Upon its launch, Royal Enfield Hunter 350 will lock its horns against Honda H’Ness CB350 and the upcoming Yezdi Roadking
Needless to say but Royal Enfield has a lot on its plate currently. The company is striving very hard to stay focussed on its earlier commitment of four launches every year despite the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. Hence, every now and then, one comes across numerous spy shots of various test mules of different models conducting trial testings.
One of the upcoming motorcycles from Royal Enfield spotted on numerous occasions in recent past is the roadster based on Meteor 350. This motorcycle has been tentatively titled Hunter 350. Another set of spy shots of the classic roadster have surfaced, courtesy auto enthusiast Arjunan Babu.
Royal Enfield Hunter 350cc – Design
As witnessed earlier, Hunter carries a classic retro-style design with signature styling highlights such as a round headlamp, a teardrop-shaped fuel tank, a single-piece seat and a short rear section. The bike rides on 17-inch blacked-out alloy wheels. The tail section gets split grab rails and a short circular fender along with a round turn taillight with turn indicators.
Further, an all-black theme gives the bike a sporty appeal. Parts like its handlebar, alloy wheels, engine casing, exhaust pipe and suspension setup have all been dipped in black paint with a matte finish.
Other notable highlights include a shortened upswept exhaust muffler, redesigned side panels, circular rearview mirrors, fork gaiters and wide tyres. The footpegs are placed towards the centre which should provide a comfortable riding posture thanks to the wide and tall handlebar.
Hunter should get an instrument console which is similar to Meteor 350 consisting of two circular pods- an analogue speedometer and a Tripper Navigation pod. Powered by Google Maps and Royal Enfield App, Tripper provides turn-by-turn navigation on the console when paired to one’s smartphone via Bluetooth. The analogue pod contains a digital display which should read information from the odometer and fuel gauge.
Mechanical Specs
Hunter will be based on the J1D platform which currently underpins Meteor 350, however, unlike the cruiser, the roadster will be tad sportier in essence. Suspension duties will be handled by 35 mm telescopic forks at front and twin gas-charged shocks at rear. Braking duties will be carried out by single disc brakes on both wheels assisted by a dual-channel ABS.
The upcoming roadster will be powered by a 349cc single-cylinder air-cooled OHC engine that can dish out 20.2 bhp and 27 Nm of peak torque. This unit will be coupled with a 5-speed gearbox and is more refined than the previous generation 350cc engine thanks to a counter-balance shaft. No official launch timeline has been confirmed by Royal Enfield yet. We expect it to be priced upwards of Rs 1.80 lakh (ex-showroom). I will take on the soon to be launched Yezdi Roadking.
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
