You might have picked up by now that I am a fan of Royal Enfield. I feel like I have to acknowledge that from the outset when I talk about the brand, because I speak so highly of it.
Understandably, people are very cynical about what they see and hear from moto-journalists and -influencers. So, when someone sees me publishing an article or uploading a video in which I’m effectively saying, “Yay! Woo! Royal Enfield! Rah! Rah! Rah!” I don’t blame them for thinking: “Wait, is this guy in Royal Enfield’s pocket?”
Would that such a thing were true, friends. I would happily take Royal Enfield’s money. But, for the time being, it’s simply the case that my affection is genuine. The brand offers beautiful, crafted, analog moto-goodness at attainable prices. This is why I included the Super Meteor 650 in my recent list of Five Used Cruisers Under £5,000, and the Interceptor 650 in my list of Five Used Modern Classics Under £5,000.
The first of those bikes is the one most relevant here. The Shotgun 650, first introduced in late 2023 for the 2024 model year, is effectively a bobber version of the Super Meteor 650. Or, “neo-bobber” in Royal Enfield’s words. Same engine, same frame, same components. But tweaks to suspension, wheel size, and riding position create a unique and distinct experience.
The Shotgun 650 is more nimble and, thereby, just a little bit more fun. And with its more modern styling and paint scheme it offers something that is actually pretty rare.
Based on the first sentence of this article you can probably already guess that my ultimate conclusion will be that it’s a bike that I think is worth your money. But stick with me to find out why.
Look, Fit, and Feel: The antidote to AI
“If we weren’t poor, I would have already bought one of these bikes,” I text my wife after my first ride on the Shotgun 650.
I am sitting in my garage, listening to the “tink, tink, tink” of the engine cooling after a ride in the summer sun. There’s something beautiful about that sound. It’s like the crackle of a campfire, or the chirp of crickets. It brings peace.
“You say that about a lot of bikes,” she texts back. “If we weren’t poor, we wouldn’t stay that way for long.”
Yes, but this would be one of the first bikes I would buy.
I have always loved the modern classic and cruiser genres, I like the “realness” that they offer in terms of engine feel and overall experience. I’m not so Luddite that I want to go back to drum brakes and fiddling with chokes and petcocks, but I like a machine that looks and feels like it was designed by, built by, and intended for human beings. Something that feels like an antidote to AI saturation.
The drawback to these segments, though, can be that it sometimes feels a little silly if a bike’s styling is too faithful to a bygone era. There’s a fine line between authenticity and playing dress-up. That was always in the back of my head when I owned a Bonneville T120. Excellent bike (but for its impossible-to-maintain chain and a slight propensity to rust), but when I rode it somewhere that wasn’t Bike Shed or the like I felt a bit out of place.
The Shotgun 650’s styling isn’t so modern that its look imitates an insect, but it’s present-tense enough that you don’t feel obligated to buy your gear from Lewis Leathers. At the same time, the riding experience offers the feeling of “authenticity” that one gets from a modern classic.
Build quality is on par with the very best brands. Component quality possibly less so – this is an affordable motorcycle, remember – but it’s definitely not cheap-o stuff, either. There is no switchgear stolen from Fisher-Price; levers and pedals are not made of butter. If you’ve read my interview with Sidhartha Lal and B.Govindarajan, the two men who run Royal Enfield, you’ll know that people in the company take the quality of their bikes very seriously. They basically have a chip on their shoulder about it.
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The Shotgun 650 has a wet weight of 240 kg but it’s genuinely not something you ever notice, even when you’re throwing a leg over.
The riding position is standard – a bit like sitting in a chair – with an oh-so-slight forward lean. This helps at higher speeds. There’s no windscreen to keep the weather off.
Top tip for riding this and any other naked bike: wear a leather jacket. Air moves more easily off leather than textile. The first time I rode this bike, I had thrown on my LS2 X-Master jacket and came away with a very slight ache in my back from fighting against the wind. I rode my 55 Collection Hard jacket on consecutive rides and the issue never again presented itself.
Looking forward, your view is unfettered. Just at the bottom of your sightline there is an off-center analog speedometer with an LCD readout in its middle offering information like fuel level, gear selection, time, mileage, etc. You can click through to get a tachometer, odometer, two different trip meters, and fuel range.
To the right of the speedometer is a smaller circular display for the bike’s Tripper navigation system. When the system is not being used the display serves as a clock.
