Hunter 350 is set to become the smallest, lightest and least expensive Royal Enfield on offer
Royal Enfield enjoys a certain cool factor in India. It is one of the most in-trend motorcycle brands and is expected to stay that way for a long time. Fuelled by the nostalgia it invokes, Royal Enfield is trying to expand its portfolio both vertically and horizontally.
In that light, we have seen a lot more products from Royal Enfield launched across various segments and price points. Royal Enfield currently tops 200cc to 500cc segment. But the latest venture by Royal Enfield is supposed to make the British brand’s name accessible to a wider customer base. That will be Hunter 350.
Royal Enfield Hunter 350 Teaser – Exhaust Note
When we say Hunter 350 will appeal to a wider audience, we don’t mean just in terms of pricing. Of course, pricing will be lower. At least with the base Retro variant. If Royal Enfield offers it around Rs. 1.4 lakh to Rs. 1.5 lakh, the company has basically struck gold. The other aspect is weight. As per leaked specs which we covered in a previous post, the base Retro variant is just 177 kg while Metro and Metro Rebel weigh 181 kg.
This attracts a lot of customers that want to be associated with this nostalgic brand, but would scoff away from 195 kg of Classic 350 and 191 kg of Meteor 350. Weight and long wheelbase are good for that occasional highway ride. But for everyday use, they make a bike “Chota haathi”. All those people can now look at Hunter 350. Latest teaser reveals the exhaust note of Hunter 350 or Hunter 350 sound.
Leaked spy shots reveal the lean and athletic design of Hunter 350. This is a departure from the bulky and chunky design that Royal Enfield bikes are generally associated with. Design seems to be heavily inspired by another British product, Triumph Street Twin. Hunter 350 will rival the upcoming Bajaj-Triumph motorcycle.
In the earlier teaser, Royal Enfield had dropped a subtle hint of the possibility of launching the new Bullet 350 alongside Hunter 350. Their teaser had the tagline Bullet Meri Jaan. Bullet name is actually more popular in India than Royal Enfield’s own name. Bullet is RE and RE is Bullet.
Specs & Launch
Coming back to Hunter, the Retro variant only gets a disc at front and single-channel ABS. It gets spoked wheels, halogen bulbs all around, oval indicators, and classic analog instrument clusters. Hunter Metro, however, gets 270 mm disc at the rear and dual-channel ABS. It gets alloys, LED tail lamp, round indicators, and Meteor’s instrument cluster. Hunter 350 gets a seat height of 800mm, while ground clearance is at 150mm and fuel tank capacity is 13 liters.
Hunter 350 gets the same J-platform that’s currently doing duties in Classic 350 and Meteor 350. It has a twin downtube spine frame, telescopic front forks and twin rear shocks. Hunter is also powered by the same 349cc motor that makes 20.2 bhp and 27 Nm and is mated to a 5-speed gearbox. Royal Enfield will launch Hunter 350 on 7th of August, 2022. When launched, it will lock horns with recently launched mixed-bag, TVS Ronin, Bajaj Dominar 250 and also the upcoming Bajaj-Triumph motorcycle.
