Royal Enfield Meteor 350 review
The Meteor represents the eternal essence of riding, the spirit of the cruise; with classic contours & timeless design cues, it is an easy thoroughbred cruiser, ready for the open highway and for meeting the challenges of urban commute with equal ease.
Design
The Royal Enfield Meteor 350 looks a lot similar to its predecessor, the Thunderbird 350X. This quintessential cruiser gets an easy-to-reach handlebar and forward-set footpegs to ensure a laidback riding stance. The round halogen headlamp gets LED DRL for a slightly more modern appeal. The tear-drop shaped fuel tank flows cohesively into the low split-seat setup. There’s a sizable visual gap between the chopped rear fender and the tyre, and we feel it could’ve been designed a little better. Rounding off the retro appeal is the circular LED tail lamp.
Performance
The Royal Enfield Meteor 350 is powered by an all-new 349cc air-cooled SOHC 2-valve motor with fuel-injection. The powerplant generates 20.4PS at 6100rpm and 27Nm at 4000rpm, working in conjunction with a 5-speed transmission. The engine is counterbalanced for optimum refinement, which is a first for a 350cc Royal Enfield. The engine nestles inside a double downtube split cradle frame linked to a 41mm telescopic front fork and twin 6-stage preload-adjustable emulsion shock absorbers at the rear. Braking is via a 300mm front disc and a 270mm rear unit with dual-channel ABS as standard. The bike rolls on a 19-inch front and 17-inch rear alloy wheel wrapped with tubeless 100-section front and 140-section rear tubeless tyres. At 191kg kerb, the Meteor 350 is 6kg lighter than its predecessor, the Thunderbird 350X.
Features
The Royal Enfield Meteor 350 gets a semi-digital instrument cluster with smartphone compatibility. The secondary pod houses the display for the turn-by-turn navigation, which is a first for a Royal Enfield. Details like the speed, tripmeter, odometer readings, gear position are shown in the main pod. There’s also a USB port on the left switchgear and a dedicated hazard lamp switch on the right switchgear. As far as safety is concerned, the bike gets a dual-channel ABS as standard. The standard tubeless tyres should also help in handling punctures much better than tubed ones.
Royal Enfield Meteor 350 Price: The new Royal Enfield Meteor 350 is expected to be priced between Rs 1,75,000- 1,90,000 lakh
