[VRod_24]

Hello all this is my story of the Royal Enfield Meteor 350 which I purchased just recently in 2022. But first let me talk about my brief Biking Past.

My Biking Past

Two wheelers were a taboo in my house during my growing years and it was only during my college that I could somehow convince my folks to get our first set of 2 wheels the humble Honda Aviator which still serves us perfectly till date. I have a lot of fond memories on this scooter namely the Alibaug ride which I did alongwith my college buddies. Later when I started earning I bought my first bike with my own money, the Honda Dream Neo 110. It served on for a while mostly doing local runs for errands and then I sold it off before it could complete a year. Then post a gap of few years I again had the itch of owning a two wheeler this time I went ahead and purchased myself a Honda Hornet CB 160R. It was an upgrade over my previous ride and had me satisfied for a decent amount of time but it had a major flaw which made me sell it eventually and those were its seats. Every time I used it for a long ride it would end up with me being not even able to sit down on a sofa, it was that bad. So after parting ways with it I itched on to buying another bike but then due to certain personal commitments on hand I could not. Finally in the year 2022 I decided on to buy one for myself and the bikes that I shortlisted were :

My Shortlisted bikes

1) BMW G310gs
2) RE Meteor 350
3) RE Classic 350 reborn
4) Honda CB 350
5) RE Super Meteor 650
The last one didn't work out as at the time of my purchase RE hadn't launched the Super Meteor it still hasn't.
Going by my list, it ought to be pretty clear that my priority was seat comfort. The performance isn't all that important as I am a sedate rider. I started out by consulting a few riders on Insta namely Bulu Patnaik aka Bulu Biker and Mr Pradeep aka Motoccino. Both of whom were kind enough to reply saying that the BMW and RE Meteor were high on seat comfort.
I then went on to visit a couple of showrooms for a test ride starting out with the Enfield's. I was really impressed with the 350 twins I.e Meteor and the Classic. The only pain point being the 3 months of waiting period on these bikes.
Next up I visited the Honda for the CB 350, post a brief test ride my thoughts were that the bike felt a little ordinary and one without a soul unlike the RE ( No offense to Honda cb350 owners) I was also not a fan of the artificial thump emanating from the exhaust. Add to that the stock seats felt a bit hard for both me and my wife.
Finally we visited the BMW Tusker showroom where the sales executive mentioned both the GS and 310r had a 4 month waiting which in turn ruled it out of the race.
So in the end we had the Royal enfield versus the Honda with the scales tipping towards the Honda as they promised a 3 days delivery time for the bike post full payment.
But I guess God had other plans. Later that day I contacted each and every Royal Enfield dealer in Bangalore to check whether they had any stock of either the Meteor 350 or the Classic 350 and to my luck the folks at CVS motors in Sadashivnagar a place approximately 30kms from my house had stock of two Meteor Supernova, one in brown and the other one in blue. The very next day I went to the showroom along with my wife and test rode both the Meteor and the Classic 350 again. My better half liked both of them and I went on to shamelessly ask them the availability of the Classic 350 and got the same reply that the dual channel Abs variants had a waiting of 3 months on them whereas the single channel ones where in stock( I feel in today's day and age no one should opt for single channel variants with drum brakes at the rear ). So I went ahead and booked the Brown Meteor Supernova variant. As promised the showroom delivered it to me within a week on TC number and in the following weekend I received my number plate as well. The experience at the dealership was nothing great they just did their job of delivering the bike without any fuss personally I would have preferred a little more premium experience especially from a brand like Royal Enfield but nevertheless I had no complaints as such with the dealer.
At the time of writing this post I have covered almost 500 kms on her including a Sunday ride to Ramanagara the famous place where Sholay was shot and the experience so far has been great. The seats on the Meteor are spot on both for the rider and the pillion, I really like the relaxed seating ergos on the bike with the footpegs slightly perched forward. The engine has enough grunt for the city with well spaced out gear ratios and for the highway is does a decent job. RE has managed to get a good sound out of the stock exhaust setup its not like those original bullets but it does have some of that thump in it.
My initial impressions on the bike can be split into my likes and dislikes.

