Royal Enfield launched the all-new Meteor in the Indian market earlier this year. Built on an all-new platform, the bike has received a lot of appreciation for its ride quality and engine. However, can it do off-roading? Abhinav Bhatt takes a ride on the off-road trails and sand trails alongside the Hero XPulse 200 and Triumph Tiger to see if the Meteor can handle such stretches. Here is a video from the helmet-mounted camera with the rider’s comment on the bike’s performance.
At the starting of the video, Abinav takes the bike on an off-road trail. The rider says that the Royal Enfield Meteor is good for bad roads but it is not made specifically for off-roading. He also adds that the suspension set-up is quite good and he did not feel any jolts on the trail. Also, he mentions that the suspension did not bottom out even once during the off-road trail. The ABS of the Thunderbird cannot be switched off and it is intrusive as per the comments made by the rider, which is why it cannot be ridden like an XPulse 200.
About the ground clearance, the rider says that he found it to be good enough. While many complained about the exhaust position being low on the Meteor, it can scrape on the off-roading sections. However, nothing like that happened with Abhinav. The trail was full of ruts and stones. The rider said that the bike is not very bad on the trails and it did a great job. Also, the low-end torque is helpful.
He did cross a lot of deep ruts and broken sections which were handled by the Meteor quite well. Abhinav also explains that since this is a touring motorcycle, it did a great job and his back also did not ache during the ride. On the sandy track, Abhinav says that the bike did well too. Since the Meteor is heavy, it digs deep and gets ample traction. He also stands on the Meteor while riding and says that it is not the ideal position but it can be done if needed.
The Royal Enfield Meteor has become quite popular in the market and last month, the manufacturer announced that it has more than 8,000 bookings. The all-new Meteor is based on the “J” platform and gets an all-new single-cylinder engine. The 349 cc, air-cooled engine can produce a maximum power of 20.4 PS and a peak torque of 27 Nm. The Meteor’s engine is much smoother compared to other single-cylinder Royal Enfield models due to the counter-balancer. It ensures that the engine offers smooth acceleration and remains vibration-free at the cruising speeds. The bike gets a five-speed transmission.
Royal Enfield also offers dual-channel ABS as standard. It also gets a Tripper navigation system that uses an individual pod. It gets connected to the mobile app and shows the navigation on the screen. It should be noted that Royal Enfield has some big plans for the Indian market and as many as 28 motorcycles are planned for the Indian market.