This Is Royal Enfield’s Answer To The KTM 390 Duke

The Hunter 450 has been spied testing with touring-friendly accessories

While KTM is busy prepping the 2023 390 Duke, Royal Enfield has its hands full with the Duke’s rival, the Hunter 450. The bike was spotted testing once again, this time with touring-friendly accessories like a top box, saddle stays, bar-end mirrors, a flyscreen as well as auxiliary lights. These combined with the potent-sounding 450cc liquid-cooled engine (that it’ll share with the Himalayan 450) and the upright ergonomics should make touring on this bike quite a breeze. 

Now while the Himalayan 450 runs a USD fork, this one’s suspended on a telescopic one to make it more affordable than its ADV sibling. The bike will get 17-inch alloys at both ends with road-biased tyres, seemingly all-new units from Ceat. 

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The 450cc liquid-cooled engine is expected to belt out figures north of 40PS. With the 2023 KTM 390 Duke’s output figures likely to be in the same ballpark, the fight between the two bikes could be quite a treat to watch! 

Interestingly, Royal Enfield is also working on a more hardcore version of the Hunter 450, likely to be called the Scrambler 450. Here’s a list of all the bikes that Royal Enfield’s 450cc platform will spawn. As for the Hunter 450, it is expected to make its India debut sometime later this year at an expected price tag of Rs 2.6 lakh (ex-showroom).

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