Glad you finally reviewed the bike. The Super Meteor 650 is right around the corner, hopefully it'll come to the US. 650cc is enough power to go down the road, and not having to fiddle with the ECM to unlock the governor is another plus.
You are correct about the governing. UK model governed at 71 mph. That's why the engine runs so well at 70, its not really strained at that speed. No idea how you're getting so low mpg.
I've got to say, having owned a Meteor 350 for a year exactly now, I still think so long as you know what it's capable of and don't expect it to be a superbike, I think it wins the nod. On a 3-hour trip, tent and backpack strapped to the passenger seat and a pair of saddlebags and a tank bag, I felt like this was a great little traveling bike for secondary roads. If the speed limit is 55 to 65 you're going to be a happy camper all day long. I have taken it out on 75 mph interstate but it is running flat out so I tend to build a little more time into my commute or travel schedule and enjoy the ride. I don't need the bike with the most power. I need the bike that makes me smile the most and for "me" that's this little blue Meteor 350.
I have ridden the HNTER, same engine more agile. With it having 10-15 more horses (and a few kilos less), they wouldn't make it worse, (or a superbike) for the things you wrote. On the contrary, they would make it even better. As it is, it is borderline in my personal opinion.
Royal Enfield dealer here: the valve check is at 6k then every other 3k (so the valves get checked every 6k miles). It is worded in a confusing way but it is every 6k miles. Hope that helps!
But why a valve check at first 300 miles? Some people can do that mileage in a week, especially potential customers that don't have a dealer nearby or are not mechanically inclined,this could be a deal killer
@@kriscotner7105 I hear you. I think the first service is extremely important. You really do want to get in there and make sure parts are mating together properly. RE has made huge leaps in quality and received a ton of praise for their engineering, I think some of this is due to their conservative first service schedule. Other brands will typically do this around 1k mikes but RE just happens to require this service sooner.
While not the same, the Royal Enfield Classic 350 is close to this bike and we bought three of them this summer. At 61, I’ve been riding since I was 10. First “bike” was a Benelli 50cc mini. Next a Honda Elsinore 125cc. The Royal Enfield Classic 350 is the smallest bike I’ve owned since that time, with all sorts of sports bike for the last 50 years. The Royal Enfield Classic 350 is simply fantastic. Everywhere we go, we end up in long conversations over the bikes. While you can ride on the freeways, it’s really an in town bike or one to take up in the hills like Angeles Crest hwy. for under $5k you get ABS, fuel injection, three year warranty and miles and miles of smiles. Nobody will regret buying one unless they don’t heed the smaller motor’s limits. And for us, it’s not even a limit. They serve their purpose perfectly. 💯% the most fun I’ve had since I was a kid. Ride Safe 🙏🏼
I bought one the middle of 2022 and have enjoyed it. I have a harley street glide special, bmw 1200gsa, and honda grom. I ended up riding the 350 classic to work more than the other bikes and smiled every time I rode it.
Excellent review of the Meteor. I'm 69 years old and have bee riding for 50 years now. I have owned everything from a 90cc up to 1000cc bikes over the years. This little Meteor 350 is one of my all time favorites. I seldom go on the freeways. This bike excels on two lane country roads. Just puttering around between 35-55 mph. That's exactly what I bought it for. It is the smoothest single I have ever been on. The seat is outstanding and I can ride for 2-3 hours without fatigue or soreness. I love this little bike. I can't however understand why Royal Enfield felt the need to limit a 350's top speed. How much faster could a 20 HP bike be afterall. Thanks for the review.
I wonder if they did it just to keep stress of the engine down. Basically keep it just enough under it's max capability so it stays reliable longer and doesn't tire the engine out due to being run at it's limits for extended periods of time.
Well it all comes down to road and traffic regulations in various other countries in the world where RE has a good loyal customer base. There are set speed limits each for back country roads, inner city commuting roads, freeways and highway roads and racing tracks. In some cases you require an extra license to go any higher than the permissive limit set by the local government and in some other, it is absolutely banned to go any higher than the said limit. I think they made these limits to adjust to those local regulations and laws
Love what RE is doing. They are amazing at keeping classics and small displacement bikes relevant! I have my eyes on the Classic 350 Reborn, such an cool bike.
