Modern Vespa

...but what planet are these guys on?

"unmatched power"????

This is a 430 pound bike with all of 20.2 horsepower to push it down the road, hopefully without hills or headwinds.

I owned one of these beautiful little bikes, and if it's power was 'unmatched', it would be because everything else even remotely in it's displacement class had more snot than it did, very much including my '20 Vespa GTS300, which sports about four more hp and 75 less pounds that the RE 350 Classic.

Now, I know that this bike suits many owners who just want something pretty to plod down a country lane astride, and the fact that it disappointed me enough to sell it off rather prematurely, even when compared to my usual and notorious motorbike attrition rate, doesn't mean that it's not a perfect choice for others, but I swear that when I would head up anything more severe than a 5% grade on my RE 350, I would pay very close attention for overtaking traffic, lest I get run over by a fat guy on a bicycle.

I'm not posting here, it might affect my standing in the inner circle. 🤪

I never stand in the inner circle, mostly just squat.

If the fire gets too hot, I can run!!!

My LX gained timeless style status as soon as the clock battery died.

RE knows how to build a retro scoot. Mainly because that's all they have ever built. But in the last few years, the scoots have gotten much better looking. But yeah, over 400 pounds and 20HP? Old Honda 350s did better way back in 1969. For their home market, it's all good. Here, not so much. Still like the look.

Elon will take all the plastics off a scoot and call it a Cyber Bike.

Madras Red must be hot and quick.

'Unmatched' in it's hot quickness too, no doubt.

The RE I will likely purchase next spring holds a definite hotness in my eyes...as long as Elon's design guys stay the hell away from it and don't make it look like a Zippo lighter on wheels, but It's still probably a good thing that I'm well past the time in my life that I buy a vehicle thinking it would serve as a 'chick magnet'...

A pillion perch is optional, but in this case merely symbolic I'm sure.

(Pay no attention to that man in the upper right corner)

Some great colour combos but my choice would be the Halcyon Black version with the solo saddle, chrome spokes and gas tank decals.

"anything more severe than a 5% grade on my RE 350, I would pay very close attention for overtaking traffic, lest I get run over by a fat guy on a bicycle."

As far as I know, the three finish choices for the '25 Classic 650 are the teal, black/chrome, and the rather odd, but still attractive metallic maroon/cream.

I would imagine that the 20 hp RE 350 is adequate in crowded urban areas (India?), and on the opposite side of things, pastoral country lanes, but so is the GTS300, which is superb in both of those riding environments, as well as being secondary highway capable.

The difference is such that I was willing to ride my Vespa across 400 miles of South Dakota prairie highway, and back, in two days, something that I had hoped I could also accomplish on my 350 RE last year, but it's sweet-but-sluggish engine performance simply wasn't up to the task, so I quickly abandoned the idea. It could hold 60 mph on the highway, and top out at about 72, but ANY uphill grade or puff of headwind had it's forward progress slogging to unacceptable levels, whereas the Vespa always seemed to have just enough of a power margin that it could deal with the hills and winds, and never dropped beneath 55 anywhere along my 840 mile road trip. That's not to say that my Vespa 300 would fly up ascending mountain roads with no effect, but for anything encountered in my region, it's adequate, or better.

Not so the RE 350.

Yes, 'the look' is what sucked me into the Royal Enfield 'club'.

A mid 60's Honda 305 Superhawk made 28-29 hp, and the 1970 Bridgestone GTR 350 I once owned had 40, as did the Yamaha RD350 (which I never did own).

Even though the overall refinement of the RE 350 engine and transmission is substantially superior to those old bikes, it's road performance isn't.

The black/chrome combo would be my choice. I'm not a Teal kinda guy and I agree....the cream combo is weird.
I've been eyeing a black RE 650 Continental. Lightly used with RE after market stainless pipes. The wife has been giving me the Stink Eye

I rode behind a person on a 350 RE this past summer at a local event. I was behind her on the 750cc expecting the worst. Coming off ninety degree bends it moved along quite smartly off the bottom end not hindering me and keeping pace with the Milwaukee Eight in front of her. Maybe it's a dog at highway speeds but at the pace we were running, between 30 and 55 mph it worked just fine.

