Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350X And 500X To Be Launched On February 22nd

The Thunderbird 350X and 500X will be placed over the standard Thunderbird. Prices expected for 350X and 500X are Rs. 1.75 lakh and Rs. 2.2 lakh respectively. 

Royal Enfield will launch two new models of its cruiser range on Feburary 22^nd. Both Thunderbird 350X and 500X will go on sale with new colour schemes. Under the moniker Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350X and 500X, the motorcycle manufacturer will release these bikes which will feature bright and contrasting color schemes. Other than the bodywork, rest of the bike gets an all-black treatment. This also includes components like headlamp encasings, exhaust, fork legs, tail piece, instrument console and centre panel, which were initially chrome plated and are now all-black.

The bright yellow and blue colours bestow these bikes with a rather sporty appeal but the changes are not just skin deep. The 350X and 500X will be the first Royal Enfield motorcycles to get black 17-inch alloy wheels wrapped in tubeless rubber in lieu of the 18-inch spoke wheels. This will substantially improve the ride and handling characteristics of the bikes. Also missing is the tall handlebar which has now been replaced with a flat, clip-on esque unit and the pillion backrest has also been removed.

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This is where the changes end, however it is still uncertain whether or not the new sports cruisers will get Anti-lock Braking Systems (ABS) as a safety feature. In terms of engine options, one still gets the carbureted unit on the 350cc model and the fuel injection unit on the 500cc variant. These motors produce 27.5 PS of power and 41.3 Nm of peak torque in the 500X model and 20.07 PS of power and 28 Nm of torque in the 350X model. Both engines are air-cooled and come mated to 5-speed constant mesh gearboxes.

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The smaller 17-inch alloy wheels still feature the same 280mm front and 240mm rear disc brakes and 41mm telescopic front forks. At the rear, one finds twin rear gas-charged shock absorbers.

In the current RE Thunderbird lineup, we expect 350X and 500X will be placed over the standard Thunderbird model and hence will be priced higher. The deliveries of these bikes are expected to start as of March 2018. As Royal Enfield would not want to cannibalize the sales of its standard Thunderbird models, we expect them to be priced in the ballpark of Rs. 1.75 lakh for 350X and Rs. 2.2 lakh for 500X.