10/22/23
When you think of a cruiser your mind’s eye most likely sees a big, booming V-twin, long and low with tons of attitude and chrome, blasting across a wide-open plain. Mostly that's because it’s been ingrained in our psyche thanks to Harley-Davidson. But there’s a subset of cruising that is lighter, smaller, and more approachable. A subset that continually shepherds a flock of new bike owners into our wonderful world of motorcycling. They’ve been around for a long time—look no further than Harley’s Sportster 883 and Honda’s Rebel—but as of late, small and midsize cruisers have been making waves for their easier-to-ride character that still satisfies jaded cruiser fans. Case in point: Royal Enfield’s Super Meteor 650.
We sent our plucky associate editor, Evan Allen, to Dallas to take a spin on the Super Meteor to see how it performs here in the United States of Cruisers. Editor-in-Chief Mark Hoyer sampled the same motorcycle on its home turf in India last year, but now it was time to see how it does on the open spaces of Texas. “The Super Meteor 650 is a benchmark for Royal Enfield moving forward. In this new middleweight cruiser, Royal Enfield has delivered a level of quality we have not seen from it before,” Allen says. Check out his first ride here.
But it’s not the only non-big-twin cruiser to catch our attention as of late. Check out a selection of other noteworthy small and middleweight cruisers below: like Kawasaki’s Eliminator and Honda’s Shadow Phantom and Rebel 500. There’s also a great comparison between the Royal Enfield Meteor 350 and Honda Rebel 300.
As always, there’s more than we can fit into this email. Check out cycleworld.com for additional tests, reviews, and news.
Ride on,
Justin Dawes
Executive Editor