You would be happy to know there is a Classic 650 with USD forks upcoming. It's currently being tested here in India and we see a lot of Royal Enfield test bikes especially ones with 650 engines in and around Mumbai. The super meteor 650 has already been launched. Bullet 650, shotgun(bobber) 650. Continental GT V Twin 950 (2025) are in the pipeline There is also himalayan 450 with Royal Enfield's first ever liquid cooled engine upcoming.
@@hairyneil No company openly laid out its 3year plan and no 650cc himalayan yet. But the 450 is said to be 40hp so not bad. i am pretty sure in future there will be a himalayan with a bigger engine to challenge v storm and tiger category for cheap.
I’ve been a hounding a bunch of friends to start riding for at least a decade. This year three of them finally bought bikes. One on a Himalayan, one on a Meteor, and one on an Interceptor 650. Thanks Royal Enfield, this company is getting many new riders on the road
I went motocamping for 10 days overseas in England (i'm from Belgium). With all the bags and my girlfriend on the back, this thing still delivered going 60mph, and man those English roads can be rough sometimes.
Zack's authentic laughter is contagious! I LOL when he wheelie'd and backed it in....he was having fun and it is one of best parts of these daily rider reviews.
I was wondering why you hadn't done a review on this gem. Not sure who would buy any 350 CC bike for highway riding. The bike is designed for secondary roads and down town, and in that regard, it is a superstar. I could tell from you voice you were grinning during the whole ride. Bought mine without a test ride, and had it shipped 1000 miles. from closest dealer. This machine was designed for ease of maintenance. Many channels show how easy, including RE's own. Was interesting how long the battle between it and the BMW took. I sold my RT 1100 after my purchase due to lack of use. Been riding 50 years, and so far, this is my favourite.
@@davidsizemore2745 yeah the RE is best for relaxed cruising and the HD is best for, you guessed it, relaxed cruising. the HD acceleraters faster and has a higher top speed. Neither of which matter for cruising.
I'm no mechanic but using youtube I did the valve adjustment for the first time and it took me an hour. My nearest RE dealer is only a half hour away and they encouraged me to do it myself. If I had them do it it would have cost $150 which is way below what the typical valve adjustment cost is for other brands. And by the way, as others have pointed out 6000 miles is the interval after the first check.
Royal Enfield has really arrived. I mean they've been around forever, but the improved quality and styling of their current line up is getting a lot of peoples attention.
You won’t be winning any races on it, but you’ll smile the whole time you ride it. I rode them all weekend, and laughed the very same way in pure entertainment. I can’t explain it, but these bikes have such a solid charm and bring back the “experience” of motorcycling
RevZilla team!! These vids are sensational keep up the good work. However, I’ve been carrying on for so long that we need a comment on headlight performance! It’s an important feature as 40% of commuters around the world travel at least one trip in the dark. I’m sure a great portion of us watching would appreciate it and a quick spiel on headlights would be a great addition to this awesome series.
As a Meteor owner the stock headlight is not very good. It is not an LED. I'm replacing mine with a RE LED headlight. Hopefully it will be a good upgrade.
I believe I read that the Royal Enfield manufacturing plant has the absolute highest ranking you can have for quality control. To corroborate, fortnine did a limited experiment checking oil cleanliness for the first service. RE was number 1.
At 50 mph it delivers 90 mpg. It is limited to 72 mph (GPS), 75 on the speedo. If you need 70 mph every day this is simply the wrong bike. I have the same engine in my ‘22 Classic 350. It is smooth because it is counterbalanced. For two up riding on the interstate I have my 114” Harley but nothing beats the 350 for putting on the backroads.
I'm a new rider (had my licence for three months). I bought my first bike, the "Royal Enfield Meteor 350cc," and I'm made up with it! It's just an amazing first bike, very forgiving, and can happily ride it all day long. I've had hours of fun even through this past winter on it. I have no interest in the super fast sports bikes or going ridiculously quikly. Chugging along, taking in the scenery, it's just fantastic. Can highly recommend any new riders in their late 20s like me.
