Royal Enfield Bullet Trials Range Discontinued
Modified On Mar 25, 2020 10:14 AM By Praveen M. for Royal Enfield Bullet Trials 350
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The motorcycle was launched just about a year ago
- The Royal Enfield Bullet Trials 350 and 500 featured painted frames, a single seat with a luggage rack and an upswept exhaust.
- There were no mechanical changes to make them trail-friendly.
- It didn’t really make sense for off-road enthusiasts as there already was the Royal Enfield Himalayan, which was more affordable than the Trials 500.
The Royal Enfield Bullet Trials 350 and the Bullet Trials 500 have been discontinued. The company has not brought a BS6-compliant version either, presumably due to poor sales. It was launched back in March 2019, marketed as a throwback to Johnny Brittain’s Bullet 350, which won a number of Trials titles back in the 1950s. To make the bike look similar to its forefather, it came with a painted frame, a single sprung seat, a luggage rack instead of a pillion seat, and an upswept exhaust system.
However, apart from the block pattern tyres, the bike had no mechanical enhancements to help it go over trails. It still sported the same suspension with the same amount of travel. There were no changes made to the gearing or the powerplant either. It was launched at Rs 1.62 lakh for the 350cc version and Rs 2.07 lakh for the 500cc variant. At these prices, they felt way too expensive for what they offered, especially considering the fact that the Royal Enfield Himalayan BS4 undercut the Bullet Trials 500 by Rs 26,815 at the time. Apart from being more affordable, the Himalayan is a proper off-road-ready adventure tourer. It is designed to go over the path less taken as well as tour on the highway comfortably.
Another reason why the Trials didn’t do well was due to the fact that it was strictly a single-seater. Motorcycles are coveted for their practicality in the Indian market and launching a single-seater bike wasn’t exactly a sound business idea. The bike would’ve performed well sales-wise if Royal Enfield had offered longer travel suspension, lighter chassis and perhaps revised gearing to tackle the trails effectively. In a related development, Royal Enfield has announced that it will stop selling its entire 500cc lineup in India. You can read more about it here.