The Rebel 500 and Shotgun 650 are both style-led cruisers with very different engines and weights. We compare looks, ride, seat height, features and price.

Both of these are style-first cruisers — but they chase the look in different ways, and with very different engineering underneath. Here’s the Honda Rebel 500 against the Royal Enfield Shotgun 650.

Rebel 500 figures are from Honda’s India unveiling; Shotgun 650 figures are current-market and approximate.

At a glance

	Honda Rebel 500	RE Shotgun 650
Engine	471cc liquid-cooled parallel-twin	648cc air/oil-cooled parallel-twin
Power	~46 bhp @ 8,500 rpm	46.4 bhp @ 7,250 rpm
Torque	~43 Nm @ 6,000 rpm	52.3 Nm @ 5,650 rpm
Kerb weight	191 kg	240 kg
Seat height	690 mm	795 mm
Fuel tank	~11.2 L (expected)	13.8 L
Traction control	Yes (HSTC)	No
E-Clutch option	Yes	No
Price	~₹4.7–5.5 lakh (leaked/est.)	~₹3.6 lakh onwards

Design & attitude

The Shotgun 650 is Royal Enfield’s “post-modern roadster” — a muscular, custom-flavoured bobber with real street presence and a huge personalisation catalogue. The Rebel 500 is cleaner and more minimal: blacked-out, low and modern.

Both are head-turners; the choice is pure taste — raw retro-custom (Shotgun) vs stripped-back modern (Rebel).

The numbers that separate them

Two figures stand out:

• Seat height: the Rebel’s 690 mm is dramatically lower than the Shotgun’s 795 mm — a 105 mm gap that makes the Honda far easier to flat-foot. If you’re shorter, this alone may decide it.
• Weight: at 191 kg the Rebel is about 50 kg lighter, so it feels friskier and more wieldy despite matching the Shotgun’s ~46 bhp peak power.

The Shotgun’s advantage is torque and character — 52.3 Nm and that unmistakable 648cc twin thump.

Features

The Rebel 500 brings more tech: TFT-style display, HSTC traction control, full-LED lighting and the E-Clutch option. The Shotgun leans on Royal Enfield’s style, customisation and big-twin feel rather than electronics.

Price

The Shotgun 650 undercuts the Rebel 500 heavily — it starts around ₹3.6 lakh, while leaked figures put the Rebel 500 at roughly ₹4.7–5.5 lakh. That’s a big gap for a smaller-engined bike, so the Honda has to win on weight, seat height and tech rather than value.

The verdict

• Shotgun 650 for retro-custom style, big-twin torque and a lower entry price.
• Rebel 500 for a much lower seat, lighter handling, more tech and Honda refinement.

See also: Rebel 500 vs Super Meteor 650 and the combined RE 650 twins verdict.

This is an independent fan article. Rebel 300 India is not affiliated with Honda. Specifications and prices are expectations based on public information and may change at launch.