I knew a guy that had an Enfield 10 - 15 years ago, always looked so cool, i liked them. And in recent years they have improved a ton, modernized a bit, and look very good. Apparently they got a new CEO, a very young guy that made big changes and improvements.
The first thing that CEO did after taking the reins is he took away all the company cars for the executives and asked them to ride a Royal Enfield to work. Royal Enfield is run by bikers and it shows.
I hope you test out the Meteor 650 when it's available, I think that solves the power problems and it *looks* like they have made it a lot nicer in terms of trim and finishes. I'm curious to hear your thoughts when you make a video on it.
They are also, according to Indian sources, set to release a Classic 650 in the fall of '23. Almost all steel and rideable power. That might be the one to get.
I’m at 0:04 and can comfortably say this is going to be one of my favourite episodes. My first bike in Meteor Blue. It’s economical, approachable, quiet and gets up to speed…eventually. Thanks for covering RE.
I’ve got one in blue and i love it. There isn’t a single day I don’t get a comment or a look. Fantastic value for money. Great commuter and for weekend rides. Ride it two up as well and there is not a big drop in performance. Yes, I know performance is limited to start with 😊. Put luggage on mine and it looks the part. Only drawback is the brakes. The pads seem to be made out of soap. Once the 650 is available it will surely be a perfect all rounder
Agree with you on the brakes. I watched a video on Yammie Noob's (ugh) channel where they had the same issues on an Interceptor, which were sorted with a better master cylinder from Magura. Which I plan on doing first with my Meteor, then better brake pads later.
You'll want a Magura Hydraulic 225 Master Cylinder (Right Hand 13mm), and you'll also need a M10x1.0 Banjo Bolt brake fitting. I put links here before, but Revzilla must have stripped them out, because they don't carry these parts. In fact, Revzilla/Cyclegear carry very little specifically for Royal Enfield, so that's their problem.
Best Meteor review ever, and the first time I have seen someone wheelie on one, so 10/10 Zack, keep up the good work, your love of all things 2 wheel is obvious.
This is the bike HD should’ve been making when they vomited the street 500. It’s stylish, approachable, affordable, and a really great bike. Long distance highway touring is the only thing Enfields don’t do
HD is unable to make a bike that is affordable because they do not have any expertise in managing scale, ie. large numbers of bikes sold. It is exactly the same reason Triumph is partnering with Bajaj for their baby triumph, they have no experience with managing supply chain of large numbers. And you cannot bring down the price if the bike without selling big numbers
As a Meteor 350 owner, I've never gotten less than 65-70 mpg. While I wring its neck sometimes during acceleration, I normally ride 50-55 mph back roads. After run-in, I've been getting 75+ mpg.
Man do i wanna see a RE Scram daily rider. Ive got a 2017 grom, a 2012 wr250x, a 2022 mt09 and a 2016 xsr900. I think id appreciate something a little different than the bikes i already have. Definitely dont need tons of power to have fun. Like what RE has been doing with the company. Another great video Zack! Always appreciate your point of veiw.
Couple of bits to point out, valve check and service is every 6000 miles in the US and Europe, the 3000 mile “service” is basically just a check over of everything, like most good riders do regularly anyway! The engine has a 6500rpm govener on and the bike has a 75mph speed limiter written into the ECU. Without it it tops out at 85mph. Great review though :)
I bought a 350 classic last year and love it. It is better on fuel than you think if you are trying. That's ben my challenge is to see how good of fuel mileage i can get. Plus it's fun to try to ride it fast, lots of running it though the gears.
I average 80 mpg with my classic 350 around town and commuting on roads under 50mph. It's a fun little bike that I enjoy riding. I also own a 1200gsa, street glide special, and a grom.
For the cost this bike is a great option as a second bike or solid first. Having had an Interceptor, the valve checks are cake and there are tons of TH-cam how-to videos to show how to do it. If I didn’t have a Suzuki VanVan already, I’d snag one of these.
