Royal Enfield Meteor 350 Spotted Sans Camouflage, Launching Soon

The new bike is expected to launch in the next couple of months

[Update: Royal Enfield has launched the Meteor 350 in India. Head here for the pricing and other details regarding the launch]

• The Meteor 350 will be Enfield’s first bike based on the new J-platform.
• It is likely to replace the existing Thunderbird 350.
• Expect a price tag of Rs 1.80 lakh (ex-showroom India).

The only missing motorcycle from Royal Enfield’s BS6 lineup is the Thunderbird 350. With the existing BS4 stock now depleted and Enfield dealers now only selling BS6 units, we expected to hear what the future holds for the Thunderbird series. And now it seems that Royal Enfield is likely to terminate the name to make way for the Meteor 350. With new images of the production-ready bike surfacing online, which bear the Meteor 350 badge, we expect Royal Enfield to launch the bike in the next couple of months. 

The Meteor 350 will be Enfield’s first bike from the new J-platform. There are radical changes to the chassis as well as the motor. However, the styling remains quite similar to the Thunderbird 350X. The bulbous tank arrives in an eccentric yellow colour. The triangular black side panels bear the new Meteor 350 badging. Even the blacked-out rims get body-coloured rim tapes.

We had already spotted the Meteor 350 earlier (when we thought it would be the new Thunderbird 350) running a new roundel info cluster and switches derived from the Concept KX showcased at EICMA 2018.

A new double cradle chassis houses the new motor which is dramatically different from the 346cc UCE motor that you find on the Classic 350 BS6 and the Bullet 350 BS6. The UCE motor makes 19.3PS at 5250rpm and 28Nm at 4000rpm. We expect this new 350cc air-cooled fuel-injected engine to be more powerful and hoping that it will be a bit more refined. Hopefully, it might have a counterbalancer to suppress excess vibrations and a six-speed gearbox to make it touring-friendly.

Despite the new chassis, expect the suspension units (a conventional fork and twin shocks) as well as the wheel assembly to remain the same as the old Thunderbird 350X. Dual-channel ABS will be offered as standard on the Meteor 350. 

Given the current COVID-19 lockdown, we believe the launch of the Meteor 350 has been pushed ahead by a couple of months. Nevertheless, the new Meteor 350 is expected to carry a price tag of Rs 1.80 lakh (ex-showroom) and will go up against retro roadsters like the Jawa Forty Two and the Benelli Imperiale 400.