Bike Reviews Reviews

Royal Enfield Meteor 350 Fireball Review

Written by Parichay Malvankar

Royal Enfield launched the all-new Meteor 350 in the Indian market starting at the price of INR 1.75 lakh ex-showroom, India. The Royal Enfield Meteor 350 replaces the Royal Enfield Thunderbird and the Thunderbird X in the Indian market. The motorcycle does not just come with a new name, that enables it to be marketed in the international market, but also with a redesigned chassis and a completely new engine architecture. 

The Royal Enfield Meteor is powered by a new J-series 349cc single-cylinder four-stroke air-oil cooled motor that produces 20.2 Bhp of power and 27 Nm of torque matched to a new optimised 5-speed transmission with a new 7-plate clutch that makes Shifting-Gears smoother and crisper than the predecessor. 

For the new generation engine, Royal Enfield has replaced the push-rod valve distribution system with a chain-driven valvetrain that comes with a 2-Valve Over Head Cam setup. The new engine also comes with a new balancer shaft that minimises rogue vibrations in the block but still gives the hallmark thump of the long-stroke motor. The head has also been re-engineered with a new oil cooling circuit enabling better thermodynamics and minimising loss of power on both long highway rides as well as urban commutes. 

The Royal Enfield Meteor 350 features a new generation twin downtube spine frame that has been built from scratch and ensures stability on both the straight line and into corners. The chassis rides on 41mm diameter ‘right side up’ telescopic fork with 130mm of travel on the front and 6-step adjustable twin-tube emulsion type shock absorbers on the rear. The Meteor 350 measures 1400mm of the wheelbase, comes with a 170mm of ground clearance and a comfortable 765mm seat height and rides on 19-inch front and 17-inch rear alloy wheels. Braking power comes from a 300mm single-disc on the front with a floating two-piston calliper and a 270mm single disc on the rear with a single-piston calliper equipped with a dual-channel ABS setup as standard. 

The Royal Enfield Meteor 350 features an easy-riding cruiser stance with retro-classic design and contemporary features such as a rounded halogen headlamp with LED daytime running lights, LED tail lamps, rounded turn signal lamps, retro switchgear, modern semi-digital instruments cluster with a dedicated Royal Enfield Tripper turn-by-turn navigation pod, concentric speedometer and digital MID, etc. 

The Royal Enfield Meteor 350 is offered in three variants – Fireball, Stellar and Supernova priced at INR 1,75,817 ex-showroom for the Fireball, INR 1,81,326 ex-showroom for the Stellar and INR 1,90,536 ex-showroom for the Supernova.

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