There’s a lot of buzz around the new upcoming Royal Enfield Hunter 350 – a hype which is even more than the all-new Classic 350 that was revealed last year.
Ahead of its launch on 7th August 2022, Royal Enfield CEO, Siddhartha Lal surprised everyone on the internet by giving a quick sneak peek of the new Hunter 350 - this short video uploaded on Instagram showcased a few glimpses of the new motorcycle, which revealed quite a few details, including its exhaust sound, and a basic idea of how the Hunter 350 will look and feel in the real world.
Fast-forward a few months and the details of the new Royal Enfield Hunter 350 have gotten released, revealing how it looks and what it has to offer - here’s a quick look at the design of the latest Hunter 350 - and how it’s different from other motorcycles from Royal Enfield.
UPDATED NOVEMBER 2022: The Hunter 350 is now a few months old and is no longer a mystery of the motorcycle world - we have updated this article with up-to-date information and its MRSP at the time of writing.
The Royal Enfield Hunter 350 Has A Simple Face Free Of Visual Drama
Since Royal Enfield started making motorcycles, every model introduced by the manufacturer has always had a rounded halogen headlamp serving as the highlight of the front fascia. The new Hunter 350 is no exception, and it too gets a round headlamp encased within a blackened housing. This headlamp gets no chrome surrounds and gets flanked with amber-colored halogen turn indicators, which also have a rounded appearance.
The instrument console here gets no visor, which leaves it fully exposed. Though, like in other motorcycles, Royal Enfield is offering a front visor as an optional accessory. The new Hunter 350 also gets rubber gaiters over the telescopic forks at the front, while the front fender features a gloss-black paint scheme, irrespective of the paint scheme.
The New Hunter 350: Compact Royal Enfield Motorcycle
From its looks, the new Royal Enfield Hunter 350 seems smaller than the other two new-generation 350cc motorcycles from Royal Enfield, the Meteor 350 and the Classic 350. In profile, the overall stance of the Hunter 350 looks lower than the other two, which would mean a lower seat height. The round-themed fuel tank, which gets dual-tone paint schemes in the top-spec Metro variant as an option, looks smaller too.
The only other body panel on the new Royal Enfield Hunter 350 is the side body cowls placed below the rider’s seat. Painted in gloss black, these cowls have rounded edges and feature the Hunter 350 decals. The black theme gets carried forward for the engine and alloy wheels, though the lower-spec Retro variant gets old-school spoke wheels.
The new Hunter 350 is also the first 350cc motorcycle from the Royal Enfield brand to feature a toe-only shifter for the gear lever, which looks a bit rear-set, thus indicating a slightly sportier riding posture. The Hunter 350 offers a long seat, having different patterns and padding for the rider and pillion, and has a tapered design towards the rear.
The Rear Profile Of the New Hunter 350 Looks Clean And Minimalist
All the motorcycles from Royal Enfield have always maintained clean, fuss-free looks towards the rear, and the Hunter 350 follows the tradition. The Hunter 350 is devoid of rear-side body panels just below the seat, like in all the other motorcycles from Royal Enfield. However, the curved rear fender above the rear wheel has a more prominent design and gets a gloss black finish, just like the front fender.
The new Hunter 350 gets a rounded LED tail lamp and split pillion grab rails mounted on the rear fender, with the former also getting rounded turn indicators on either side. At the lowermost tip of the rear fender, the motorcycle gets an extended tail section, having a license plate housing mounted on it.
The New Hunter 350 Gets A Simple But Functional Instrument Console
Following the overall simplistic aura of the rest of the design, the new Hunter 350 gets a single-pod part-digital instrument console in both variants. However, the level of information and design of these consoles are different from each other.
In the more premium Metro variant, the unit has a rounded LCD panel surrounded by an analog speedometer. The LCD panel inside is much more informative, which displays data including fuel gauge, odometer, trip meters, clock, gear indicator, trip data, and service indicator. On the other hand, the unit in the lower-spec Retro variant has an analog speedometer with a small LCD panel below it, which offers basic information like an odometer, trip meters, and fuel gauge.
Like in the Royal Enfield Meteor 350, the instrument console in the higher-spec Metro variant will get the assistance of a Tripper navigation unit, which works in sync with Google Maps and provides turn-by-turn navigation alerts.
In November 2022, at the time of writing, the Royal Enfield website lists the Hunter 350 from around $1,800 in Indian Rupees, but prices for the North American market will vary significantly.
Perhaps one of its biggest rivals is the Honda Rebel 300, a 25-hp lightweight cruiser with classic minimalist styling although one of modern influence.
That bike retails from around $4,600 and already has a large following, not to mention that fact that it is ubiquitous.