On the Royal Enfield Meteor 350, the rider sits comfortably—feet forward, low upright seating, holding handlebars with no a great deal pressure on shoulders, and forming best ergonomic angles. But on longer rides, engine vibrations or the static sitting position may well tire you—the Meteor is as opposed to the Himalayan, which one can ride standing on foot pegs as effectively (even though not advised). To see how comfy it actually is, we ride the Meteor for 600 km, from Delhi to Jaipur and back.
Its 349cc engine (20.2bhp 27Nm) is refined though idling, vibrations are controlled. Straddling it is simple, thanks to a low seating position. The gearshift pedal has each a heel-shifter and a toe-shifter—it’s a boon on longer rides. The maximum torque of 27Nm is accomplished at an early 4000rpm, and so even at slower riding speeds in greater gears, you may well not really feel any lack of energy.
The Delhi to Jaipur highway is relatively effectively-carpeted—as are most Indian highways nowadays—so the only vibrations a rider may well really feel come from the engine. Till about speeds of 80 km/h, you do not really feel any vibrations, but as you go above one hundred km/h, the handlebars do vibrate. Also, though the riding seat is wide adequate for excellent assistance, more than time you may well get tired—perhaps due to the fact the seat material is not really firm. Fortunately, all Indian highways are complete of dhabas (consuming joints), exactly where one can loosen up if the going begins to get hard.
Also, though cornering on the Meteor is a breeze on effectively-paved roads—as I realised riding on the twisty path from Jaipur to Nahargarh Fort—the motorcycle does not really feel as rock-strong as the Himalayan on gravel. In old Jaipur’s visitors jam, the Meteor was simple to ride—at 191 kg (with tank complete), it is not as well heavy, and so consistently placing your feet on the road to balance the motorcycle in quit-and-go visitors does not tire the rider.
A worth-add on the Meteor is the Tripper—the turn-by-turn navigation pod. It connects to the rider’s smartphone by way of Bluetooth, and genuine-time directions—using Google Maps—are displayed on a little screen next to the tripmeter. The only concern right here is that the Tripper app seems to drain smartphone battery quicker than common apps. From Delhi to Fairmont Jaipur (exactly where I stayed), the Tripper app consumed about 30% battery (in six hours)—but then this also depends on points such as the phone, other apps operating, and so on.
The Meteor 350 is readily available in 3 variants—the Fireball for Rs 1.75 lakh, the Stellar for Rs 1.81 lakh, and the Supernova for Rs 1.90 lakh (ex-showroom, Chennai). Similar motorcycles at more or much less related costs readily available in India involve Honda H’ness and CB350R.
(The motorcycle is new, but the name isn’t—the Meteor 350 inherits its name from a different Royal Enfield motorcycle of the 1950s. Launched at the finish of 1952, the Meteor was a touring motorcycle produced by Royal Enfield in England for export to the American industry.)
Postscript: While staying at Fairmont Jaipur, the management took terrific care of the motorcycle (not every person turns up on a two-wheeler at a hotel like this), recommended nearby locations to take photographs, permitted a nearby employee to accompany me, and even let me take photographs of the motorcycle inside the hotel compound. For a moment, I forgot Tajness!
Total distance covered: 600 km
Time taken: 10 hours
Average speed: 60 km/h
Overall fuel efficiency: 45 km/litre