This is my daily commuter, really does the job up to around 100kmph. Over that it falls off, doesn't struggle - just doesn't hit that push on point and you'll slow down on a hill open throttle in third. It's still nice, sounds good, handles better than the weight would imply. Looks take it a long way. It's a great first or last bike. You're right about the ECU being limited at 120kmph/75mph - in Brazil they had to be unlimited because of their fuel mix, there are some getting up to 140/150kmph 86/93mph. The tripper is garbage, I gave up on trying to make it consistently work - it makes a nice clock while I'm riding 😂
Love my Interceptor and recommend RE to pretty much anyone in the market for a new bike. They don't win on the spec sheet, but they make riding fun, and that's what it's about, right? And for what it's worth, both my bike and my friend's Classic 350 have been dead reliable.
Few month ago I went to the motorcycle shop of my town who sells Kawasaki, KTM and Royal Enfield and I ask the dealer wich of this 3 brands was the more reliable and he answers me Royal Enfield first followed by Kawasaki and waaaay behind KTM. I'm waiting for the RE himalayan 650!! I agree with you about the specs, in general we look at the power, the weight and that's it. But they are so many paramaters like the handling, the breaks, bore and stroke, gear ratio, suspension quality that make a bike good or not (in a subjectiv way) that can change your riding experience. " Did she makes you smile??" should be the main thing. Put your money in gas and not in expensive electronic (except ABS) and GO EXPLORE!
My Dad has been riding for 50+ years and has owned just about every bike you can think of. He currently has this RE Meteor and loves it. Very comfortable and capable backroad cruiser.
The Meteor 350 and Rebel 300 are both excellent choices. The Meteor 350 definitely has a more classic look and has a slightly higher seat (useful for taller people), but is heavier and significantly slower. The Rebel 300 has a smaller but higher revving, water-cooled engine which gives it more top-end power and speed but a little less tractor-like oomph when getting underway from a stop. The Rebel is about 50 pounds lighter and has a lower seat, features which may be important for a smaller person or for a learner who might drop it a few times. The performance numbers from a 2021 Cycle World comparison are: Max /speed: Meteor 75 mph, Rebel 91 mph 0-60mph: Meteor 12.34 sec, Rebel 7.85 sec Power at rear wheel*: Meteor 18 hp, Rebel 25 hp, *note: "Power at rear wheel" numbers are lower than the advertised ones and this is normal. The "power at rear wheel" is what is actually transmitted to the road and was measured with a production motorcycle. The advertised numbers were measured directly from the engine, without any losses from the transmission, chain, etc.
After watching this video I got Meteor 350 from dealership for a very good price. For the price of Honda Grom I got full size motorcycle able to ride hours on the freeway with top speed of 75 MPH. Insurance is $28 dollars. Fuel economy is very good. Seat is the most comfortable compared to the other motorcycles I have ever driven. I think it’s not a big deal to adjust valves after every 6000 miles. I would recommend this bike to anyone who wants a real motorcycle for the scooter price. Thank you Daily Rider for this review.
I stick to the 45-55 mph roads in Michigan and I average over 70 mpg on my Classic 350. That sort of makes it a slightly less practical Vespa 150, but it’s less expensive and has more road presence(which helps keep people from driving as aggressively around you compared to a Vespa).
I've had my Classic, which is basically the exact same bike with a few aesthetic differences, for a full season now. It's the kind of bike that's perfect for when you have nowhere to go and no hurry getting there. 80kph is where it's the most harmonic in the engine, and I'd call 90 the max cruising speed. You can go higher as well without the engine outright complaining, but it hurts my soul a bit doing so for extended periods. On a warm summers eve, sweeping along twisty roads into the white nights of the Nordics, that's where it transforms into the best bike in the world for a short while. It's more fun riding a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow. I've done 500km in a day without any problems and the bike just asks for more. Planning on some proper camping trips this summer, now that I know I can properly trust the bike. I have several bigger bikes as well, but somehow I still go for the Royal when I just want to get out there to clear my head a bit. Bringing out the 1000cc tourer to just take a couple of laps around the surroundings would feel a bit weird, while on the Royal it feels completely natural.
I had a go on a RE Classic 350 a few months ago, same engine as the Meteor. Great little bike and the fact that it only has 20hp really doesn't matter. It's just a "nice" bike. RE are really doing good things in the retro bike sector. This is the sort thing that brands like Triumph, Honda, Yamaha are just missing at lower CCs.
