Harley-Davidson Street 750 [2018-2019] vs Royal Enfield Shotgun 650

This is the updated Street 750 which has been launched in India under Harley-Davidson’s new marketing initiative – Dark Custom. Launched at 2014 Auto Expo, the Street 750 was the answer to everyone’s affordable premium cruiser dream. While the bike did set the sales chart on fire, it still had some niggles which has been rectified by Harley-Davidson in this model.

There is so much to say about this new Harley-Davidson Street 750 that I am confused as to what would be a perfect start to my road test. Should it talk about the Harley badge and how different the all-new Revolution X technology is in essence when compared to rest of the lineup or about its Indian origin and the cut-throat pricing? Also a bit of a warning that all these are not necessarily nice things, since to many this means it is not a proper Harley and does not fit in with rest of the gang. Then, there is the excitement about the bigger picture and the possibilities of getting more premium bikes with an affordable price tag. But all of these will have to wait – the Street 750 is quite a handful and let us begin by just concentrating just on the product. 

A little over a year ago, Royal Enfield expanded its 650cc line-up with the Super Meteor 650, which is a proper cruiser and also their most expensive bike to date. This bike has managed to cater to a set of buyers who have been wanting to go cruising but didn’t want to spend more than a million rupees. Now, it’s early 2024 and Royal Enfield has once again got us another 650cc motorcycle – the Shotgun 650 – and it is a Bobber. Now, I know you will say that it looks similar to the Super Meteor 650, and you are right

This is the Shotgun 650. Or the SG650 as it will come to be known in WhatsApp groups and social circles given our laziness towards typing out long names.