Likes

a) Seat Comfort
The seats are pretty comfy on this bike and mind you I am using the stock seat and not the optional touring seat, having said that the seats in its stock setting has good padding overall and rider seats are quite wide. I do feel the pillion seats could have been a little wider but this stock seat is comfortable for my wife so I have no complaints but for people travelling with pillions on the healthier side I suggest to opt for a wider sear or go in for the Classic 350 instead.

b) Bottom End performance
RE has managed to tap in a lot of Bottom end punch from the new J platform engine. Performance is brisk and the gears are well spaced out. For the city the engine performs quite well. I'll reserve my views on the highway performance as I have yet to finish my running period of the bike but from the very little experience I've had on the highway with it I feel the performance is decent.

c) Looks
The bike has a lot of street presence in my opinion and RE have nailed it in terms of the design. Paint quality is good and overall fit finish is also good although I would have preferred a better cable management at the front. The USB charging point placement is spot on as it's easy to connect a cable from the socket to your phone as compared to the USB socket placement on the Honda Cb350. The horn also is loud enough to warn the ones on the road to know of your presence.

d) Instrument console
I like what RE has done with the console. It has a retro charm albeit with modern touches like a gear position indicator and 2 trip meters. The tripper is slightly eccentric to the main console and doesn't really gel with the design I feel a tachometer in its place would have been better.

[Be) ]Heal and Toe shifter[/b]
Now I know most people prefer the toe shifter design seen on most modern bike but trust me it's always easier to shift gears using a heal and toe shifter. The gearbox is nice and smooth and goes about doing its job without any complaints or false neutrals I guess RE has implemented a lot of learnings from the Interceptor 650 to this bike.

Dislikes

a) Stock Mirrors
The stock mirrors on the RE are those typical circular ones that you see on most of the Classic motorcycles which although look good but do very little in offering rear view visibility. I particularly hate the huge blind spots that it has for vehicles creeping in close to your bike. I have plans to replace them with either the stock mirrors from the Benelli Imperiale or the Bajaj Avenger.

b) Stock Headlight
The headlight beam is decent but nothing extraordinary. I am not sure how the LED ones on the Honda Cb350 performs but I will definitely upgrade to a better setup of Aux lights in the future if and when I decide to ride during the night.

c) Suspension
The Suspension is a bit of a mismatch I feel, the front being soft and the rear one a little bit on the stiffer side. The front does give a feeling of being disconnected from the road, now this could be because I have moved in from a street fighter kind of a motorcycle to a cruiser and something that I could get accustomed to in the long run. The rear shocks on the other hand absorbs most of the bumps that we have on our roads but it does have a tendency to send in a jolt to your back over the sharper joints or bumps.

d) Rear brake noise
This issue is kinda common to most of the meteors as far as I know. The rear brakes on application give out a screeching noise which I hope the technicians would be able to resolve during the first service.

Besides these points I don't have really much to complain about the bike. The Engine performance and clutch feel is good enough atleast that's what I feel. The clutch isn't that much heavy as some owners have reported.
Coming to the fuel efficiency the max FE that I have observed so far is 32Kmph which includes 60% of city riding and 40% of highway riding. I am hoping this figure would improve post the first service. The weight on the bike is nicely distributed and given the low saddle height you can get a good leverage to move the bike at standstill so in that sense it's pretty easy to manage in bumper to bumper traffic.
With more miles on the saddle I'll discover more points to mention about the bike in future posts.

Moving onto the accessories, I have installed the leg guards from RE and the wider footpegs for both the rider and the pillion. The bike with all the additional accessories costed me 2.83 lakhs on road in Bangalore. ( I know it's on the higher side but this is down to the fact that Bangalore has the highest road tax in India )
Besides the accessories from RE I have recently added a top rack and a Shad Sh42 top box which adds to my Guardian Gears Jaws mini tank bag for all my luggage requirements during touring. All of the above was purchased from Adeshwar Ryders arena store in Lalbagh, Bangalore.