RE really filling HDs spot in the market. And honestly I'm okay with that. A very welcome change. This video literally made me go and order a Meteor 350. A stellar red, no less. Beautiful machine and I definetily cannot wait until spring!
The me the GT still wins, because basically the same platform and more sporty yet classic still. But I can see why some people might prefer the Meteor flavor - each to their own.
Impressive wheelie, I've got a meteor and I'm certain I couldn't do the same. It has its charms as you say. It's my first smaller capacity bike since learner days in the 70's, since then it's been 900-1200 but the meteor is great fun. I've had to relearn the skills to maintain momentum again, round the corners as fast as the straights! The turning circle has allowed me to explore some back lanes that I'd never have ridden the bigger bikes on. 👍
I did my MSF course this fall on a Meteor 350. For a returning rider, it was a bit chunky, but so am I. My only complaint is I came to a stop 0.1 seconds too late and for my pride, ill blame that on the weight and abs lol. Otherwise, I didn't have any problems doing slaloms and figure eights and whatnot. It's a manageable heavy little bike, at least for me
I like the look of the classic bikes they’re making. I almost pulled the trigger and got an gt650 but opted to pay a little more for a used cb1100. Reviews have been pretty solid on the bigger bikes. Maybe a used one is in my future depending on long term reliability.
Very cool bike I think. I went back and re-watched your Rebel 500 review, and I think you had more fun on this Meteor from what you’ve said about the Honda. I would have rated it higher as a commuter.
Thanks for another really fun episode. I love the presentation style and the focus on the real world. RE deserves a lot of credit for making and marketing these entry level bikes. That said, if I wanted a bike like this I’d have the Rebel 250. Thanks again.
In 2019 I bought a 2010 RE 500. The military style with sidecar. It had 1700 miles. I put 500 miles on the gutless but cool looking machine. I sold it for enough to put a downpayment on a 09 flhtc. Best decision I made in a ling time.
I'm getting older, so I swapped my 500 Bullet for a Meteor. I'm extremely pleased with it. It does everything I need it to do. A very nice machine to ride, comfortable and agile. Fuel injection and electric start. What's not to like?
Glad to see it fair pretty well. I bought one in early summer only to have a manufacturing defect leave it stuck in the shop for 3 months. By the time I figured out that I could have gotten a refund they figured out the issue. I’m hoping to actually get to ride it next year.
I just noticed… does Zack have his screen protector on his phone upside down? 27:15 The little notch looks like it’s at the bottom, but I think it should be at the top, lol
It's fun to hear people who didn't grow up with practical motorcycles make comments about the Royal Enfield. Don't get me wrong. I liked it when the motorcycle industrial first delved into making hyper focused machines. The 1981 GPZ1100 is a prime example. It was a slightly modified UJM with a small fairing, electronic fuel injection, and an oil cooler. It was still a relatively simple bike that was practical. I stopped liking the move to hyper focused machines when water cooling was introduced and things got worse from there (in my opinion). Example: Dual Sport motorcycles went from 225 lbs to 300 lbs overnight. The ever increasing drive for longer suspension travel made dual sports less and less attractive for road use. Many people no longer felt comfortable at a stop light because of the ever increasing seat height. The razor thin barely padded seats installed on the hyper machines made long distance rides quite uncomfortable. This had a side effect of leaving most dual sports with no room under the seat for a pair of riding gloves. At the end of the day, bikes became so specialized that they could do one thing well only. For me, the net effect of hyper focused machines made motorcycling less enjoyable overall, unless you had money to purchase a motorcycle from each of the hyper segments. I did that and it was great, until it got so bad that choosing which motorcycle to ride became as tedious as trying to figure out what to wear in the morning. Not to mention the sticker price of most hyper focused machines. Most people have no reason to buy these motorcycles because they do not have enough utility to support the price of admission. So yeah, Royal Enfield is the beginning of what I hope will be a trend back to general purpose motorcycles that are affordable and highly utilitarian.
Hay! I spotted my old Yamaha in the background there, the gold one 70-72 vintage, I used to roam all over the Arizona desert during my early years. I have more memories of that bike than all the other bikes I have ever owned!
