[ku69rd]

My initial expressions of the ride after a 150+ km ride with Meteor

Engine: Quite peppy when compared to the UCE Engines, have not ridden the Honda CB350 so cannot compare to it. The roll on speeds are indeed quick, 5th gear you can roll from 40 without lugging the engine. Looks like this engine is more tuned for Mid Range rather than outright top end. Vibes are felt very mildly at the foot pegs & Handle Bars but not something that is a show stopper.
Console shows an ECO reading when you coast around 60 to 70 Kays to an hour. Has a big catalytic converter (not sure if I have clicked a picture of it). Owners will not complain about the mileage as it will be in the high 30s. Gear shifts are smooth and never had any issues whilst upshifting or downshifting.The thump is present but cannot compare it with the CI or AVL engines thanks to BS6.

Riding Ergonomics: At 191 kilos it is indeed on the heavier side, but the weight does not make its presence felt even while pushing the bike or taking it out of parking slots. The low Center of Gravity really helps here. The seating posture is fairly upright with a load on your back/tail bone. Forward foot pegs very similar to the bike it replaces, The Thunderbird. Handle bar is quite easy to reach and for my height (5 Feet 10 Inches) it all fell in place. Plenty of room and did not get the feeling that I was being hustled onto the bike. They do offer touring seats which has 3D Mesh but no comments on them since they were not available for the test ride.

Fit and Finish: This is one area where they have improved big time. Switch console and mirror pegs gel really well, finished in Matt Black the switches look good but the controls will need time to get used to. Both the Pass Beam & Starter rotary swtiches will need some time before you can start to be more responsive with them. The Paint job is really good, had the supernova in dual colors and the finish was really nice. The chassis welds have come a long way and look the part. There was one weld which was a bit ugly when compared to the rest of welds on the bike and will let you guys decide for yourself. Backrest finish is again smooth, lever nuts sit plush and allen bolts are used giving it a much premium look. Front Headlight now sports RE Logo proudly. You will get to see lot of places where the branding has been done and I infact lost count of them. Seats are very neatly stitched in an orderly manner. No deviations to that. Alloys compliment the looks irrespective of their finish. Wires are neatly packaged even though there are a quite a few. Rubber tubes seems to be ok only a long term ownership can confirm that. On my old TB 500, I used to replace the pipes annually just to be sure. Headlight throw was ok but my night ride was limited to a 4 or 5 kms. As many have stated it comes with a nice LED Ring which acts as DRL and similarly for the Tail Lamp. The tail lamp glows fully only when brakes are applied.

















Suspension: Nothing much has changed in this space though, front suspension is really good and absorbs bumps passing minimal impact to the hands, but the rear suspension is stiff. Cornering is confidence inspiring due to the chassis and mid corner corrections are easier when compared to my TB 500. However potholes will make their presence felt but minor bumps are dispatched if you maintain a speeds above 50 to 60 kays. Wish they worked on this part.

Tires & Brakes: Tires are sticky and gives you good confidence. They were able to hold their line with no fuss/drama. ABS was not overeager and brakes are just fine. Since I am comfortable with Engine braking brakes were more than adequate for me. Did not display any badges like Bybre but am suspecting it might be Endurance or Pricol make. Expect the brake pads to be easy on your pockets for the long run. Chain is from Rolon. Front is a 19 incher and rear is a 17 inch setup.

Since many have posted pictures of the bike, have posted a few photos which captured my attention.
Have put up the ride video.

Any specific questions do let me know and I will respond to the best of my knowledge.

https://youtu.be/0XJVBG4KqmM

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

My initial expressions of the ride after a 150+ km ride with Meteor

Did you happen to check out the mounting of the bottom cradle?

Cheers, Doc

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Did you happen to check out the mounting of the bottom cradle?

Cheers, Doc

Honestly no doc, however I have raised this query and will revert when I get the response. Need to see the other end to better understand the design.

[kamilharis]

Shumi drives the new RE. #Powerdrift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umpWxLyGtxg

[ebonho]

I still feel a Thunderbird looking bike is a very polarized taste. You either gravitate towards it or you are frankly put off by it.

I therefore do not think that price points and cubic capacity similarities are going to lump the potential buyership of this bike and the Honda into a single pool.

In fact much the opposite.

The Honda is a classic standard. And looks the part.

The Thunderbird and Meteor appeal to a more sit-back type of rider. Though I've known tons of Tbird guys who've done all it their power to modify their bikes into racers with handlebar mods and saddle tweaking ... some very good and very fast riders.

How you sit on a bike has a huge bearing on how you ride, and on the flip side, how you ride has a huge impact on what sit geometries feel natural and good to you.

Cheers, Doc

[ku69rd]

Missed putting an important update, the meteor has the battery saver installed. In other words, headlight turns on only when the engine comes alive and goes off when you turn the engine off.

Good handy feature to ensure battery life is not compromised.

[TorqueMonster]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

My initial expressions of the ride after a 150+ km ride with Meteor

Can I know what is a good cruising speed on the Meteor 350? Are cruising speeds of 90 -100kmph achievable ?