Engine and Transmission
The Shotgun 650, like the six other 650 models in Royal Enfield’s line-up is driven by a 648cc oil- and air-cooled parallel twin engine promising an A-licence friendly 47 bhp (46.4 to be exact) at 7200 rpm, along with 38.6 lb-ft of torque at 5650 rpm.
Power delivery is relatively smooth, with the bulk of the bike’s torque available early in the revs. It is an excellent urban machine, great for jumping ahead of (and filtering through) traffic, but it’s real strength comes in cruising down relaxed B roads and the like.
It can be hustled up to about 100 mph if you are so inclined, but there’s more joy to be found below 65 mph.
This engine platform has been around for several years and is proving to be bulletproof. I’m not surprised; it’s almost annoyingly understressed. Teams in American Flat Track racing are able to get upward of 100 bhp from the same engine.
The transmission is a little less stellar. True, I was riding a brand new motorcycle and it sometimes takes a while for a transmission to ‘bed in,’ but it’s been my experience that Royal Enfield transmissions are a little crunchy. From forums and such, I’ve begun to suspect that transmissions may be one of the company’s weaker points.
It wouldn’t stop me from buying one of these bikes, but don’t approach it expecting Suzuki slickness.
Also somewhat unimpressive is the engine note. Blame EU regulations, I suppose, but, golly, this bike is quiet. Some aftermarket exhausts would go a long way in helping the bike to sound as awesome as it is to ride.
And while I’m moaning about stuff, I’ll point out that this bike doesn’t half drink fuel. The tank only holds 13.6 liters and that seems to disappear quickly. Perhaps, though, that’s just evidence of my enthusiasm when riding the thing.
Chassis, Brakes, and Handling
On the subject of enthusiasm. Riding home on a local road one day, I found myself behind a rider of a Triumph Speed Triple. I had come up on him pretty quickly but chosen not to overtake because, well, Speed Triple. One of those things can smoke a Shotgun 650 in first gear. It’s a ‘law of the jungle’ sort of thing; why attempt to pass one of those?
Surely, I thought, this rider was just temporarily distracted – slowing to just below the speed limit because he was chatting with someone in his very expensive helmet. I was certain that as soon as he spotted me in his mirror he’d click back into Speed Triple Mode and disappear into the horizon.
Nope. After giving him a solid two minutes to demonstrate an ability to use his 180bhp machine I shot past him. Going through a corner, he disappeared from my rear view and I never saw him again.
The lessons here are: 1) You probably don’t need what you think you need; 2) It’s not the bike it’s the rider; 3) The Shotgun 650 is capable of being a lot more fun than you might expect from just looking at its spec sheet.
The non-adjustable Showa front suspension (with dual rear shocks adjustable for preload) handles phenomenally well for a bike at this pricepoint. Out of the box, the rear suspension is just a little bit stiff for my tastes, but not enough that I bothered to dig out the bike’s toolkit to change things.
If I were to own a Shotgun 650 I might consider upgrading the rear shocks. Which is to say, I would browse websites offering better shocks but I’d probably never bother to pull the financial trigger. I would, however, opt for better tires as soon as the bike’s stock CEAT Zoom shoes had run their course. The superior feel of something from, say, Michelin or Pirelli would make it even better.
Brakes, meanwhile, are OK. The bike is equipped with ByBre calipers gripping single discs front and rear. Stopping power is a little off-on. It might be a brake pads issue. I didn’t hate the brakes, they just lacked nuance.
Gloriously Barebones: Electronics and Rider Aids
I mentioned that this bike feels like the antidote to an AI world. It shouldn’t surprise you, then, that this air-cooled joy machine doesn’t have a long list of technowhizzbangery.
In terms of rider aids, you get ABS. End of list.
The Tripper navigation dash is one of those ‘connect it to an app that connects to Google Maps’ things that I tend to hate. When I attempted to use Tripper in India last year it just caused the app on my phone to crash over and over. In the 5G Valhalla of West Sussex, however, it actually worked. Mostly.
This form of the Tripper dash is incredibly rudimentary. You don’t get a map, you just get an arrow and a distance to the turn that it is indicating. This is a system that definitely requires you to have looked at a map beforehand. But if you have, I suppose it’s useful – mostly – in offering you reminders of where you want to turn.
I’m using the word “mostly” there because it doesn’t always get distances right. On a few occasions, I rode past my turn because the dash said I still 300 to 600 meters to go.
Far more useful is the ‘Trip F’ feature. When you’re running low on fuel, which happens often, the estimated miles remaining feature switches and starts counting up in miles, rather than down. This way, you have a clear idea of how many miles it’s been since the fuel light came on.