That's my RE Meteor 350. I've had mine for a bit over a year now as my "kinda" first bike and it has been nothing but deee light full! And!....I joined the motorcycle group because of it. It was just like joining the 501st legion. What he said about the bike is 99% perfectly authentic!
I'm getting a Royal Enfield INT650 by the end of the year, very excited to get that. Can't wait to finally try out this classic brand. Will definitely have fun comparing it to my other 2 bikes. (A Vstrom 650, and an old Harley Softail)
I really like what Enfield is doing these days, and they keep upping the ante! And I dont mind the 350cc, BUT it doesnt work for me in a cruiser, to me the small engine just doesn't suit the style of a cruiser. I would however not hesitate on the Classic 350 or the Himalayan 411 they seem awesome, and the slow speed kind of suits those bikes. But Royal Enfield launched a 650 "Super Meteor" wich looks really nice and beefy, I'm looking forward to the reviews once it gets out to the stores!
I have yet to see anyone go all out on customizing a Himalayan, I think the platform would be great for it. I want to see an apocalypse styling, or maybe a John-Deere/Massey-Fergusson theme since its a tractor 😁
For an old guy, it is ideal, that low down torque is so much more important the bhp on everything but a sports screamer. One of the best reviews of any bike I have seen, well done. That Honda 300 had lots of reliability problems in the early days and calling a 286cc a 300 is con..and no torque...so I hate it for being a fake. The 500 is a lot more money and still no fun, it has more bhp, but sitting upright that is no use. You guys really don't get when comparing bikes, fun is everything, you cannot use bhp on an upright bike, unless you like pain and discomfort, so what then?
I am planning on buying some RE as i get 18 y.o. I really like their bikes and i want to see more reviews. I would like to see Interceptor 650, Hunter 350 and Himalayan 450, I know you had Himalayan in your common tread XP and i loved the video.
Are you sure the owner's manual says every 3,000 miles to adjust the tappets, always? I thought that was just for the first time during the run in, then 6,000 after that for the life of the bike.
Great review, as always, Zack. Here in the UK RE are killing it, both the Meteor and the closely related Classic 350 are the best sellers in their respec classes and overall in the top 10 brands, RE is 7th, ahead of the likes of Piaggio and Ducati, which is flippin awesome if you ask me. I'd like to add me and my friend Jon are big into bikes, but don't ride yet, but every year we say we're gonna pull the trigger, I think the accessibility, affordability and style that RE have, as well as a rich and fascinating history are just draws and icing on various cakes, I'm 99% sure a Meteor will likely be my first big bike and probably a keeper from everything I've heard. Look forward to the review of the fancy electric Bimmer. You and Ari keep doing awesome stuff. Peace ✌️
First thing I thought when I saw this pop up was good luck trying to wheelie, how wrong could I be, I absolutely laughed my socks off. I do enjoy these videos, thank you. 😀😀🏍😀😀
It’s oddly harder to do a low speed footless than it is when you’re, say, following a car. like it’s a process that starts 50 feet back and not just something you do at a line. I wonder how trials riders do it.
Knew a RE Daily Rider episode was coming after Zack mentioned the tripper pod on the most recent High Side/Low Side. Always good to see these bikes get more exposure, hoping we can get a look at the Super Meteor 650 next year (assuming it comes to the US). I have to disagree with the conclusion on the leader board thought - isn't the ranking about how it would be as a "daily rider?"
I own a RE Meteor and want to correct two things that Zack erred in saying. First, he claims the mirrors do not get lose. In my case the right mirror vibrated lose while I was riding back to Chiang Mai from the RE shop in Lampeung. Despite tightening it by hand (Royal Enfield does not supply any tools with the bike) the mirror was hanging down when i was on the highway. If you don't care what is behind you it is not important. To me it is a life-and-death matter. The next time I rode it on the freeway the left mirror vibrated out of perfect location. I could tilt it back up and then it was down again next time I looked When I got the 500 km. service I got the mechanic to tighten that nut. But it still tilts down as I ride around town. Other people have mentioned this in other reviews. The second issue is that the foot pegs are too far forward. So what? So when you ride over bumps, pot holes.... logs, roads under construction... you naturally tend to press down on the pegs to absorb the shock. You use your legs as shock absorbers, unconsciously. The peg are too far forward. So you press forward with your feet and have to absorb your weight with your arms. Or else you just sit and absorb the bumps to your lower back. Neither is a good option. I have seen one other review that mentions this drawback of the this bike.
