Royal Enfield Hunter 350 launched, prices start from Rs 1.50lakh

Royal Enfield has just launched the Hunter 350, and out here in India the pricing of the new bike ranges from Rs 1.50lakh to Rs 1.69lakh (ex-showroom, Chennai). The Hunter 350 becomes the third motorcycle in the 350cc J-series of motorcycles joining the likes of the Meteor 350 and the Classic 350.

The new Royal Enfield Hunter 350 looks great in person. It's got a refreshingly distinctive streetbike-roadster body shape compared to the easy-going, tourer styling of the Meteor and the Classic. The halogen headlamp, the fork gaiters, the new sculpted tank, the flattish seat, the short, slightly upswept exhaust can – all comes together well in this minimalistic yet cool retro bike design theme. Charm, it most certainly does with its looks.

There will be two variants of the Hunter 350 the top-spec Metro variant and the base variant, the Retro (Rs 1.50lakh). The Metro will come in two trim series - one being the Dapper series Metro (Rs 1.64 lakh) and the other being the Rebel series Metro (Rs 1.69lakh) - which comes with a livelier two-tone paintjob, different style badging, and the tripper navigation pod as standard fitment.

Distinguishing features of the Retro variant are its narrower treads, spoke wheels, its switchgear that's from the older RE models, differently styled info display, indicators, seat and grabrail, while the tail light unit features a bulb and isn't an LED unit like on the Metro.

The Hunter 350 is powered by Royal Enfield's J-series engine – the same 350cc motor as the Meteor 350 and Classic 350 J-Series bikes. The highly-refined motor continues to produce a max power and torque of 20.4PS and 27Nm. Tipping the scales at 181kg, the Hunter is around 15kg lighter than the RE Classic 350, so it should have a little more pep in its step. This makes it the lightest motorcycle currently on offer from RE. The big difference with this bike compared to the other J-series bikes is that here, the handlebar, panels, airbox, suspension configuration, rake angle are all unique to the Hunter 350. Even the twin downtube frame has been shortened, so when you swing a leg over the bike you'll assume a mildly aggressive riding stance which is a contrast to its more laid-back siblings' riding geometry. The Hunter's 1,370mm wheelbase is also smaller than the other two 350s and factoring this along with a tighter rake angle, should imply sharper handling bike than the others too.

The Hunter 350 gets 17-inch cast alloy/ spoke rims at both ends with tubeless tyres on. Managing suspension duty is a 41mm telescopic fork at the front with 130mm of travel while 6-step preload adjustable twin shocks with 102mm of travel handling the rear. The Hunter gets a 300mm disc with a twin-piston calliper at the front and a 240mm disc with single-pot calliper at the rear (the Retro gets a rear drum brake). The Metro variant of the Hunter 350 gets dual-channel ABS as standard, while the Retro comes with single-channel ABS.

Out here in India, the Hunter 350 will take on the likes of the Honda CB350, the TVS Ronin and the Jawa 42.

We've already spent a couple of days riding the RE Hunter 350 around Bangkok and are ready with our first ride review, but due to an embargo on our opinions, you'll have to wait till August 10 to check it out. Watch this space for more.