First service update

I have completed her first service just a couple of days back and the experience at the SVC was decent nothing extraordinary. The rear brake issue has been resolved and now there is no screeching noise on its application. The first service costed me 1071 INR which I found to be reasonable. The major cost component being that of the Engine oil and the filter.
I hope this post helps someone who like me is on the lookout for a comfortable two wheeler. Thank you all for spending the time to read out my rather lengthy post also this is my first post on Team Bhp so any corrections or suggestions on the same would be welcome. Wishing you all fellow riders many safe kilometers ahead. Cheers

Riding Gears used

1) Riding jacket from Xtreme dynamics Inc
2) Raida Airwave gloves with Knox knuckle protectors of semi gauntlet type.
3) Rynox Air gt gloves for the pillion.
4) SMK twister helmet.
5) RE Military Vibe boots.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Motorcycle section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage today

[A_Abhiraam]

Congratulations on buying this beauty. Wishing you many more happy miles.

I too brought home a meteor in Fireball yellow in August of 2021. But my booking and delivery experience was a drama of a whole different level( Mostly common dealership happenings ��, but being my first bike it was quite frustrating)

Being a student and not being able to ride out often I haven't clocked much on the odo, only 1500 kms but looking forward to happy days.

Happy Motoring!

[shancz]

Congrats on the Meteor

Both the Meteor and and the CB look special on the roads(at least in T2 cities) and friends who have ridden both rate the Meteor higher in performance and comfort especially in city traffic.

Your point on suspension is how cruisers behave, light front, loaded rear.
Since the rear also has lower travel with the rider's back almost aligned with it, the jolts will be felt. Felt the same on the Avenger. Check your last pic to see how you're sitting "on" the rear suspension and compare it with any street bike
IMO just ride the cruiser as it's supposed to be, easy going and slow down for bumps.

Ride On.

[VRod_24]

Originally Posted by shancz

Congrats on the Meteor

Both the Meteor and and the CB look special on the roads(at least in T2 cities) and friends who have ridden both rate the Meteor higher in performance and comfort especially in city traffic.

Your point on suspension is how cruisers behave, light front, loaded rear.
Since the rear also has lower travel with the rider's back almost aligned with it, the jolts will be felt. Felt the same on the Avenger. Check your last pic to see how you're sitting "on" the rear suspension and compare it with any street bike
IMO just ride the cruiser as it's supposed to be, easy going and slow down for bumps.

Ride On.

Yes true. Have come to terms with this riding stance now. Like you said need to slow down on the sharper bumps but overall the suspension is good. I guess this would not have been the case with Honda CB350. Maybe the next time when I upgrade my bike I'll lookout for a different category of a bike.

[The_Medic]

Might be an unpopular opinion here and i certainly do not want to rain on your parade but the meteor and the new classic 350 are not motorcycles with a soul that many think of them to be. Just like the Harley Davidson 750. They are all good motorcycles in their own capacity. But the only soul they have is the badge printed/embossed on their fuel tank. The company names they carry. The J platform is certainly a good engine and a step in the right direction for RE. A much needed upgrade. The Honda engine has a better soundtrack for sure (if only they got the gearing right). Not to mention reliability (breaking down frequently by the older gen REs have been mislabeled as character for a very long time). Which is why buying I into the whole RE has a soul is something that was targeted by PR from the onset. I am glad you did a test ride and purchased the one you connected with the most. That's how it should be. Everything else is just noise.
Have a good day and may you always have the shiny side up. Cheers!

[VRod_24]

Originally Posted by The_Medic

Might be an unpopular opinion here and i certainly do not want to rain on your parade but the meteor and the new classic 350 are not motorcycles with a soul that many think of them to be.

