The most recent launch of the Royal Enfield, the Meteor 350 has already impressed a lot of people. It has already received more than 8,000 bookings which are quite impressive numbers. The motorcycle retails for Rs. 1.75 lakhs ex-showroom for the base, Fireball variant. There are also two other variants available with the motorcycle. There is the Stellar which is priced at Rs. 1.81 lakhs ex-showroom and then there is the Supernova which costs Rs. 1.90 lakhs ex-showroom.
Today we have a video of Abhinav Bhatt’s friend who is an Interceptor 650 owner sharing his views about the new Meteor 350. The video has been uploaded on Abhinav Bhatt’s YouTube channel.
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The first thing that the rider points out is how comfortable the seats are. He loves the seats on the Meteor 350. Being an Interceptor owner, he knows the importance of good seats. The Interceptor has been criticized for offering soft seats due to which you cannot ride in the saddle for long durations. The seat of the Meteor is much firmer when compared to the Interceptor 650. He also likes the flat footpegs which help the foot in balancing itself. He also likes the cruiser stance that the forward-set footpegs provide as it also increases the comfort during riding. The handlebar grips are also very comfortable to hold so you do not get tired when driving for long distances. He also loves the fact that Royal Enfield has used old school rotary type switches which feels good to use and they are offering a USB port to charge mobile devices. He would have loved to have spoked wheels on the Meteor 350 because it would have greatly enhanced the looks. However, he understands that alloy wheels do come with an advantage of tubeless tyres which greatly reduces the hassles associated with punctures.
The motorcycle is agile, nimble so he did not have any issue filtering through the Delhi’s traffic. The brakes are good and the clutch also feels light and on par with the Interceptor’s clutch. He prefers the rearview mirrors of the Meteor 350 when compared to the Honda H’ness CB350 because of the long stalks they have. He also states that the vibrations kick in after 80 kmph and still the mirrors do not start to vibrate so he does not have a problem with that. The suspension felt comfortable and absorbed the bumps easily.
He likes the exhaust note of the Honda more than the Royal Enfield because the Honda has more bass. However, he understands that because of the much stricter BS6 emission norms Royal Enfield could not bring back the proper “thump”. He also likes the backrest that comes is offered on the Meteor as it offers pillion comfort. He also felt that the motorcycle is pretty light in terms of weight due to which it handles quite well.
One gripe that he has is that the brake lever has been positioned parallel to the footpeg. Due to which the rider has to apply some force. He prefers to have the brake lever slightly above the footpeg. He also thinks that the build quality of the Meteor 350 slightly lacks behind the Interceptor 650. One knit-picking that he does is that the quality of the horn switch is not as good as the rotary dials.
In the end, he chooses the Royal Enfield Meteor 350 over the Honda H’ness CB350. He explains the reason behind this is the cult following behind the Royal Enfield and the other thing is the availability of dealerships and service network. Because the H’ness CB350 is offered through the BigWing dealerships of Honda, it is not available in most of the cities and the touchpoints are significantly less when compared to Royal Enfield.
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The post Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 owner chooses between the Meteor 350 & the H'ness CB350 first appeared on Cartoq.