The brand has been questioned for the high value of maintenance, since the price of its models is equivalent to that of competitors with a more affordable revision
Royal Enfield arrived in Brazil with the clear proposal of selling custom motorcycles — lacking here — on a large scale. The strategy for this? Affordable prices. However, the brand has been increasingly questioned about the value of maintaining its motorcycles, and the recent increase in national overhaul plans has reignited the debate: do Royal Enfield motorcycles really have expensive maintenance?
SEE ALSO:
Like many manufacturers, Royal Enfield works with fixed prices for the maintenance of its motorcycles. For all the brand’s 350, which even have very similar mechanics, the manufacturer charges R$ 444.29 in its authorized workshops (R$ 253 for 1 hour of labor and R$ 191.29 for parts) in the first and cheapest overhaul. The amount reaches R$ 1,161.96 (R$ 782.46 in parts and R$ 379.50 for 1h30 of labor) in the maintenance of 20,000 km, the highest.
Compared to the revision values of the Royal Enfield Hunter 350, Meteor 350 and Classic 350, indirect Japanese competitors have more modest costs.
It is important to note that this comparison considers compatible models, taking into account the size of the engine and the proposal of each motorcycle. As much as the Indian manufacturer has no direct competitors here, popular Japanese companies of similar size were selected.
For the Honda CB 300F Twister and Yamaha FZ25, revisions start at R$ 313,76 and R$ 330 (1st revision), respectively, and go up to R$ 1,264.56 (24,000 km revision from Honda) and R$ 660 (20,000 km from Yamaha).
Comparing the most similar models between the brand and a competitor, Royal Enfield loses again. The Himalayan 450 starts at R$ 510.01 in the first service and reaches R$ 1.099,94 in the maintenance of 20.000 km. Its direct competitor, the Triumph Scrambler 400X, makes scheduled revisions every 16,000 km, and the first two cost R$ 200.
According to João Guido, responsible for the Lata Nova Motorcycle workshop, in Recife (PE), specializing in custom motorcycles — more specifically Triumph, Royal Enfield and Harley-Davidson —, a relevant aggravating factor for the cost of maintaining a motorcycle from the Indian manufacturer is the fact that the first service takes place at 500 km driven.
“No brand applies this, and it costs an absurd amount just to change the oil. The second revision comes six months from the date of issuance of the invoice, which means four and a half months since the last revision, because the first was 45 days old. And the third review is 12 months from the date of the invoice. So, there are three revisions in one year, and all with a very high value”, said the expert, comparing it with other manufacturers.
Also according to Guido, the costs of the manufacturer’s parts are higher than those of competitors when considering the percentage between the value of the motorcycle and the price of each replacement item.
“An original Harley-Davidson panel, bought at Harley-Davidson, costs about R$ 3,200. Is it expensive? It’s expensive. But it’s a R$ 200 thousand motorcycle. It doesn’t even reach 1% of the value of the motorcycle. The Royal Enfield panel is R$ 3,800”, he said.
The value of the dashboard of a Royal Enfield Classic 350 is R$ 2.170,92, according to the prices of the brand’s official store in Vitória (ES) which has a page on Mercado Livre. As much as the expert was not precise in the amount quoted, he was right to state that other brands have more affordable parts, as the same item for the already compared Honda CB 300F Twister can cost half the price. In the same official store, the dashboard of a Royal Enfield Himalayan 411 costs up to R$ 5.755.
Replacement items due to natural wear and tear follow the same logic. The list kit of the brand’s cheapest motorcycles, for example, costs R$ 952.84. “Regarding displacement and purchase value, Royal Enfield parts are the most expensive I’ve ever seen in the domestic market,” adds the expert.
Leonardo Figueiredo, owner of a Classic 350, reported his experience with the brand. According to him, the Royal in question was his first motorcycle, but he soon realized the difference in prices between authorized stores and conventional workshops.
I remember that, in the first maintenance, I even budgeted with other workshops, and the price was really very different. The cheapest service I paid at the dealership was around R$ 480 or R$ 500, and it was one of those in which they only changed the filters, oil, cleaned the chain and checked the general condition of the bike. In conventional workshops, the labor was about R$ 100, and the value of the parts was even lower”, said the customer, claiming that he kept the maintenance at the dealership for fear of taking the motorcycle to places that did not have the appropriate parts and for fear of losing the warranty.
Figueiredo also pointed out that, in corrective maintenance, he had to open the engine. The price charged by the workshop in Belo Horizonte (MG) was R$ 1,800. In non-credence workshops, the cost was less than half the value.
Royal Enfield has already shown itself to be aware of its problems related to after-sales. In an interview with AutoPapo, in 2025, when asked about the price of maintenance parts, the executive director of Royal Enfield Latam, Gabriel Patini, explained the policy of values applied, considering issues of volume, logistics and other factors that impact the final price.
According to him, Royal competes against brands that have national manufacturing – since the Indian imports practically all its products – and still needs to deal with parallel parts offered on a large scale to long-lived brands in Brazil. For the executive, this comparison often has an unfounded weight.
In a recent meeting with the brand’s world executives, during the 125th anniversary Ride held by the brand in Rio de Janeiro, the company’s global CEO, B. Govindarajan, was asked about the high costs to maintain the brand’s motorcycles. Govindarajan stated that Royal Enfield is, and will continue, always striving to offer the best value for money to customers.