I respect your point of view and the last point that you mentioned about connecting with the bike is very true that's exactly what I felt while riding the RE.
Now talking about reliability, no doubt the Honda in all likelihood may outlast the RE but the fact remains that in this particular segment the RE still rules the rest in terms of their service network, their rider programs and basically the legacy that they have established. As far as breakdowns are considered its a bit too early for me to comment on the same as I have just purchased the bike but I will surely update this if at all I go through any.
As far as the sound of the exhaust goes it's a personal preference some may like the Honda over the RE and some the other way around in the end both are very potent machines and people won't go wrong by buying either of them it's just down to the bike which one might connect more to.
Like always wishing you loads of safe miles and cheers to you as well .


Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

[The_Medic]

Originally Posted by VRod_24

I respect your point of view and the last point that you mentioned about connecting with the bike is very true that's exactly what I felt while riding the RE.
Now talking about reliability, no doubt the Honda in all likelihood may outlast the RE but the fact remains that in this particular segment the RE still rules the rest.

I am not sure if you would include the Dominar (same cost bracket) or the Xpulse 200 (similar cruising speed) but they both have better after sales network. And the second part is exactly what I am stressing on. It's a PR strategy. If you say the 650 twins have character, i would agree. But the 350cc j series engine despite being better than it's predecessor, isn't exactly an engine that has a soulful character. By that, what I mean is that if you take that engine out and put it in a completely bland bike, it really won't feel special. The 650cc engine is much better in that regard. The ktm 373 cc mill has that manic character. Wherever you put them, they will feel special unless the state of tune is changed. The 350cc mill feels special because of the badge it wears and not because of what it is capable of. You feel special coz you are riding the RE. It's about the RE brotherhood. And that's perfectly alright. Thats the whole intent. My point was, it's the family you are buying into, not the character of the engine, that makes it special.

[VRod_24]

Originally Posted by The_Medic

The 350cc mill feels special because of the badge it wears and not because of what it is capable of. You feel special coz you are riding the RE. It's about the RE brotherhood. And that's perfectly alright. Thats the whole intent. My point was, it's the family you are buying into, not the character of the engine, that makes it special.

I beg to differ on this point, when I did ride the meteor and the Honda back to back I observed the engine on the meteor to be better tuned to our conditions in terms of the way the gearing is spaced out and also the way it uses its bottom end torque. I felt more connected with the meteor than the Honda and like I mentioned in my post the Honda felt a bit ordinary almost like a commuter. I feel Honda could have upped the game with the CB 350 but instead they tried to equal the RE which in my opinion was a missed opportunity.
The point of the engine having a soulful character I feel that's purely subjective and would change from person to person just like the looks of any bike, some people might find the KTM RC200 to be good looking but for me it's a weird looking design.
So my point in the end is that I didn't really buy into the brand per se. I bought it since I liked the engine characteristics of the Meteor over the Honda.
As far as the KTM 373cc mill is concerned it's an entirely different segment altogether and again some may like its manic nature and some may not.

[The_Medic]

Originally Posted by VRod_24

I beg to differ on this point, when I did ride the meteor and the Honda back to back I observed the engine on the meteor to be better tuned to our conditions in terms of the way the gearing is spaced out and also the way it uses its bottom end torque. I felt more connected with the meteor than the Honda and like I mentioned in my post the Honda felt a bit ordinary almost like a commuter. I feel Honda could have upped the game with the CB 350 but instead they tried to equal the RE which in my opinion was a missed opportunity.

I very clearly mentioned the cb350 could have had better gearing in my original comment. And i felt for the J series engine what you felt for the Honda. It lacked character completely. Although i don't see a commuterish engine a negative thing. But to each their own. The Honda had a better engine. And the gear shift feel was good too.

