Royal Enfield Meteor 350
Almost three months ago we teased out the first details of the new Royal Enfield Meteor 350 and today we can now tell you that the bikes will be here in Australian dealership by mid-late February priced from $6540 +ORC.
The Fireball is that lowest priced option while the sticker price raises to $6840 for the Stellar variant and finally to the top-spec Supernova at $7240.
Helping to add further value to the equation is a three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty and roadside assistance package put together by Royal Enfield Australia that is complimentary to all customers.
Royal Enfield have stressed that this bike has gone through the same pain-staking development process that they subjected their 650 Interceptor and Continental bikes.
Thus this will be their second model range developed from the start to meet the requirements of the global market, which demand a higher quality approach to the fine details than what the Indian market seems to have been happy putting up with all these years. In their home market though this model is going gangbusters, so they also certainly appreciate the step up in finish that they also now benefit from.
The new ‘J Series’ 349 cc singe-cylinder might be air-cooled but it is fuel injected and also sports an oil-cooler. The bore is 72 mm while the stroke is 85.5 mm and it is a SOHC design.
A little over 20 horsepower at 6100 rpm is claimed along with 27 Nm of torque at 4000 rpm.
We are led to believe the bikes top out at a little over 115 km/h and cruise comfortably at 100 km/h.
Cooling fins add to the retro look of the machine while a single exhaust port dumps in to a long and low slung almost peashooter style chromed exhaust. Even from the amateur videos with so-so audio quality the machine appears to sound quite good, particularly on start-up.
A massive reduction in vibration and improvement in refinement is promised over the machines somewhat agricultural predecessor thanks to a balancer shaft.
A five-speed gearbox and chain final drive completes the drivetrain.
The new Meteor 350 rolls on alloy rims and tubeless tyres. A 19-inch front will aid stability on rougher roads and combines with a 140/70-17 rear. A generous 170 mm of ground clearance combining with that 100/90-19 front hoop should allow for plenty of soft-roading.
A single 300 mm disc with twin-piston floating caliper up front is backed up by a dual-channel ABS system and large 270 mm rear disc.
A circular LED ring surrounds and contrasts with what otherwise is a conventional H4 halogen headlight. Huge old school indicators protrude on stalks from the headlight housing.
At first the instruments look old school conventional but it marries the old with the new. The conventional needle speedometer has an LCD insert that displays all the extraneous information such as gear position and the various tripmeter functions etc. A USB port is also provided.
The main display is flanked by another completely separated smaller round display that on start-up displays the Royal Enfield logo followed by ‘Built With Google’. This ‘Tripper’ display enables some extra functionality via an app and Bluetooth, with simple navigation prompts fed from Google Maps and displayed on this additional screen.
Pillion grab-rails and an optional sissy bar will make carrying pillions and/or luggage a simple affair.
The rider controls are a somewhat foot-forward affair but the rider is positioned quite upright with high-set bars. Seat height is 765 mm.
Chassis wise a new spine frame with twin down-tubes forms the backbone of the Meteor.
Conventional 41 mm telescopic forks have 130 mm of travel. A six-stage pre-load adjustable twin-shock rear helps to smooth out the bumps. The wheelbase is 1400 mm.
A 15-litre fuel cell should offer a range in excess of 300 kilometres.
It will be interesting to see how well these are received in Australia. Our market certainly took to the 650 range in decent numbers with Royal Enfield claiming to have a 13.1 per cent of the mid-size motorcycle market in Australia, with the 650 models making up 60 per cent of their sales volume in Australia.
Royal Enfield Meteor 350 Gallery