I ride a SV 650 and I rode a hunter 350 at a demo and it's nice to be able to use the whole throttle instead of just half of it. Really debating about buying one I loved it so much.
Just went from a Street Triple R to a RE Classic 350 and couldn't be happier. It's a different style of riding for sure, but it makes the trip itself a lot more enjoyable. I have more fun on this bike than any bike I've owned in my 12~ years of riding. To nitpick if it's better/worse than the BMW S 1000 RR is neither here nor there, but for the price and practicality of the thing, it kicks the BMWs ass.
Speaking of beginners bikes: it’s easy to recommend something in 500-650cc range, thinking it wouldn’t be intimidating. I bought a Suzuki GS500F for my first bike, but it wasn’t really my first bike. I rode small mopeds as a kid, went through a 20h riding school on a 250cc ETZ, and I rode friends bikes occasionally before I bought that 500. If I were to recommend a true first bike to someone who hasn’t ridden and may have challenges with the manual shifter, I’d probably recommend something in 200-300cc range with a low seat, which will definitely stall and let you catch the bike, and not spin out from under you butt. Btw: love the look of this bike!
Love the style and price point of RE but it has a similar power to weight ratio of my Honda Monkey. Well mines modded so probably less but my Monkey still gets over 100 mpg.
RE retained their British bike heritage while making a cruiser with forward foot controls and they hit the target. But for me, a lighter bike is more controllable and should be outfitted and prepared for "multistrada" or multi road surfaces. Specifically gravel and dirt roads, able to ford a creek with higher exhaust; in short, a scrambler, skid plate ready.
I like used speakers. I have a set of Infinity SM 125 in one room, infinity SM85 in the Garage, and infinity RS1 bookshelf speakers in the bedroom. I have less than $200 in speakers. As for recievers, the living room gets a HK 3370, the garage gets a vintage Yamaha CR-620, and the bedroom gets a Yamaha NS-301. Three wiim pros, one Como Turntable in the bedroom and I use my macbook with a CD rom when I want to listen to cd's. I have less than 1500 bucks for three listening areas.
What wasn't mentioned... The exhaust note sounded good (on the video) for a 350 thumper, more English than Japanese. Was the acceleration from a stop thrilling or lackluster? Could the bike handle a gearing change to cruise at 70/75 if riding freeways often was needed ? What would be the difference of engine characteristics between fueling with and without ethanol?
I had the Royal Enfield 500 and put a lot of miles on it and never had a problem, This bike is built for the back roads, not the highway, stick to 80 km roads or 55 mile an hour roads and it is more than you need. The 500 hundred I did take on many highway trips and never had a problem, but a 350 think I would stick to the back roads. and that is 90% of my riding no mater what I am on. they are saying between 37 and 41 km per liter of gas with a 15 liter gas tank, that is well over 550 km ( 340 Miles,) not many bikes will do that. If they had a dealer on the Island (PEI Canada ) I would have one or two in my stable. Like the new 450 Himalayan and the Metro or the Classic, or even the Intruder. They have so many bikes to chose from. If you want to do highway they also have a 650 cc. witch a lot of people seem to really like. Royal Enfield is one of the oldest bike companies around and there is a good reason for that. They put a huge smile on you face, they are dependable, and very easy to work on. All at a very good price.
Read Common Tread's review of the Royal Enfield Meteor 350! rvz.la/3VqyOuF
And if your bike needs new rubber, check out Michelin! rvz.la/3izeTLJ
Aren't you guys a little too late to the party?
You got the recommended valve check intervals wrong. It’s every 6,000 miles, not 3,000. Oil changes are at 3,000.
Can we get a how to on backing it in with the clutch dump. I want to chuckle like that on my commute to work.
Glad you finally reviewed the bike. The Super Meteor 650 is right around the corner, hopefully it'll come to the US. 650cc is enough power to go down the road, and not having to fiddle with the ECM to unlock the governor is another plus.