And I don't understand why brands like Honda and yezdi get a lot of flak for emulating a successful motorcycle and not RE. The design of meteor 350 is directly lifted from thunderbird and the entirety of classic 350 (reborn?) is copy pasting the previous motorcycle. The only improvement is a slightly refined engine and improvement in quality and control which has brought them on par with current market standards. The competition (Honda, especially) still does it better. Why aren't we gunning for RE blood for no liquid cooling or better power or even LED lights?
* sigh * as i said, i don't hate RE. I like a desi brand making a lot of splashes around the world. But if we criticise, any form of bias should be eliminated. In India, RE enjoys a significant amount of bias and mediocre motorcycles are being passed on as legends while others are criticised for not making a better (?) motorcycle while the same is not asked of RE.

[VRod_24]

Originally Posted by The_Medic

I don't understand why brands like Honda and yezdi get a lot of flak for emulating a successful motorcycle and not RE. The design of meteor 350 is directly lifted from thunderbird and the entirety of classic 350 (reborn?) is copy pasting the previous motorcycle. The only improvement is a slightly refined engine and improvement in quality and control which has brought them on par with current market standards. The competition (Honda, especially) still does it better. Why aren't we gunning for RE blood for no liquid cooling or better power or even LED lights?.

I meant no offense to you sir but I just expressed what I felt while riding the 2 bikes. The reason I am expecting more from Honda is the fact that they make such beautiful machines overseas and in terms of engine development they definitely have more potential than both RE and Yezdi.
Coming to the point of not criticizing RE, It's because the J series is definitely an improvement over the previous gen engines from the RE stable which were downright crude and yes I agree that they are now on par with industry standards which should have been the case a lot earlier. As far as design is concerned they have taken design cues from the thunderbird for the meteor and the older classic for the classic reborn but I feel this is done just for the reason that they don't want to lose their customer base who like their retro styled machines and if I am not wrong even Honda has styled their CB350 on the older CB's whereas the yezdi have styled it over the Rajdoot.
In terms of modern features I do agree that it would have been nicer if the engine produced more power and came equipped with liquid cooling but these are things I personally dont care much about, maybe a rider with more experience might want all of these.
The jury is still out on LED lights as some say its not as effective as a normal halogen setup, I personally haven't experienced the LED setup so I won't comment on that.
In the end I do respect your views as well sir and I feel this forum provides us an excellent platform to experience different opinions from experienced riders and also to put forward our own views on them as well.

[The_Medic]

Originally Posted by VRod_24

I meant no offense to you sir but I just expressed what I felt while riding the 2 bikes. The reason I am expecting more from Honda is the fact that they make such beautiful machines overseas and in terms of engine development they definitely have more potential than both RE and Yezdi.
Coming to the point of not criticizing RE, It's because the J series is definitely an improvement over the previous gen engines from the RE stable which were downright crude and yes I agree that they are now on par with industry standards which should have been the case a lot earlier. As far as design is concerned they have taken design cues from the thunderbird for the meteor and the older classic for the classic reborn but I feel this is done just for the reason that they don't want to lose their customer base who like their retro styled machines and if I am not wrong even Honda has styled their CB350 on the older CB's whereas the yezdi have styled it over the Rajdoot.
In terms of modern features I do agree that it would have been nicer if the engine produced more power and came equipped with liquid cooling but these are things I personally dont care much about, maybe a rider with more experience might want all of these.
The jury is still out on LED lights as some say its not as effective as a normal halogen setup, I personally haven't experienced the LED setup so I won't comment on that.
In the end I do respect your views as well sir and I feel this forum provides us an excellent platform to experience different opinions from experienced riders and also to put forward our own views on them as well.

