Royal Enfield could be reviving the Meteor model. According to news sources from India, the Meteor is the likely candidate to replace the Thunderbird 350 (pictured above), which is a cruiser-style motorcycle from Royal Enfield.
The rumored upcoming bike was spotted undisguised in Kutch, a district in the State of Gujarat, in west India.
The new Royal Enfield Meteor 350 photographed by Car & Bike India.
This new Royal Enfield Meteor will be powered by a 349cc powerplant, possibly borrowed from the Classic 350 tuned to meet newer emissions regulations in India and Europe. It also gets an electronic fuel injection (EFI) system and dual-channel ABS. It was also rumored to be based on the newly-developed J1D platform of Royal Enfield.
Other parts include a regular telescopic fork, alloy wheels, and a bright yellow color scheme which pays homage to the classic Meteors of the '50s. The Royal Enfield Meteor 350 was also said to be scheduled for release this month, according to Indian news blogs, but will be delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Though the Thunderbird model is not available here in the country, a new Meteor 350 sounds nice if the pricing would be affordable.
Royal Enfield Super Meteor
1957 Royal Enfield Super Meteor
Back in the 1950s, Royal Enfield developed the Super Meteor motorcycle intended for the US market. It is powered by a parallel-twin 692cc engine that was said to be capable of reaching a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour – perhaps one of the fastest motorcycles available at the time.
In 1958, a Royal Enfield Meteor motorcycle was used by the Transport Research Laboratory to test Dunlop's patented Anti-lock Braking System, which was unheard of in motorcycles during that period. The experiments demonstrated that anti-lock brakes could be of great value on motorcycles, where wheels locking up and losing traction under breaking lead to a high proportion of accidents.
