Compared in 10 Pics - Harley-Davidson X 500 vs Royal Enfield Interceptor 650

How well does Royal Enfield’s twin compare with the newest small-capacity Harley?

Harley-Davidson has just unveiled the X 500, the larger of its China-made offerings. And keeping aside its rebadged sibling on sale in India – the Benelli Leoncino 500 – the nearest alternative for it would be the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650. So how do they compare? Let’s find out 

Design

H-D and Royal Enfield are both heritage brands, which reflects in both bikes’ designs, with the round headlights, high-set handlebars, lightly stepped seats, and upright riding stance. That said, while the Interceptor gets both spoke and alloy wheel-equipped variants, the Harley only gets alloys.

Underpinnings and hardware

The Interceptor carries on its old-world charm here as well, with a steel cradle frame, conventional forks and preload-adjustable twin shocks. The Harley-Davidson X 500, meanwhile, has a tubular steel chassis, with a rebound-adjustable USD fork, and a preload- and rebound-adjustable monoshock. 

Engine

Both feature a parallel-twin engine of different displacement: 500cc on the Harley , 648cc on the RE. Moreover, the Harley’s motor is liquid-cooled. That said, both make almost identical power outputs: 47.5PS on the Harley, 47.4PS on the RE. But while the RE’s torque figure stands at 52Nm, the Harley makes a comparatively lower 46Nm.

Features

Both sport an analogue cluster with a digital inset, though the layout differs: the Harley has a single-pod unit, while the RE has a twin-pod unit. Both offer the usual complement of a tripmeter, odometer and time, neither of them offer smartphone connectivity. Moreover, the RE’s unit also offers a fuel gauge, which the Harley doesn’t seem to offer.

Price and availability

The Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 is currently on sale, retailing for between Rs 3.03 lakh and Rs 3.31 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The Harley-Davidson X 500, meanwhile, won’t be coming to India anytime soon.

Ultimately, though, instead of the Harley-Davidson X 500, you could go for (as mentioned) the Benelli Leoncino 500, which is essentially the same motorcycle, albeit with a slightly different design and a revised cluster. Alternatively, true-blue Indian Harley-Davidson fans could wait for just a bit longer, for the Harley-Davidson 4XX.