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Royal Enfield mixes tradition with a new-age flavour in the Hunter 350

- Kartik Ware

A Royal Enfield 350 single is an age-old idea, one that formed the company's foundations in its dual histories, first with the Union Jack and later under the Tricolour. And while some bikes from Redditch did have sporty personalities, the subcontinental (good name for a 350 café racer?) ones were as athletic as aging statesmen. That being said, by now there have been generations of Royal Enfield riders who've performed suitably stupid feats on their unlikely machines, each one more poetic than the last. Now, however, instead of pushing their luck in time-honored fashion, RE riders can push the fun envelope on the Hunter 350. And I was able to verify this both in Bangkok at the launch ride and in Mumbai where I picked up our long-termer. Not exactly a global experience, but a good indicator of the Hunter's potential nonetheless.

First of all, I have to say that sportiness is a spectrum; a gymnast and a sumo wrestler both go about the business of sport but in very different ways. And the Hunter feels like an example of the former born into a family of the latter. First of all, it's 14 kg and 10 kg lighter than the Classic and the Meteor respectively, thanks to a revised chassis and lighter components. It loses the downtubes onto which the other duo's 'pegs mount, and gets a slightly rear-set footrest assembly. The exhaust is a sportier stubby unit and it sounds more aggressive than its more laidback siblings as well. If you want to turn your Classic into a café racer, you now know where to go hunting.