The new variant will be sold alongside the variants that are already on sale today
Looks like Royal Enfield is on a spree of launching motorcycles with a ton of motorcycles currently under testing. Most expected launches are Meteor 650, Shotgun 650, Himalayan 450, 450 Scram, Hunter 350, new Bullet 350 and then a new variant of Meteor 350 too.
Meteor 350 is one of Royal Enfield’s most popular motorcycles on sale in India. It strikes a right balance between price and performance while offering decent cruise ability too. We had covered this in the past predicting that the new variant of Meteor 350 will be a sportier version like Thunderbird’s X variants. But the new spy shot reveals very little changes to the motorcycle.
New Meteor 350X Variant
Looking at the spy shot, we are hard pressed to spot any additions or deletions Royal Enfield is going for. But there aren’t any. Everything we see on the new spy shot, already exists on the Meteor 350 that is on sale in India. But when we see closely, the changes start to fall in place.
Royal Enfield’s Meteor 350 currently gets 3 variants. Fireball, Stellar and Supernova. Stellar and Supernova get classic colour shades and chrome exhaust to add retro flair. On top of colour differences, Stellar adds a backrest for the pillion and on top of it, Supernova adds a front windscreen. Base Fireball variant gets a sporty appeal with black finish on the entire motorcycle except for the red fuel tank.
If a customer wants a sporty look, he doesn’t get features like a windscreen and pillion backrest. If they go with these features, the sporty appeal is replaced with retro charm and the chrome bling. There was never a middle ground and that’s where this new variant will come in. In the spy shot, it gets a black rear mudguard, black exhaust and everything like on Fireball but it also gets a pillion backrest. This combination didn’t exist before.
New Royal Enfield Meteor 350X can be expected to come with Fireball’s colour scheme along with Supernova’s features like a pillion backrest and a windscreen at front. For the sake of variety, Royal Enfield can also throw in sporty tyres and a slightly stiffened suspension to match the visual sportiness of the Meteor 350.
Specs & Launch
The new variant is expected to be launched in the coming days. We expect some styling changes, new colours and along with it, some new design elements can be deleted or added based on the flavour Royal Enfield is eyeing for.
Meteor 350 is a well-sorted package in terms of powertrain and chassis. It is based on the company’s new ‘J’ platform and gets the new 349 cc JD1 engine by Royal Enfield. It makes 20.2 bhp of power at 6100 RPM and a healthy 27 Nm of torque at 4000 RPM. This engine is coupled to a 5-speed transmission. The new variant is expected to retain the same powertrain and chassis. When launched, it will lock horns with Honda CB350RS and classic cruisers from Jawa, Benelli Imperiale 400 and Yezdi Roadster. Also expect a slight price premium over the current top-spec Supernova variant.
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
