Royal Enfield Bullet 350 By Ben Purvis
Royal Enfield might be making tracks into the 21st century with models like the soon-to-be-revamped Himalayan and Scram, and even working on an electric bike for the future, but the company's 'day job' is its heritage and that's where the new Bullet 350 is aimed.
Built around the Euro 5-compliant 'J-series' engine that first appeared in the Meteor 350 in 2020, the Bullet 350 combines Royal Enfield's heritage with the sort of attractive pricing that the brand has become known for, all while intentionally avoiding any sort of gimmicks or over-the-top technology.
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That J-series engine is a 349 cc, air-cooled SOHC single that puts out 20.2 hp at 6,100 rpm and 19.9lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm, making for leisurely progress but avoiding the need to thrash it. Driving through a five-speed gearbox with an old school heel-and-toe rocker shifter, that engine's design is rooted in the past, with two valves per cylinder and a long 85.8 mm stroke combined with a small 72 mm bore. It's a recipe for low-rev torque rather than out-and-out performance, but one that should also make for a reliable, under-stressed engine that's simple and easy to maintain. There's also some remarkable fuel economy on display, with 2.63 l/100 km (107 mpg) possible to give a range of nearly 500 km (310 miles) from the 13-litre tank.
It's bolted to a traditional steel spine frame with 41 mm forks and twin rear shocks, offering little in the way of adjustability beyond six stages of preload at the back to accommodate different loads. A single 300 disc and two-pot front caliper do most of the braking, assisted by a 270 mm rotor and single-piston caliper at the back. ABS is standard, as required by law in Europe.
The Bullet's thickly-padded seat might not look as good as the Classic 350's single-seat unit, but it offers an extra dose of practicality that's a key part of the bike's appeal and its 805 mm height is within reach to most riders.
Concessions to 21st-century technology are limited to a small LCD display inside the analogue speedo and a standard-fit USB socket on the bars to charge phones or power a sat-nav, a level of simplicity that's likely to be appealing to most Bullet customers rather than seen as a downside of the bike.