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by TorqueMonster

Can I know what is a good cruising speed on the Meteor 350? Are cruising speeds of 90 -100kmph achievable ?

Yes the meteor can cruise at 90 to 100 all day long without any fuss. Since the machines were new did not want to stress them hard for the top end reach. The bike sprints quickly to 80 and progress after that is a bit slow.

[surjaonwheelz]

Royal Enfield 350 Tutorials have been updated by RE on their official YouTube channel. Here's the link to their playlist

There's good amount of information in the 25 odd videos regarding each aspect of the bike.

Few points from the few videos I watched,
- The 'all new SOHC' engine has only 1 spark plug
- RE finally says, engine oil should be filled till the Max mark and not in between the min and max
- The wiring harness in front of the battery seems a bit cramped but both terminals of the battery is facing sideways is a positive (For GT/INT650 you've to take both side panels out)

[Bismaya]

This is definitly of the bikes that took a cue from Jawa, Imperiale and Highness for low seat height, something which wasn't previously there on Thunderbird. Went to check the out today and in the pic attach is a friend of mine who's 5"4 and could easily manage to put his foot on the ground. Hopefully this will attract a lot of riders who couldn't previously buy a Classic or Thunderbird because of the seat heights. Classic 350 has a 800mm seat height which isn't even ideal for everyone.

[ArizonaJim]

Originally Posted by TorqueMonster

Can I know what is a good cruising speed on the Meteor 350? Are cruising speeds of 90 -100kmph achievable ?

For a "ballpark estimate" of the maximum speed for a motorcycle in MPH, multiply the cube root of the horsepower times 30.

The Meteor's horsepower is about 20. The cube root of 20 is 2.714.
30 X 2.714 = 81.4 mph

A good rule of thumb to figure out what the maximum cruising speed should be is to not exceed 80 % of the maximum speed.

Using this 80% value and the speed of 81.4 mph we have 81.04 X 0.8 = 65.1 mph. Converting this to kph the answer is: max speed = 131 kph. Max cruising speed = 105 kph.

This would be for level roads.

[swami.n]

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim

For a "ballpark estimate" of the maximum speed for a motorcycle in MPH, multiply the cube root of the horsepower times 30.

The Meteor's horsepower is about 20. The cube root of 20 is 2.714.
30 X 2.714 = 81.4 mph

A good rule of thumb to figure out what the maximum cruising speed should be is to not exceed 80 % of the maximum speed.

Using this 80% value and the speed of 81.4 mph we have 81.04 X 0.8 = 65.1 mph. Converting this to kph the answer is: max speed = 131 kph. Max cruising speed = 105 kph.

This would be for level roads.

This is a good approximation technique and the actual figures are pretty close to your calculation. The meteor can provide a stress free experience in speeds between 90 and 100kmph. This is a good 15 to 20kmph higher than the previous pushrod unit. The main contributor being the drastically improved refinement levels over the UCE engine, which gives a vibe free experience till about we are closer to the redline.

[samuelv]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Any specific questions do let me know and I will respond to the best of my knowledge.

Just wanted to check if the meteor has a kick starter or is it just a electric start only like the modern bikes.

I wasn't able to notice the kick lever.

Cheers

[jaganm]

I test rode the Meteor Supernova in brown today and came back super impressed. Refinement is a big talking point for everyone, though I feel it is primarily because of the RE history. It is decent but not great. As I rode through the gears, I could feel some vibes coming through the footpegs and handlebars but nothing very obtrusive.

I really liked the seating and felt that I could easily do a long distance in them without problem. The one concern I had was regarding the rear shocks, as I went over the bad patches on ORR, I could sense the impact on my back as I'm used to a slightly lean forward position. It is nothing that I can't get used to, though.

The horn was super impressive and I used it two or three times during the ride. Fifth gear seems to be an overdrive and most city driving should be done in 3rd/4th.

I was riding it to decide between the Highness and the Meteor and I finally chose the Highness. I felt it had that little bit of extra grunt, a little more refinement and the Honda quality assurance. But I'm still besotted with the Meteor and when RE launches a bigger cruiser with the 650 engine (as is rumoured), its definitely going to be in my garage

[swami.n]

Originally Posted by samuelv

Just wanted to check if the meteor has a kick starter or is it just a electric start only like the modern bikes.

I wasn't able to notice the kick lever.

Cheers

No, there isn't a Kick lever option in the Meteor as is the case with many of the newer premium bikes. Unfortunately this seems to be the trend even from the puny 150cc segment. Started years back by FZ16 IIRC. I have witnessed on a number of occasions where people run with the bike and star it.

My wish is companies should atleast have the provision of adding a Kicker as an accessory for upto these 350 cc bikes. Especially because these newer engines are going to be a lot easier to kick start than the old push rod units. My AVL is easier than the CI unit and the UCE is easier than mine. It would be a boon for those who use their two wheelers mostly for weekends and not on a daily basis.

In the near future, I think smaller generators for battery charging or the jump start units like Powerbanks are going to become common.