I am not offended, don't worry about that. Honda, if they were to bring their machines in India, would be priced high because of the ridiculous tax system we have. There's a great thread on xBhp discussing the same. If i find it, I'll link it here. And the point is, if tue manufacturers could bring their bestsellers to India and earn profits, they definitely would. Because profits don't hurt anyone. And the Honda cb350 does look a lot like the cb750, the original Superbike, minus the big engine of course. And i dont understand why there should be a need to stick to just one design language. The cb350 is (subjectively) one of the best looking bikes alongwith the yezdi scrambler (perak is the most gorgeous). Both have more reliable engines as well (perak has been around for a while and Honda doesn't falter in this department). And that's why I don't understand why people say that Honda didn't do a good job while we cheer RE for only playing catch up. Let's play an equal game is all I ask. Both in cheering and criticising.
I do apologise if any of my remarks upset you. Not the intention. Cheers and ride safe.

[VRod_24]

Originally Posted by The_Medic

I do apologise if any of my remarks upset you. Not the intention. Cheers and ride safe.

No sir I am not upset at all and I respect your opinion. Wishing you safe miles ahead as well. Cheers

[shancz]

Just read through the discussion and applaud the maturity with which the difference of opinion was handled

On the why RE doesn't enjoy the same scrutiny as someone like a Yezdi or Honda, IMO it could be one of the following :
- Expectations : RE has set itself an expectation of the kind of bikes they're going to make amd what we should expect out of them. The changes are going to be evolutionary while still keeping in line with the heavy frame, long stroke, metal majority construction with some modernization added.
But when someone new like Yezdi or someone established like Honda comes to the market the expectations and excitement is high and when they just match up to the RE is when the excitement dies down and the resulting loss of energy generates the heat we see on the forums

- Market : Say what we may but even today a majority of RE buyers would be the ones who are out to get a "bullet" which is indicated by the CL350 sales. RE wouldn't want to change it so much that it starts feeling unlike a "bullet".
The REs unlike REs are the Himalayan and the 650 Twins, the sales numbers tell the story when compared to the CL350.
Meteor is toeing the line of CL as its eyeing the cruiser market.

Are we right in our expectations ? IMO expectations are never wrong, that's what keeps us excited but reality is a 50:50 game.

On the soul part, its highly subjective as mentioned in previous posts. I find the RTR180 and its engine to have a soul/character which I didn't find elsewhere (vibes included) but to most, if not all, that's a puny little commuter.
IMO that's fine.

If you're happy with your ride, you are happy with your ride.

Sharing this video which explains quite well the mechanics around stroke, rpms and power which gives an insight into the soul of an engine to an extent. IMO also explains how the CB ended up with similar power and torque figures when they matched the rpm to the REs.

Credits to Providers :

Fortnine

[VRod_24]

Originally Posted by shancz

On the why RE doesn't enjoy the same scrutiny as someone like a Yezdi or Honda, IMO it could be one of the following :
- Expectations : RE has set itself an expectation of the kind of bikes they're going to make amd what we should expect out of them. The changes are going to be evolutionary while still keeping in line with the heavy frame, long stroke, metal majority construction with some modernization added.
But when someone new like Yezdi or someone established like Honda comes to the market the expectations and excitement is high and when they just match up to the RE is when the excitement dies down and the resulting loss of energy generates the heat we see on the forums

- Market : Say what we may but even today a majority of RE buyers would be the ones who are out to get a "bullet" which is indicated by the CL350 sales. RE wouldn't want to change it so much that it starts feeling unlike a "bullet".
The REs unlike REs are the Himalayan and the 650 Twins, the sales numbers tell the story when compared to the CL350.
Meteor is toeing the line of CL as its eyeing the cruiser market.

Are we right in our expectations ? IMO expectations are never wrong, that's what keeps us excited but reality is a 50:50 game.

On the soul part, its highly subjective as mentioned in previous posts.

This is exactly the point I was trying to put through
We already have forums wherein people complain that the newer Enfields have lost the thump of the older engines so RE had to balance innovation with expectations so that's why they tried to emulate the design of the bike from its previous siblings and I feel that there is nothing wrong in that as in the end its a business wherein they need to have good numbers on their sales charts.
This particular segment is so lucrative that everyone wants a piece of it that's why right from benelli to Honda wants a bite of this pie.