The Continental GT that I briefly owned last year was a very good looking machine, as was my Interceptor...IF you like them shiny...

In this photo, you can see that the RE 350 Classic is just about the same physical size as the 650 Interceptor, and not much lighter, maybe 30 pounds? If that. 350 on the left...

It's a bit of a perspective illusion in this shot, but it appears to be even a little larger than the 650, mostly due to it's full length rear fender and higher handlebars (I had installed lower bars on my 650), It's not, but the difference isn't much..

The RE 350 was also very close in weight as my 1200 Triumph Thruxton was.

I'm not one of those riders who worship ever-lighter, ever more powerful machines, I just want them to have enough snot to accommodate my normal everyday riding requirements, which, really, aren't at all extreme, and I can have a lot of fun and satisfaction with smaller bikes of relatively meager power.

The Enfields have stroker engines which translates into a scoot the will handle the gnarly road conditions. Again - built for the home market first and as you said, backroad riding everywhere else.

I tried to get my 125 pound wife 'Trixie' to ride my 350 and see how it would run for her, as I expected that it would show some zip for her that, at 230 pounds, it couldn't for me. She's 5'4", and the seat height was just too tall for her to ride confidently so she wouldn't run it.

When you only have 20 hp to move you, as well as the relatively heavy bike it's in, things that even a modestly more powerful machine would barely notice become an issue. I would think that the 350, with ten more hp, would feel about the same to me as the twenty hp engine would for her.

I suppose that I could lose 100 pounds myself and achieve the little boost in perceived performance that I want from the bike, but I'd look silly with a death grip on the bars while flapping in the breeze like a bony old rag.

I could have gained about five hp on the 350 with an aftermarket cam, but I'm really not an enthusiastic 'modder' and tend to keep my bikes stock, with the wildest change probably being a handlebar swap and some bar end mirrors.

These bikes generally run so sweet from the factory that I'm very reluctant to mess with them and possibly screw that up for little gain.

They are low stress, low RPM builds. The engine will probably last a long time, everything else around will fall apart sooner.

And the chrome work is............mostly adequate.

That would be good news. My experience with the single cylinder RE 350s and 500s back in the '90s was that reliability and longevity was not their strong suit.

JBlacklund.....both the Continental and Interceptor are beautiful!
I would be happy to own either but if I had to decide on one the Continental would get the nod. Love the boxy tank.
Must have been a nightmare keeping the finger prints off the chrome. It drives me nutz when there's prints on my cell phone screen

Nah, they were both pretty easy to keep looking good...just keep one's boogery digits off the shiny bits as much as possible.

When considering a modern Royal Enfield bike, it's good to keep it in mind that, although improved greatly from earlier models, they are still 'built down to a price', and can still show it on close inspection.

Their paintwork is now very good, and probably comparable to just about anything out there, but their chrome work on some parts could still be considered sub-standard, not in their gas tanks and exhaust systems, which were excellent on the bike I had, but on almost every one of them, the handlebar and headlight shell plating was relatively dull and and showed the metal work on the part beneath it.

Cosmetically, and in general build-quality, neither my Continental GT or Interceptor were up to the finish standards of the Kawasaki W800 I had at around the same time, nor the Yamaha SR400 I also owned...but they're steadily catching up and definitely do represent a lot of bike for the dollar.

My RE's superficial cosmetic shortcomings do not diminish the bike's sound engineering IMO, and I've enjoyed riding all of them, even the sluggy 350. None of the five RE bikes I had gave any trouble, and an extra plus is that they are quite economical and owner-friendly when it comes to maintenance.

One thing that's a PITA about the RE 350 and 650 though, is the requirement to perform the bike's first service at only 300 miles, including a valve clearance check. I'm no engine tech, but I was able to do this work myself with the help of the many YouTube videos available for this task...much like Robots videos related to Vespa service.

