Royal Enfield Classic 350 Gunmetal Grey Gets ABS

500cc Classic Desert Storm and Chrome too get essential safety net; other models to follow suit

Royal Enfield’s dealerships across India have confirmed the launch of the Classic 350 Gunmetal Grey with dual-channel ABS. Priced at Rs 1.53 lakh (ex-showroom Pune), the bike commands a premium of around Rs 9,000 over the standard model. Customers can book the bike for a token amount of Rs 5,000. This will be the fourth bike from Royal Enfield’s stable to be equipped with ABS. Other models will follow suit to adhere to the government’s new rules which makes ABS mandatory for all new two-wheelers above 125cc.

Aside from the new safety feature and the unique colour scheme, the bike is essentially a Classic 350 underneath. Powering the Classic 350 Gunmetal Grey is a 346cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled motor that pumps out 20PS of power and a peak torque of 28Nm. It comes mated to a 5-speed transmission.

Suspension duties are handled by conventional telescopic forks up front and a twin shock absorber setup at the rear. In terms of braking, the Classic 350 Gunmetal Grey employs a 280mm disk brake at the front and a 240mm disk at the rear. The addition of dual-channel ABS should help prevent the wheels from locking up under hard braking.

While we had already reported the launch of the Classic 500 Stealth Black with ABS, Royal Enfield has now also launched the Desert Storm and Chrome variants with dual-channel ABS. The former is priced at Rs 2.02 lakh while the latter is priced at Rs 2.10 lakh (ex-showroom Pune).

Meanwhile, Royal Enfield’s Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 which feature dual-channel ABS as standard are slated to be launched in India on November 14. Select dealerships across the country have already started accepting bookings for the 650cc twins for a token amount of Rs 5,000. However, deliveries are only expected to commence towards the end of November. The RE Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 will go up against the likes of the Harley-Davidson Street 750 (Rs 5.25 lakh) and Kawasaki Z650, which is priced at Rs 5.29 lakh (both prices, ex-showroom pan-India).