Honda Rebel 500 Vs Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 And Others; The Best Premium Cruiser?

The folks at Honda BigWing thought of curing the Monday blues with a bomb, in the form of the Honda Rebel 500. Priced at Rs 5.12 lakh (ex-showroom), the Rebel 500 goes up against the Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650, the Kawasaki Eliminator, and the Benelli 502C. That last one may take a while for you to remember.

We thought of putting together an on-paper comparison, to see how the Rebel 500 weighs up against its rivals now that it is finally here. However, before going further, make sure to join the 91wheels WhatsApp Community to keep up with the latest news and automotive updates.

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Honda Rebel 500 Vs Rivals; Design

The Rebel 500 was hugely awaited by a lot of buyers, and it remains familiar to the global-spec model that we have seen for the last few years. It is a proper cruiser with neo-retro styling, featuring all-black treatment instead of chrome on the body and mechanical components. The handlebars are upswept, and the footpegs are also quite front-set, which should give it a properly laid-back riding stance. The fuel tank treatment may also remind you of the Harley-Davidson Iron 883, especially from behind the handlebars. Judging purely from looks, the pillion seat may not appear very useful, but let's wait for a ride to verify those claims.

In a similar vein to the Kawasaki Eliminator, the frame of the bike is visible to the human eye easily. However, both bikes are underpinned by completely different types of frames, which we will discuss a while later.

The Eliminator, much like the Rebel 500, is available in one all-black paint scheme, and while it was given an update for 2025, nothing much has changed, and it continues with the same neo-retro approach, featuring alloy rims and blacked-out treatment on the components.

In comparison, the Super Meteor 650 gets a healthy mix of classic and modern touches in its design, with chrome treatment on many areas. The Super Meteor 650 remains familiar to the Meteor 350, but with a marginal increase in size. It is also the only motorcycle in this comparison to come with twin exhaust pipes sticking out from both ends, which admittedly gives it a more 'complete' look.

Despite being the oldest motorcycle in this comparison, the Benelli 502C comes with the most modern-looking design, heavily inspired by an Italian power cruiser. However, this is also a rather rare motorcycle, even rarer than the Kawasaki in this comparison. The 502C looks and feels quite large, and the tail section is also rather clean, with the tail lamp and indicators integrated under the seat.

It is clear that all cruisers in this comparison take a more modern, neo-retro approach, with the Super Meteor 650 being the only one to add in a blend of classic treatment. This round is rather subjective, then.

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Powertrain

The Rebel's powertrain is something that we are yet to experience, and that is something we cannot wait to do. That said, it is the second smallest powertrain here in terms of cubic capacity, but it still pushes out marginally more numbers than the Eliminator, which brings us to an interesting point.

The Eliminator's 451cc powertrain is the smallest of this lot, but this is a powertrain derived from the Ninja 500. This is a higher-revving enging compared to the rest of the motorcycles here, and when you factor in the 176kg kerb weight, it is the lightest of all bikes, which makes us curious about the riding experience, and how tractable, yet agile this particular cruiser is likely to be.

This brings us to the heavyweights. The 502C revs higher than the Super Meteor 650, and with a claimed weight figure of 220kg, it is the second heaviest in this list, and we can expect it to be great performer on the highway, while also being slightly hefty in city conditions.

The Super Meteor 650 is the heaviest in this comparison, and while it will feel like a handful while parking and in the city, the precise fueling and acceleration will probably lighten up your experience by quite a margin. It not only packs in oodles of torque, but it never runs out of steam at higher revs either. To be fair, all the other motorcycles in this list will be capable of similar performance, but the Super Meteor 650 may just do it at another level.

Hardware

The Rebel 500 is actually rather basic when it comes to the hardware, given that it comes with the basic front forks and twin-shocks at the rear with no specified degree of adjustability. It remains to be seen how it handles our road conditions, although expecting too much from it would be unfair, given the limited scope of flexibility with cruisers anyway. That said, the 690mm seat height is the lowest here, and given its 191kg kerb weight, it will be interesting to uncover the Rebel's nature. However, the 11.2-litre fuel tank is also the smallest; something that may not be appreciated by riders on longer trips.

The Super Meteor 650 comes with the biggest brakes in this comparison, which is natural considering the kind of heft it carries. The 790mm seat height is the tallest here, and it packs the typical feet-forward riding stance. Combine that with its 241kg kerb weight and it will be rather uncomfortable to manage in the city. However, the Super Meteor 650 hides its weight rather well once on the move. That said, one has to look out for taller speedbreakers to avoid dinging the underbody, even without the pillion.

We have spoken about the Eliminator's kerb weight previously, which, combined with the rev-friendly engine, should make it one of the friendliest motorcycles in this comparison. That said, we can expect a firm suspension setup, and the pillion seat isn't going to be the most cofortable either.

The Benelli 502C is also among the larger bikes in this comparison, and it is also the only one here with a monoshock at the rear. With th 220kg claimed weight figure, we can expect it to be quite a handful in daily city conditions. However, it gets the largest fuel tank among all the bikes here, which should make it more appealing for longer rides.

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Features

The Rebel 500 follows the ethos of a classic motorcycle, in the sense that there aren't many features to speak of. It gets dual-channel ABS and a round, negative-lit LCD instrument cluster, and all-LED lighting, but that's pretty much it.

Most motorcycles in this comparison don't pack a lot of high-end features. The Eliminator is similar to the Rebel 500 in terms of features, with a round, LCD display, dual-channel ABS, all-LED lighting. The Benelli 502C also comes with a basic digital cluster and dual-channel ABS. Lastly, the Super Meteor 650 packs in a semi-digital instrument cluster, dual-channel ABS and a Tripper Navigation pod.

Prices

The Rebel 500, the Eliminator, and the 502C are all available in one variant only. Launched yesterday, the Rebel 500 is priced at Rs 5.12 lakh, while the Eliminator comes in at Rs 5.76 lakh, and the 502C can be had for Rs 5.25 lakh.

The Super Meteor 650 is the only one available in different variants, with prices ranging between Rs 3.68 lakh to Rs 3.98 lakh, making it easily the most affordable motorcycle in this list (all prices ex-showroom.)