Royal Enfield Hunter 350 trims include Retro and Metro with the latter also having sub variant named Metro Rebel
Ahead of the launch of the Royal Enfield Hunter 350, the details of its trims have leaked online. As said earlier, the bike will come in 2 variants. They have been named Retro and Metro and, interestingly, the Metro has a sub-variant called Metro Rebel.
All the variants of the Hunter will get twin downtube spine frame with a similar suspension setup as the Meteor 350, 800 mm seat height, 150 mm ground clearance, and a 13-litre fuel tank. But, unfortunately, the bikes are too heavy for their size. While the Retro weighs 177 kg, the Metro is even heavier at 181 kg.
It must be seen how women and youth, the target customers for this bike adopt to the heaviness. In fact, the weight is in the ballpark of the very heavy bikes like the Classic 350 and Dominar 400.
The Retro here is the base variant. As said earlier, the base variant gets spoke wheels, single-channel ABS, 100/80-17 front and 120/80-17 rear tyres, 300 mm front disc and 152 mm rear drum brakes, halogen tail light, oval shaped indicators, a simple cluster, and a simple rear grab bar.
The Metro, on the other hand, gets alloy wheels, dual-channel ABS, 110/70-17 front and 140/70-17 rear tyres, 300 mm front disc and 270 mm rear disc brakes, LED tail light, round-shaped indicators, and Meteor-like cluster and rear grab bar.
As far as colours go, the Retro will come with Factory Black and Factory Silver shades while the Metro will be adorned with Dapper White, Dapper Ash, and Dapper Grey colours. The Grey further can be customised using MIY configurator.
The Metro Rebel comes with Rebel Black, Rebel Blue, and Rebel Red shades. The Rebel Red can be further customised using MIY configurator.
The Metro gets U-shaped alloy wheels with Ceat Zoom XL rear tyre and the Retro features spoke wheels with Ceat Zoom X3 rear tyre.
Another major difference between the 2 is in the seat. The Metro gets a ribbed pattern on the seat which is missing on the base variant.
Other than these changes, both the variants almost look the same. The tank gets recess on both the sides for better knee support. The mudguards, side cowls, chassis, swing arm, and wheels are finished in gloss black. The engine and exhaust get a matte black finish.
The left side offset instrument cluster is mounted on the triple T unlike the TVS Ronin and it must be seen how easily readable it is. The upcoming Hunter 350 is set to become the cheapest Royal Enfield as per reports.
It is expected to offer loads on fun thanks to the torquey 350 cc engine on a small package. The front fork rake seems to be minimal aiding in sure-footed handling. The only downers are the mediocre set of tyres and high weight. Royal Enfield could have opted the Apollo Alpha S1 units.
When launched, the Hunter 350 will compete with the likes of the TVS Ronin, Honda CB350RS, Jawa 42, and, to a certain extent, even the Bajaj Avenger Street 160.