‘Miles to empty’ countdowns can be wildly inaccurate. I’m of the school that it is better to just operate on the theory that you reliably have 20 miles of ‘go’ after the fuel light comes on. It seems Royal Enfield is of the same school, helping you to accurately track those miles.
And they’re not rider aids in the electronic sense, but mirrors definitely aid one’s riding. Special mention goes to the quality of the accessory bar-end mirrors that were on the Shotgun 650 I borrowed. I normally hate bar-end mirrors – they usually show nothing but my elbows – but these were excellent.
Service and Maintenance
This is a Royal Enfield, so it is easy to maintain. A center stand comes standard, and it is possible to do a ‘big’ service (oil, oil filter, air filter, and spark plugs) without removing the tank. Royal Enfield even gives you the tools to do it.
Royal Enfield suggests changing oil and oil filter every 6,000 miles. Spark plugs should be replaced every 12,000 miles. Valve clearances should be checked at the same time.
Verdict: As Good As A Harley
Obviously, the Shotgun 650 is a bike that you have to take within context. If you want a Triumph Speed Triple (and you’re actually capable of riding such a beast), this bike isn’t really going to scratch that itch.
But if you embrace its strengths – a bike for wandering around without any real schedule or destination, a bike for feeling good and being seen, a bike for disconnecting with the virtual and reconnecting with the actual – the Shotgun 650 is hard to beat. Very hard to beat.
As mentioned above, component quality is a different issue, but the build quality of a Royal Enfield is right up there with that of a Harley-Davidson or Indian Motorcycle. There is the same run-through feeling of care and attention to detail.
Yes, you’ll need to invest a little more exuberantly in XCP corrosion protectant and be a little more dogmatic in your cleaning regimen, but this is a very good bike. And it’s the kind of machine that lends itself to getting that extra attention; you’ll find that you want to look after it.
Crucially, the Shotgun 650 (and Super Meteor 650) is a bike that offers many of the same core experiences as a Harley or Indian Motorcycle cruiser, but for so, so, so much less.
I’m not on Royal Enfield’s payroll, but I’ll happily recommend their bikes all the same.
The Three Questions
Does the 2026 Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 fit my current lifestyle?
Well, yes. Mostly. To be honest, in my fantasy “Chris buys a Shotgun 650” scenario, I imagine the bike being in addition to my existing motorcycle, rather than instead of it.
But, just the other day I spotted a couple who were touring on an Interceptor 650. So, as I said above, the Shotgun 650 is capable of being a lot more than you might expect, and sometimes you don’t need what you think you need. Rides to Northern England would be a little slower and wetter, but there’s nothing to say this bike couldn’t handle the sort of riding I do regularly.
Did the 2026 Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 put a smile on my face?
Imagine if – after the 2,000+ words of praise above – I said no. Have I ever answered ‘no’ to that question? Perhaps I should stop asking it. Anyhoo, yes, I loved it. I’d want one in some color other than white but it’s a great use of Royal Enfield’s 650 platform.
Is the Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 better than my current motorcycle, a 2012 Kawasaki Versys 1000?
On a warm summer day, when I’ve got nowhere to be, yes. In functionality, though, definitely not. And my Versys 1000 (thankfully) needs a lot less attention. It’s been a very busy summer for me and I haven’t actually had a chance to ride my own bike in a few months. Today, I went to fire it up and let it run for a bit, basically just making sure the battery wasn’t dead, and it started instantly. That kind of reliability isn’t as common as we might like.
So, I’ll defer to my previous statement that I would see the Shotgun 650 as being in addition to my Versys 1000, rather than instead of it. And what a happy boy I’d be in that scenario.
2026 Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 specs
| STARTING PRICE | £6,849 |
| ENGINE | 648cc oil-/air-cooled parallel twin |
| POWER | 46.4 bhp at 7200 rpm |
| TORQUE | 38.6 lb-ft at 5650 rpm |
| TRANSMISSION | Six speed |
| SEAT HEIGHT | 795 mm |
| GROUND CLEARANCE | 140 mm |
| WEIGHT | 240 kg |
| FUEL CAPACITY | 13.6 liters |
| FRONT TIRE | 100/90-18 |
| REAR TIRE | 150/70-17 |
| FRONT BRAKE | 320mm disc, two-piston ByBre caliper |
| REAR BRAKE | 300mm disc, two-piston ByBre caliper |
| FRONT SUSPENSION | 43mm Showa USD telescopic fork |
| REAR SUSPENSION | Twin shocks, preload adjustable |
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