When the Hunter 350 broke onto the scene, it immediately became a runaway success, becoming the second best-selling model in Royal Enfield’s lineup, after the evergreen Classic 350. Now we have laid our eyes on an updated Hunter 350, one which aims to address the big complaint we have with it – the stiff ride quality.
- New rear shocks use progressive springs
- LED headlight same as all other models
- Apart from shocks and LED headlight, bike appears the same
Royal Enfield Hunter 350: Will this updaet make it more comfortable?
The main complaint we have against the Hunter 350 is its stiff ride over road imperfections, found abundantly on Indian roads. Royal Enfield seems to be listening because the rear shock absorbers on the Hunter seem to be new units. The current bike uses linear springs while this test mule is using progressive springs.
White a change in the type of spring used does not necessarily equate to a better, more absorptive ride, it is unlikely that Royal Enfield would go to all this trouble without some amount of improvement. The current Hunter 350 has 102mm of travel at the rear and a very approachable 790mm seat height coupled with a manageable 181kg kerb weight. With the move to these new springs at the rear, it remains to be seen if the travel and seat height see a change.
Rear suspension of the current bike (inset) compared with the updated model (main image).
Aside from the shock, the bigger visual difference stems from the presence of the same LED headlight that nearly the entire Royal Enfield lineup is now equipped with. Aside from the Buller 350 and the Hunter 350, every bike now in a Royal Enfield showroom uses this same LED headlight and it seems the Hunter too will follow suit, at least on the top variants.
Aside from that, the Hunter 350 test mule appears to be near-identical to the existing model and we don’t expect any major changes to its fundamentals. To refresh your memory, the Hunter is powered by a 349cc, air-cooled, single-cyl engine making 20.2hp and 27Nm of torque, with a 5-speed gearbox. The mileage we got in our tests was 30.6kpl (city) and 39.8kpl (highway).
Prices for the Hunter start at Rs 1.50 lakh for the base Factory Black colour, which runs on wire-spoke wheels shod with thinner tyres and uses a drum rear brake. The Metro variants of the Hunter will cost you either Rs 1.70 lakh or Rs 1.75 lakh depending on the colour you pick.
Also See: Royal Enfield Hunter 350 road test, India review – breaking new ground
Royal Enfield Hunter 350 vs TVS Ronin comparison
Royal Enfield Hunter 350 long term review, 5000km report
All prices ex-showroom, Chennai
