Royal Enfield Uses Its Engines in Multiple Bikes: Why Should That Be a Problem?

Classic 650 is Royal Enfield's latest motorcycle and gets the 650cc air/oil-cooled parallel-twin engine

Royal Enfield is presently making 14 different motorcycles between 350cc and 650cc - this is the widest segmentation in RE’s lineup ever. And those 14 motorcycles are based on four varieties of engines - a 350cc air-cooled single, a 443cc air/oil-cooled single, a 452cc liquid-cooled single, and a 650cc air/oil-cooled parallel twin.

Somehow, some people see it as a problem… which is that Royal Enfield is milking its engines into different motorcycles and that they’re being lazy, unimaginative and uncreative. And this sentiment is mostly targeted towards the 650cc engine as the company has launched two new motorcycles in this segment, namely the Bear 650 and the Classic 650, recently.

I don’t understand this argument because it’s one of the most common things that every bike maker does. They have been doing it for a much longer time than many people realise. The only difference is some companies do it more than the others, but they all do it depending on the kind of bikes they make. Funnily enough, Royal Enfield is at its most imaginative and creative at the moment.

Also, in this case, your favouritism and bias towards brands are irrelevant as we are merely talking about a practice that’s very common in the motorcycle industry.

One of the best examples is of Harley Davidson, a company whose impact on motorcycling is undeniable. Harley Davidson makes lots of bikes today (27 as of 2025, according to the USA website), but they are built on only two engines - Milwaukee Eight and Revolution Max. However, these two engines are further used in different tuning, capacities, and power/torque figures across different motorcycles but they’re still primarily two engines.

And Harley Davidson beautifully showcases how the same engine, when used in a variety of configurations, can serve different purposes. Their Revolution Max engine is used in their Pan America which is an adventure-tourer and also in their sport-cruisers that are the Nightster and the Sportster, while their Milwaukee Eight engine is used in various cruisers as well as in ultra-expensive baggers.

BMW is another major manufacturer that does this. The company has three different boxer engine platforms right now and those platforms are used in so many of its motorcycles. It only highlights how versatile those engines are.

Then there are other examples too, Honda with its 500cc parallel-twin engine, Yamaha with its CP2 parallel-twin that powers the Tenere 700, MT-07, R7, and the XSR700, the Kawasaki 650cc engine which, once again, powers a naked, a sport-tourer, an adventure-tourer, and a cruiser. Then there are Ducati, KTM, and Aprilia too.

Like I said in the beginning, not every company does this at a comparable level, but they all do it. Royal Enfield is closer to Harley Davidson in this regard. It must be understood that platform-sharing is an extremely solid development and marketing strategy. It helps companies save development costs which will otherwise happen on developing new engines and chassis, which is also highly time consuming and not always successful.

Using the same engine and chassis (modified or not) in different motorcycles also highlight how versatile a particular platform is, which companies can use for effective marketing as well. It solidifies a brand, builds reputation on the basis of reliability and usability. For consumers, this strategy may help them decide on a new motorcycle quickly because the platform is already proven in an existing motorcycle, which is exactly what is happening with the RE 650cc platform.

Royal Enfield’s 650cc engine was originally revealed in 2017 with the Interceptor 650 (later launched in 2018). It’s been more or less six years since then and the engine has proven itself in several ways - it is reliable, versatile, highly engaging, and characterful. So now when a new bike is launched with the same engine, you don’t have a lot to worry about.

Moreover, this criticism at RE is perhaps the most ill-timed. Today, Royal Enfield is not only making the widest range of motorcycles in its history, it is also making them better than ever. Yes, I know that shortcomings are still very much there, but the current generation of RE bikes is the best in more than 120 years of its history.

I would say that this criticism doesn’t even qualify anymore. Every company in its right frame of mind does this. What we need to worry about is whether the motorcycles being launched are good or not.