Engine vibration in the new line of RE models isn't even a thought, and the 350 and 650 are notably smooth running motors, though the 2016 500 that I had would start to shake annoyingly at 60 mph and worsened from there upward enough that I avoided riding it highway speeds of I could.

My penis gets hard when I look that those bikes. That's bound to give it an extra 10 hp or so.

The 500 did not use a counter balancer, but I think the newer scoots do. The 350 ride is good enough, the speed is good enough - this isn't an expensive machine relative to what else is out there. The twins ride reminds me of my 1971 Bonneville - but it's probably more reliable. That scoot had electrical and clutch problems all the time. And parts were hard enough to get and when they went on a 2 year strike, it was impossible. Never was I so happy to get rid of a bike as that.

JBlacklund.....appreciate your experiences re RE quality control.
The Kawasaki W800 is another on my radar along with the Moto Guzzi v7 Special.
I'm seeing a trend here....my want for a "bike" with chrome spokes!

Hmmm......the '25 Royal Enfield Classic 650 DOES have steel fenders that replace the cheesy plastic ones previous 650 models had.

Coincidence?

The plastic ones snap, the metal ones should last longer, unless they are made in the same place that does the chrome work. If so, then maybe 2 or 3 years before they rust out.

There is some nostalgic mystique that the Royal Enfield motorcycles raise in me. They look and feel like something from my youth. That feeling is first and of foremost importance to me in choosing to purchase something. Without that I look no further.

Power and performance barely make the list of concerns beyond whether they can propel me down the road in a manner I desire. And being old and slow that's a rather low bar. My biggest complaint about my Royal Enfield, a Himalayan, is the 90 miles to the closest dealer. Fortunately it is so simple a machine that I can reluctantly adjust the chain, valves, and do the necessary oil and filter changes.

I almost added a Classic 350 to my fleet until I crossed paths with a 2001 Kawasaki W650. It's like a Classic 350 with a bit more power.

Not to highjack a RE topic, but I couldn't help hearing W800 mentioned ...

If you want chrome, a true(ish) old school bike AND reliability, that's your bike.
Cased solved.

I've followed a history of one very close and it's very boring. The history, not the bike. Nothing breaks. Nothing much needs adjustment. My buddy just rides with a wide grin on his face.

I don't believe in coincidence, I do believe I'll never tell anyone where I know of a stash of OG Indians.

Been there, done that.

The W800 is a superbly put-together and finished motorcycle.

They're rated at the same 47 hp as the RE 650, are a bit 'lazy' in it's rev windup compared to the RE 650, and heavier, but, at least for me, a joy to ride...and look at.

Some owners don't care for the vibration level of the Kaw twin at highway speeds due to it's unbalanced 360 degree engine, but as such, unlike the smoother RE 650 270 degree motor, the W800 retains that wonderful and classic British twin sound, something I never tired of listening to.

My W800 was definitely a rich chunk of eye-candy especially for someone who lusted after the 'big British twins' of the mid 1960's, from the seat of a Honda S90.

Probably not suitable for 'sporty' riders, but the soft suspension smoothed out road 'irregularities' that would have daylight showing between my ass and the seat of my BMW R18, and another pleasant and unexpected surprise (to me) was how exceptionally comfortable the W800's stock seat was. I seriously think that I could, if I wanted to, ride that bike, solo of course, just as far in a day as I could have one of our Goldwings.

I could very, very, easily buy another W800.

The W800 that I owned several years ago...

Could not help but notice how bummed this guy is for not having a Royal Enfield of his own.

Head up buddy, it will be OK.

He probably didn't even notice that beautiful Kawasaki W800 in the foreground.

I'm going to pretend that he came over to ask you about your bike, and you Bill Dog'd him.

It's weird that the newer fuel injected W800 has less horsepower than the 2001 W650. They're both handsome machines. I've not ridden a W800 but can attest to the sheer pleasure of piloting the W650.

Does the W650 make more than 47 hp?

Although I don't know the specific numbers, I could reasonably assume that the W800 at least produces more mid-range torque than the 650...for what it's worth, which isn't much.

All I will say is that I'm always very polite to people who ask about my motorbikes/scooters...regardless of what they may be riding.