In coming weeks, there will be two big new bikes launches from Honda and Royal Enfield. While the new Honda motorcycle has been slated to hit roads on 30th September, the new Royal Enfield Meteor is likely to come in October, 2020. The Japanese bikemaker hasn’t yet revealed the name and details of its upcoming model. Though, it has confirmed that the new model has been designed specifically for the Indian market. Reports suggest that Honda might bring in a 300cc or 400cc motorcycle to challenge Royal Enfield and Jawa.
The upcoming new Honda bike will be sold via Honda Big Wing dealership network. The Big Wing network is responsible for selling premium products and the new bike will be the most affordable offering to be retailed via it. It’s estimated to cost around Rs 2 lakh (ex-showroom). In late 2019, the Japanese bikemaker had announced its plan to expand the Big Wing sales network to 75 cities across the nation.
Rumor has it that the 2020 Honda Rebel cruiser could make its way to India. At the last year’s EICMA motor show, the company unveiled the updated Honda Rebel 300 and Rebel 500. While the former uses a 286cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine, the latter one comes with a 471cc parallel-twin motor that’s good for 45.5bhp and 43.3Nm.
Royal Enfield Meteor 350 will be the next big launch from the Chennai-based bikemaker. It will be brand’s first production model to be based on the new J1D (codename) platform. The Meteor will come as a replacement to the RE Thunderbird 350X. The new RE motorcycle will be packed with a new 350cc, air-cooled engine delivering 19.8bhp and 28Nm of torque, thus making it slightly more powerful and less torqueier than the existing 350cc unit. The engine has SOHC (Single Over-Head Camshaft) setup.
Buyers will have three Meteor variants to choose from, namely, Fireball, Stellar and Supernova. All variants will come with different design elements, features and colours. The RE Meteor 350 will be one of the company’s first model to come with ‘Tripper Navigation’ (turn-by-turn navigation) system along with the Bluetooth connectivity. Prices of the new RE motorcycle are likely to start from Rs 1.65 lakh (ex-showroom).
