All in all; full marks to RE for giving a very decent product in the 2 lakh segment.
BHPian sumanthkr recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I booked hunter Immediately and have been using it for over a month now.
In April I was unsure about two things – when Triumph would actually come on the road; and believed it would be in the 4-5 lakh bracket.
Since my priority was to get used to biking again with 350cc with commute being the main focus I chose Hunter above other bikes, as it is light on the pocket, and easy to flick around in the city. Navigation was/is very important for me in the city.
No doubt Triumph pulled magic with pricing; it is stunning and unbelievable honestly.
I will use this for about 2 years may be and see if I should upgrade to Hunter 450 or even Classic 450 (in future once am used to 180+ kg bikes) am biased toward RE bikes as they caught the imagination of 80s kids; we always wanted to ride a RE bike once we grow big!! Triumph Scrambler 400 x would be the other obvious choice for an upgrade – on paper Triumph twins ooze quality and VFM. Till then let me use Hunter 350 for a couple of years. Then I will consider something between RE 450s and Triumph Scrambler 400x.
Coming to Hunter 350, early days still …
Some Observations:
- Clearly, it is easy to ride a bike, the spec sheet does not tell you the real-life story, never does.
- For a city ride with its very handy low-end torque, this is a very good bike to ride, has the RE feeling, and despite plastics, build quality does not feel any bit lesser than a typical RE.
- If one were thinking of long-term use of Hunter, then rear suspension tuning and better Tyres would be the only thing to change.
- Suspension is not bad for a single rider, since the footpeg is rear set, I can easily stand and jump over any hump or hurdle, it’s that easy to ride. You cannot do that with bikes with cruiser-like footpegs – hence I did not like the Honda Highness or Meteor (personal choice). And no the 150mmm ground clearance was not a concern, never scraped despite riding it roughly. The advantage is it feels very planted.
- Yes for Pillion it is too firm, big flaw in the suspension here – you will have to change the suspension tuning, preload is set to max; I will get it slightly adjusted during my first service due next week.
- The real downside of this bike I felt was the tyres, if you are a first-time biker riding very cautiously – you may not even notice anything, but if you want to ride a bit aggressively (not necessarily fast) around the turns, breaking hard, riding over bad patches without slowing down etc stuff – then you will immediately notice that the factory fitted tyres are not at all good enough.
- And about fast bikes, Hunter 350 makes you feel it is a fast bike, it’s fun to ride off the blocks. The spec sheet will come into the picture in the 60-100 acceleration only, for most use cases it is a fun bike, more fun than any RE so far – surprisingly with the same sober J-series engine with just 20ps power! Full marks to RE for pulling it off.
- Vibrations – have been told not to cross 80 until the first service; so till 80 vibration is simply non-existent. I do not intend to push it too fast either, I want to get better with my motorcycling ability with this size bike for a couple of years at least before I push to 3 figure speeds
All in all; full marks to RE for giving a very decent product in the 2 lac segment.
If they can address rear suspension and tyres in the next avatar – Hunter 350 will maintain its segment leadership.
Keyword: My Royal Enfield Hunter 350: Ownership observations after 1 month