It's been a long time we've seen contents under the Retrosters category. Now again, Royal Enfield has given a perfect treat for the retro lovers. Hunter 350 is the one and we've speculated about this motorbike from the last year. To begin with, the final product stays true to the design of the prototype which the bike maker has tested for the long time. Now without wasting much time, let's directly jump on to the motorbike.
The design elements of the motorbike consists of some scrambler elements with that old school charm. Tear drop shaped fuel tank is mounted on the conventional double down tube frame and stuffed inside it is the same motor from the Meteor 350 under the J platform. Retro variant consists of 2 color options such as black and silver. Only the fuel tank color is differed. All other components are blacked out including the exhaust and crankcase. It would've been great if the manufacturer offered some chrome elements such as in exhaust pipe, engine casing, headlamp, rear tail etc. Coming to the tail, round shaped halogen tail lamp is mounted on the short fender and the headlamp is too halogen.
Body panels are minimal and the single piece seat gets a step up treatment. Pillion grab rail too looks very functional when compared to the one on the metro variant. Handle bar is raised and the footpegs are positioned at the center. All together gives the rider a comfortable riding posture inside the city but it stays as a question mark along the freeway cruising. Meteor's footpegs are positioned way too front which makes it cruiser friendly.
Basic switchgears are offered in this variant. Present beyond the raised handle setup is a offset mounted single dial anlog digital instrument cluster for basic info like speed, time, trip, odo and so on. Metro variant gets a big LCD display in that single dial and in addition to that, it also gets a tripper nav system which we've seen previously on the Classic and Meteor. Turn indicators are square shaped which looks similar to the one on the GT650.
Powertrain is the same J series motor which is a 350cc SOHC air cooled unit producing about 20.4Ps & 27Nm of peak power & torque at 6100 & 4000 rpm mated to a 5 speed transmission system. The manufacturer has tuned the motor according to the bike's nature and surely we can able to feel the difference in the engine's punch. Frame is suspended using 41mm telescopic forks at the front with fork gaiters and twin shocks at the rear(6 step preload adjustable) paired to the rectangular swingarm unit. Braking duties are handled by 300mm disc with twin piston caliper upfront and 153mm drum setup at the rear. It also gets a single channel ABS assist.
Drum setup at the rear is the main cost cutting factor and the manufacturer has tried to retain the old feel of utilizing the drum setup. Drum setup itself is enough if we know how to brake effectively. Seat height comes by 800mm which will suit for all kind of riders and the ground clearance is about 150mm. All together weighs the motorbike about 177kg. Front and rear end gets a 110 and 140 section tubed rubbers which is wrapped on the 17'' wired spoke rims.
Overall, this motorbike is quite a treat for the retro lovers and I can't wait to swing my leg around one of those. But still, it misses out some treatments such as chrome, twin pod instrument cluster for odo and tacho. I personally prefer the Retro variant over the Metro. What's your pick?? Don't forget to comment below.
Image courtesy - Royal Enfield
The design elements of the motorbike consists of some scrambler elements with that old school charm. Tear drop shaped fuel tank is mounted on the conventional double down tube frame and stuffed inside it is the same motor from the Meteor 350 under the J platform. Retro variant consists of 2 color options such as black and silver. Only the fuel tank color is differed. All other components are blacked out including the exhaust and crankcase. It would've been great if the manufacturer offered some chrome elements such as in exhaust pipe, engine casing, headlamp, rear tail etc. Coming to the tail, round shaped halogen tail lamp is mounted on the short fender and the headlamp is too halogen.
Body panels are minimal and the single piece seat gets a step up treatment. Pillion grab rail too looks very functional when compared to the one on the metro variant. Handle bar is raised and the footpegs are positioned at the center. All together gives the rider a comfortable riding posture inside the city but it stays as a question mark along the freeway cruising. Meteor's footpegs are positioned way too front which makes it cruiser friendly.
Basic switchgears are offered in this variant. Present beyond the raised handle setup is a offset mounted single dial anlog digital instrument cluster for basic info like speed, time, trip, odo and so on. Metro variant gets a big LCD display in that single dial and in addition to that, it also gets a tripper nav system which we've seen previously on the Classic and Meteor. Turn indicators are square shaped which looks similar to the one on the GT650.
Powertrain is the same J series motor which is a 350cc SOHC air cooled unit producing about 20.4Ps & 27Nm of peak power & torque at 6100 & 4000 rpm mated to a 5 speed transmission system. The manufacturer has tuned the motor according to the bike's nature and surely we can able to feel the difference in the engine's punch. Frame is suspended using 41mm telescopic forks at the front with fork gaiters and twin shocks at the rear(6 step preload adjustable) paired to the rectangular swingarm unit. Braking duties are handled by 300mm disc with twin piston caliper upfront and 153mm drum setup at the rear. It also gets a single channel ABS assist.
Drum setup at the rear is the main cost cutting factor and the manufacturer has tried to retain the old feel of utilizing the drum setup. Drum setup itself is enough if we know how to brake effectively. Seat height comes by 800mm which will suit for all kind of riders and the ground clearance is about 150mm. All together weighs the motorbike about 177kg. Front and rear end gets a 110 and 140 section tubed rubbers which is wrapped on the 17'' wired spoke rims.
Overall, this motorbike is quite a treat for the retro lovers and I can't wait to swing my leg around one of those. But still, it misses out some treatments such as chrome, twin pod instrument cluster for odo and tacho. I personally prefer the Retro variant over the Metro. What's your pick?? Don't forget to comment below.
Image courtesy - Royal Enfield
Tags
Retrosters