Royal Enfield Meteor 350

Royal Enfield is believed to be working on multiple new motorcycles and the Meteor 350 will be the first product to come out of this development. The company has been actively testing the motorcycle on the public roads and its spy shots have revealed several details so far.

The Meteor 350 boasts of design cues which are similar to the Thunderbird 350X, the motorcycle it will replace in the Indian market. The round headlamp, peanut-shaped fuel tank, triangular air-filter cover and round rear fender are typical RE styling elements. However, what gives the Meteor a modern touch are blacked-out alloy wheels and engine covers, split-type seat and grab rail and funky colour options.

The Meteor will also be modern in term of features as compared to its other old-school siblings. The headlamp is equipped with an LED DRL, instrumentation is a round LCD display while dual-channel ABS is expected to come as standard. The spy shots have also given away that it gets a novel switchgear layout with rotary-style buttons.

Reports suggest that the Meteor’s engine is a newly-developed unit based on RE’s ‘J’ architecture. Exact capacity of this motor is not known yet but it is likely to displace around 350cc. As compare to the existing 350cc models, the engine internals are different while the drivetrain is also positioned on the left side. Coming to the cycle parts, as opposed to the single-cradle frame seen in the existing REs, the Meteor is evidently underpinned by a double-cradle chassis. Suspension setup comprises of basic telescopic forks and dual shock absorbers while braking is handled by disc brakes at both ends.

Royal Enfield is expected to price the Meteor 350 slightly higher than the Thunderbird 350X. Our calculated guess says it should be pegged in the ballpark of Rs 1.60-1.70 lakh (ex-showroom).