Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 vs Super Meteor 650: Image Comparison

How different is the new Shotgun 650 from the Super Meteor 650

Update: The Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 has been launched in India. You can read all about it in our launch story here. 

Royal Enfield has unveiled the production version of Shotgun 650. Since the new bobber is based on the same platform as the Super Meteor 650, let's take a look at the two offerings through this detailed image comparison. 

Design

When talking about design, there are a few differences between both motorcycles even though they’re built on the Super Meteor 650 platform and share the same frame.

The first thing that stands out is the headlight and front section. The Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 gets a headlight cowl with indicators placed ahead of the fork. The Super Meteor 650 on the other hand comes with a simple round headlight unit with a brushed metal finish on the bezel and the indicators are placed on the forks and the bike overall has a retro look. 

The next difference in design is that the footpeg placement on both bikes are different. The Super Meteor 650 being a cruiser gets forward set footpegs complimented by easy-to-reach handlebars. The Shotgun 650 comes with mid-set footpegs and a relatively flat handlebar when compared to the Super Meteor 650. Customers also have the option to get the flat handlebar that was featured on the custom Shotgun 650 ‘Motoverse Edition’.

Coming to the fuel tank, the Super Meteor comes with a teardrop shaped tank while the Shotgun 650’s tank is a different design, a sleeker one. The seating setup on both motorcycles is very different with the Shotgun 650 coming with a single seat gives the bike its iconic bobber character, but customers also have the option to mount an additional pillion seat or a luggage rack. The Super Meteor 650 comes with a split seat setup in the lower-end variants with customers having the option to swap out the pillion seat with a luggage rack. The higher end Celestial variants come with a single piece contour seat. 

Lastly, the rear section on both motorcycles are quite different. The Shotgun 650 comes with blacked-out twin peashooter exhausts with matte finish, while the Super Meteor 650 comes with twin barrel exhaust with chrome finish complementing its retro appeal.  

Engine

Both motorcycles are powered by the same 648cc air-/oil-cooled parallel twin engine as the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650. The engine produces 47PS at 7250rpm and 52.3Nm at 5650rpm. The only difference is the design on the crankcase, the Super Meteor gets a matt black finish with a stylised ‘RE’ logo while the Shotgun 650 gets a ‘Royal Enfield’ logo with a glossy finish.

Underpinnings

Both bikes are built on the same frame so the underpinnings are quite similar. The suspension setup is based on a 43mm Showa inverted fork and twin rear shock absorbers. Braking duties are handled by 320mm front and 300mm rear discs.

The Shotgun 650 comes with a seat height of 795mm which is 55mm more than the Super Meteor 650. The ground clearance of the Shotgun 650 is 140mm which is greater than the Super Meteor by 5mm. 

The wheels on the Shotgun 650 are 18-inch and 17-inch alloys at the front and rear with a different design, while the Super Meteor 650 comes with a 19-inch alloy at front and a 16-inch alloy at the rear.

Instrumentation

The Shotgun 650 comes with the same semi-digital instrument cluster as the Super Meteor 650, with the Royal Enfield Tripper navigation module with turn-by-turn navigation. Both bikes also get Royal Enfield’s recently launched ‘Wingman’ feature.

Verdict 

Overall, the differences are mostly confined to the design and both bikes are meant to cater to different groups of riders. The Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 is a bobber that will find its place with riders looking for solo fun. The Super Meteor 650, on the other hand, is for those who want to munch miles on the highway along with a pillion and luggage.

We expect the Shotgun 650 to come at a price tag of Rs 3.5 lakh (ex-showroom) with the official launch expected to take place in January 2024. The Super Meteor is offered in 3 variants. The base Astral variant comes at a price Rs 3,60,899 and the mid spec interstellar variant is priced at Rs 3,76,124. The high-end Celestial Variant is the most expensive and comes at a price of 3,91,346. All prices ex-showroom Delhi.