for cornering
but when you start cornering you realise the grip levels are very good,
the predictability and trustworthiness of the motorcycle are very good.
Anybody who goes fast,
they are gonna run out of ground clearance
before they run out of anything else.
When it comes to the brakes,
I think the Meteor could have had
a little bit more bite from the brakes.
Because here, when I am braking,
I have to go a lot into the lever to get it to slow down.
Not how I want it.
When you do that, there's no lack of force or feedback
but I think that brake can stand to have a little bit more bite.
What I expected from the braking department of the CB
it does exactly that.
There's no drama, there's no delay, it's got good bite.
It stops where I want it to stop,
the ABS isn't intrusive.
So as an overall picture,
I think the CB definitely has better braking than the Meteor 350.
Though, only marginally.
Correct. And I think even handling, dynamics, totally
they are very close to each other in that sense.
And honestly, I am not surprised.
The Meteor is wonderful.
It's simple to ride
whether you are throwing it around
or just riding swiftly and covering miles.
For a cruiser, especially in India,
That's terrific, and reflects good engineering.
In comparison,
the CB is neutral and willing,
as Hondas usually are.
The 19-inch front wheel on the CB
is definitely a Royal Enfield influenced choice,
but I can't help but imagine,
that a pair of 17s would have created a more lively motorcycle.
But when you leave the city and up the pace,
Things don't quite go to plan.
When you are on fast roads like this
honestly, I was expecting
the CB to have a bigger advantage
than it is showing because
at least it's got a top-end, right?
The Meteor is like bottom, mid, redline.
But when you combine tall gearing and a tall fifth,
it does give you the advantage of a large cruising range.
So, from 80 to something like the 110 (kmph),
the CB is very comfortable to do on the highway.
But at these speeds, you can't really overtake anything anymore
because there's no acceleration left for the motorcycle to give you.
So, anything you need to pass, you are gonna have to make at least two gear changes.
And I am surprised,
because I was expecting more from the CB, you know.
In that case, the cruising speed on the Meteor is pretty similar to the CB 350,
which is about 90, 95, 100 (kmph).
But when it comes to overtaking,
you don't need to really shift gears as much as the CB.
At max,
the worst-case scenario,
you have to just shift down one gear,
get on the gas,
overtake, slot in the higher gear, and just continue riding.
That's the cruising bit.
But I think ergonomically as well,
the Meteor 350 it's not as comfortable as the CB350.
Seat-wise and position-wise because naturally it's a cruiser,
so you have a laid back style.
RE's got an aftermarket touring seat in their catalogue which might help things.
or improve things a little bit.
But look at the pillion seat, it's short, it's squeezed in.
And I don't think the pillion's gonna have a good time
as much as the rider's gonna have.
That's true, and even if we look at it in terms of format,
this is a naked motorcycle, that's a cruiser. a
And a naked motorcycle is more versatile by design,
So, I mean if I had a bad road, I could stand up and absorb it.
I could move forward or backward in the seat; move around.
But a cruiser sort of fits you into a position.
And in the United States that would be okay because
those roads are smooth and you just sort of sit back and let the bike absorb all of that.
But I think, in India this the motorcycle would work more for you
But, once again,
I come to the conclusion that the Meteor's engine actually has more to give to you,
than the CB350's engine and
that's a surprise.
The surprises don't stop.
They continue.
I don't know what Shumi is trying to convince you with
but the CB definitely has a better ride quality.
Honda motorcycle generally feel stiff, and so does the CB.
But when you hit the big bumps, you start to realise
just how good the setup is.
Varun's defintely having a better time once the roads go bad.
You see, the weakest link for the Meteor is definitely its ride quality,
and that's true for most cruisers in general.
They can't offer superb ride quality without significantly sophisticated suspension.
In fact, I might even say that Royal Enfield did a good job
within the constraints of the format.
Tradeoffs are visible in how both bikes are feature-spec'd too.
Honda adds traction control, for example,
while Royal Enfield has bluetooth navigation with its own screen.
And Honda's traction control system is pretty basic,
with heavy-handed, almost on-off interventions,
not unexpected at this price.
But do you really need it for this level of performance?
Well, tell us in the comments.
And Honda's bluetooth system is sort of incomplete.
It's only the top model and it doesn't work at all unless you have a helmet headset.
Royal Enfield tripper also works well if you have a headset, but it works
as soon as you buy the Meteor.
The visual cues on the little screen work after you get used to them,
the connection is fast and easy.
The app? Well, it does need some work
but this is a superb version,
one by all counts.
Three variants for the Meteor 350,
pricing starts at Rs 1.75 lakh, goes up to Rs 1.90 lakh (ex-showroom).
Two variants for the Honda Highness CB350,
pricing starts at Rs 1.85 lakh, goes up to Rs 1.90 lakh (ex-showroom)
I got that correct!
Don't worry too much about the variants,
because it's all cosmetic for the Meteor 350,
but when you pay that extra sum
for the deluxe variant of the CB350,
you get dual-tone paint, you're getting bluetooth navigation,
which is only audio, and you require a headset.
So you will have to buy one separately.
And the top version of the Highness is extra horny.
Well put!
As far as availability goes,
the Meteor is available from the existing Royal Enfield showrooms,
but Honda decided to take a different approach and said,
Hey, you know what? We're gonna sell them from the Big Wing showroom.
Which, on paper, aren't a lot in the country.
So if you stay in a city which is far away from a Big Wing showroom,
it's gonna be a lot of travel - test riding it, buying it, getting it serviced and maintained.
We like the CB350,
but,
you should only buy it only if you have a strong affection towards the brand,
or if you wanna go that extra mile to have this baby in your garage.
Or...
if you are lucky enough to be living in a city where there is a Big Wing now,
but Honda has promised 50 by 2021 March.
By then, there's one in your city.
So Big Wing, but small wingspan is where it's at right now.
Now, when it comes to these two motorcycles,
we definitely prefer the CB and surprisingly it's not because it's a Honda.
It's only because this is a naked motorcycle, a more versatile platform
than Meteor which is a cruiser.
So think about that.
When this engine moves into the Classic 350,
we have to assume that it's going to make the same kind of leap
that is there between the Thunderbird and the Meteor.
When the Classic 350 makes that jump,
the reasons to buy the CB will become even weaker than they are now.
The Meteor, as a cruiser, is already running this motorcycle close.
So, I think Honda missed an opportunity.
They had the chance to build the world's greatest
ever 350cc classic roadster. Heaven!
Yeah, it will be a motorcycle with, I don't know,
5bhp more, 10Nm more, a few more features and something like that
and you'd blown away by that motorcycle.
But what we got instead is the world's best Classic 350
which currently is manufactured by Honda.
Something that Royal Enfield might fix in as little as six months or so.
Now it is a very strange situation to be in.
So what Honda really wanted
was to take this motorcycle and make it the king of this segment.
But what I think they have got on their hands
is just a prince!
Here's a contest question for this week's Big Bad Bikes giveaway.
If the Meteor 350 has three variants,
how many variants does the Highness CB350 have?
All you have to do is follow, 3 simple rules.
Follow us on Instagram - @powerdrift
You have to be a subscriber of the channel on YouTube
And you have to get the correct answer.
Drop the answer in the comments section below,
and 5 of you get a chance to win Polisports supermoto fender,
from, like we said, Big Bad Bikes.
Cheers, and good luck.