2021 Royal Enfield Meteor 350 offers cruiser style for moped money

American motorbike patrons are fairly sensitive in the case of cruisers. They have an inclination to view the recipe as pretty mounted, which is basically why we proceed to see huge, heavy baggers with huge, torque-heavy, low-revving engines and stratospheric worth tags from the likes of Harley-Davidson or Indian. This resistance to alter may make life troublesome for an organization like Royal Enfield — which is understood for its small-displacement, inexpensive bikes — to interrupt into the cruiser market. That is not going to cease Enfield from attempting, although, which brings me to the 2021 Meteor 350.

The Meteor 350 is an odd little motorbike. It has many hallmarks of the cruiser phase that followers of old-school American fashions will discover acquainted, like a heel shifter, pillion backrest or an accessible tall windscreen. However it does not appear like a prototypical American cruiser. As a substitute, it brings loads of British-standard bike vibes (suppose Triumph Bonneville). It is form of a complicated mashup, however weirdly, it really works.

The center of the Meteor 350 is Enfield’s clean-sheet, 349-cc, air-cooled, single-cylinder engine. Enfield might be best-known for its singles, however in contrast to the marginally agricultural, old-tech thumpers of previous, the Meteor’s lump is totally fashionable. That modernity begins with the addition of a balancer shaft to tame the only’s inherent vibrations at increased revs. The bike can be fitted with gasoline injection, and the result’s a scant 20 horsepower.

That good-looking little thumper is mated to a five-speed transmission. A motorcycle with solely 5 ahead gears is form of a rarity nowadays, however the Meteor does not price a lot and the value financial savings have to come back from someplace. These 5 gears are sufficient to get the Meteor as much as freeway speeds, even with a big rider like me. Nonetheless, I am unable to say that there is a lot left in reserve by way of passing energy, so get comfy in the best lane.

The Meteor’s chassis is predictably a bit old fashioned, however not unhealthy. The body is a twin-downtube unit that might look proper at house on a Honda CB350 or a ’70s Bonneville. The entrance suspension consists of non-adjustable, 41-millimeter, right-side-up forks and a pair of primary twin-tube emulsion dampers out again, that are adjustable for preload.

Braking on the Meteor is form of a combined bag. The only entrance, twin-piston Bybre (Brembo’s worth line) caliper grips a 300-millimeter rotor, and the again will get a 270-millimeter disc and single-piston caliper. This mix is ok, however when you’re somebody like me who tends to get a bit lazy and use solely the entrance brake, you may need to reevaluate that approach as a result of the entrance brake alone cannot deal with too many exhausting stops with a heavy rider aboard. The excellent news is that the Meteor comes normal with two-channel anti-lock brakes — one thing I like to see on lower-cost bikes — so if you have to, you may seize a giant previous handful of that entrance lever.

By way of ergonomics, the Meteor 350 is ideally located to enchantment to newer riders. Its cruiser-like kind issue provides it a low seat peak of 30 inches which is lots pleasant for smaller motorcyclists. Additionally pleasant is its low 421-pound curb weight (which Enfield qualifies as 90% stuffed with gasoline and oil), which ought to make low-speed maneuvers a snap and likewise ease pick-up when a brand new rider invariably drops it on its aspect.

The bike’s controls are minimal, however I like the mixture analog/digital show. The analog speedometer is good-looking and simply readable whereas the digital portion handles all of the requirements like a gasoline gauge and a gear place indicator — each of which I take into account obligatory in 2021. The bike’s switchgear can be primary however seems pleasantly classic and feels prefer it’s of cheap high quality. 

The excessive level from an electronics perspective is the Tripper navigation unit. This small shade display screen to the best of the primary gauge shows easy, easy-to-read, turn-by-turn instructions when paired with the Royal Enfield app in your cellphone. Even higher is that Google Maps powers the system, so it is intuitive and correct.

The Meteor’s general construct high quality is nice. The bike makes use of steel in most locations and the opposite finishes just like the seat’s vinyl or the occasional plastic bits all really feel good. To me, this bike appears like an additional assertion of intent that Royal Enfield is fascinated about making inexpensive bikes slightly than low-cost ones.

The 2021 Royal Enfield Meteor 350 begins at $4,399 for the essential Fireball trim. This skips the windshield and passenger backrest in addition to metallic paint. Subsequent is the Stellar trim, for $4,499, which will get the pillion backrest and provides a chrome exhaust and metallic paint. My tester is the top-spec Supernova that retails for simply $4,599 and will get a pleasant non-adjustable windscreen and metallic blue or metallic brown paint. This bike is Supernova Brown, which is a horny shade with a considerably unlucky title.

After spending a while with the Meteor, I can say that it is a unbelievable little motorbike. It does not look or really feel like an affordable bike and I believe any new rider that throws a leg over one will like it. Sadly, I additionally imagine that the Meteor might battle to search out an viewers within the US the place cruiser patrons dream of cross-country freeway rides — one thing lower than perfect for a 20-hp single. Search for the Meteor 350 to hit sellers in Might.