2026 Royal Enfield Bullet 650 – First look

If you are 93 years old or younger, there has never been a time in your life when Royal Enfield was not producing a motorcycle known as the Bullet.

But up until it was revealed at this year’s EICMA, there has also never been a time when the iconic Bullet has been driven by a 648cc parallel twin engine. So, while the announcement of the 2026 Bullet 650 may feel obvious in some ways (as Royal Enfield says “To not create this motorcycle would have been inconceivable”), it is also big news.

In one form or another, the Bullet has been in continuous production since 1932. No other manufacturer can make such a claim with its models. Not Triumph with its Bonneville, nor Indian Motorcycle with its Scout, nor Harley-Davidson with its Sportster… you get the point.

The original Bullet was offered in two choices of capacity: 300 cc and 500 cc. A year later, a 250cc option was added. In all cases, the engine was a single cylinder – a configuration it would keep for the next nine decades.

In the 1940s, it became the first production motorcycle in the world to sport a swingarm rear rear suspension. About a decade or so later, it settled into the iconic look we now associate with the Bullet: the signature teardrop tank with winged badging, the “casquette” headlamp (That’s what Royal Enfield calls it – everywhere else, a casquette is a short-brimmed hat traditionally worn by cyclists), and, of course, that chunky bench seat.

“[The Bullet] endures like a heartbeat echoing through the decades, wearing its history with quiet pride,” states a particularly belletristic media release.

For a very long time – thanks in no small part to a contract with the Indian Army that continues to this day – the Bullet was pretty much the only thing keeping Royal Enfield going. 

At the bike’s reveal in Milan, Siddhartha Lal – the man credited with saving Royal Enfield from decades of decline – observed that this new model is being released for 2026, the year in which Royal Enfield will celebrate 125 years of continuous motorcycle production (yet another claim that no other motorcycle manufacturer can make).

“Thinking about this, I look back to our hundredth anniversary,” he said. “There was no time to celebrate. The company was in a life or death situation and we were desperately working and trying to save it.”

In that sense, the Bullet 650 feels like a triumphant declaration: here’s the bike that arguably made the company, then kept it going for decades, now taken forward.

“The Bullet 650 carries its legendary DNA forward in every detail,” says Royal Enfield. “With every curve designed in harmony with its parallel-twin heart, its substantial bodywork and commanding stance lend it the graceful presence of a true big-capacity, old-school motorcycle.” 

Outside of the poetry, though, it is, admittedly, a bike that we know well. The Bullet shares an engine, frame, and much of its chassis with a number of existing Royal Enfield models, including the Super Meteor, Shotgun 650, and Classic 650. 

That means a 648cc air-cooled SOHC parallel twin engine producing an A2-friendly 46.3 bhp at 7250 rpm, and 38.5 lb-ft of torque at 5650 rpm – all controlled by a six-speed transmission. It means a single 320mm brake disc up front, and a 300mm disc at the rear. It means all-metal construction and, by extension, it means a prodigious kerb weight of 243 kg.

In conversation with Royal Enfield’s team, we’ve been told that the riding experience most closely aligns to that of the Classic 650, but with sharper steering. We’re looking forward to test riding it at some point in the future.

(You might want to read our review of the 2025 Royal Enfield Classic 650)

A Showa suspension connects with a 19-inch front wheel and 18-inch wheel. Whereas the Bullet 650’s wheel sizing is true to the old school, there are modern touches, such as an LED headlamp. The instrument cluster tastefully blends analogue and digital, with an LCD display offering information on fuel, trip, and gear position. 

Royal Enfield doesn’t say whether the Bullet 650 will be equipped with the Tripper navigation feature that’s on a number of its bikes, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see it here. If it is, we trust that it will be well integrated. RE’s increasingly good at paying attention to the finest points of aesthetic.

“Every line, every contour, and every detail has been crafted to preserve the soul of the original, while bringing in the power and refinement of our twin-cylinder platform,” says a media release.

In Europe and North America, the Bullet 650 is available in any colour you like, as long as it’s Canon Black – aka the colour scheme that most of us think of when we think of the Bullet. In India, Royal Enfield shows love for the home team by also offering the bike in Battleship Blue.

The Bullet 650 will be available in dealerships from early 2026, with a starting price of £6,749.

2026 Royal Enfield Bullet 650 specs

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