Royal Enfield Meteor 350 could be the ultimate budget city bike

Royal Enfield have unveiled their new Meteor 350 – a small capacity city cruiser that could be make a perfect post-Covid commuter.

Powering this little machine is a brand new 349cc SOHC air and oil cooled single. It’s a much more modern design than the 500cc unit that Enfield have recently retired after a long service in their Bullet and Classic ranges.

Related articles on MCN

• Best motorbikes of 2021
• Kawasaki Euro5 production delays
• 2021 Yamaha MT-07 update

Externally it’s visually similar to the 650cc parallel twins Royal Enfield launched a couple of years back, so it wouldn’t surprise us if they share some parts as well as a common design.

Peak power is 20.2bhp at 6100rpm, while it produces a decent 19.9lb.ft of torque. Neither are going to set the world on fire but it’s more than enough for nipping around town. Paired with this is a five-speed gearbox, which again should be fine at sensible speeds, as well as a 15 litre petrol tank. There isn’t an MPG figure yet but we’d imagine the little single will sip at the fuel, so the range is likely to be in excess of 200 miles.

The engine is housed in a brand new chassis, which Enfield say is lighter, stiffer and more durable than previous models but doesn’t give up on comfort. Wheels are tubeless 19/17in, which should give more tyre options than the 18in ones on the 650s. Suspension is a simple affair but the twin shocks at the rear do offer six steps of preload.

Where it begins to look really smart is on the dash. The main dash is comprised of a really old-school-cool analogue speedo, with an LCD info panel sat inside. To the right is a little colour TFT that can display directions when paired with a smartphone running the Royal Enfield app. There’s even a USB port to keep your phone topped up as you ride.

There will be three models available when it arrives in dealers in spring 2021, the Fireball (with bright pop colours) for £3749, the Stellar (which comes with a backrest) for £3829 and the Supernova (which comes with a backrest, screen and two-tone metallic paint) for £3909.