You are correct about the governing. UK model governed at 71 mph. That's why the engine runs so well at 70, its not really strained at that speed. No idea how you're getting so low mpg.
I've got to say, having owned a Meteor 350 for a year exactly now, I still think so long as you know what it's capable of and don't expect it to be a superbike, I think it wins the nod. On a 3-hour trip, tent and backpack strapped to the passenger seat and a pair of saddlebags and a tank bag, I felt like this was a great little traveling bike for secondary roads. If the speed limit is 55 to 65 you're going to be a happy camper all day long. I have taken it out on 75 mph interstate but it is running flat out so I tend to build a little more time into my commute or travel schedule and enjoy the ride. I don't need the bike with the most power. I need the bike that makes me smile the most and for "me" that's this little blue Meteor 350.
what saddle bags did you put on it? haven't really seen a lot of options or ways to mount them
I have ridden the HNTER, same engine more agile. With it having 10-15 more horses (and a few kilos less), they wouldn't make it worse, (or a superbike) for the things you wrote. On the contrary, they would make it even better. As it is, it is borderline in my personal opinion.
@@fsendventd I would also like to know.
Smiles per gallon
Royal Enfield dealer here: the valve check is at 6k then every other 3k (so the valves get checked every 6k miles). It is worded in a confusing way but it is every 6k miles. Hope that helps!
But why a valve check at first 300 miles? Some people can do that mileage in a week, especially potential customers that don't have a dealer nearby or are not mechanically inclined,this could be a deal killer
@@kriscotner7105 I hear you. I think the first service is extremely important. You really do want to get in there and make sure parts are mating together properly. RE has made huge leaps in quality and received a ton of praise for their engineering, I think some of this is due to their conservative first service schedule. Other brands will typically do this around 1k mikes but RE just happens to require this service sooner.
While not the same, the Royal Enfield Classic 350 is close to this bike and we bought three of them this summer.
At 61, I’ve been riding since I was 10. First “bike” was a Benelli 50cc mini. Next a Honda Elsinore 125cc. The Royal Enfield Classic 350 is the smallest bike I’ve owned since that time, with all sorts of sports bike for the last 50 years.
The Royal Enfield Classic 350 is simply fantastic. Everywhere we go, we end up in long conversations over the bikes.
While you can ride on the freeways, it’s really an in town bike or one to take up in the hills like Angeles Crest hwy.
for under $5k you get ABS, fuel injection, three year warranty and miles and miles of smiles.
Nobody will regret buying one unless they don’t heed the smaller motor’s limits. And for us, it’s not even a limit. They serve their purpose perfectly.
💯% the most fun I’ve had since I was a kid.
Ride Safe 🙏🏼
I freaking love mine Man
I bought one the middle of 2022 and have enjoyed it. I have a harley street glide special, bmw 1200gsa, and honda grom. I ended up riding the 350 classic to work more than the other bikes and smiled every time I rode it.
Yeah, it sure is an improvement over those beginner 125cc bikes that struggle in the highways.
@@getoutside4363 Helpful to me with a Harley and just bought a Kaw KLX 230SM. More fun than riding the Harley!
Excellent review of the Meteor. I'm 69 years old and have bee riding for 50 years now. I have owned everything from a 90cc up to 1000cc bikes over the years. This little Meteor 350 is one of my all time favorites. I seldom go on the freeways. This bike excels on two lane country roads. Just puttering around between 35-55 mph. That's exactly what I bought it for. It is the smoothest single I have ever been on. The seat is outstanding and I can ride for 2-3 hours without fatigue or soreness. I love this little bike. I can't however understand why Royal Enfield felt the need to limit a 350's top speed. How much faster could a 20 HP bike be afterall. Thanks for the review.
I wonder if they did it just to keep stress of the engine down. Basically keep it just enough under it's max capability so it stays reliable longer and doesn't tire the engine out due to being run at it's limits for extended periods of time.
Por causa da legislação na Índia
@@alexandregarciabarea6659Tak to rozumym ,ALE NECHAPU proc obtezuji i vyvoz
I understand the 71mph speed limiter is to do with a tax penalty in their home market.
Well it all comes down to road and traffic regulations in various other countries in the world where RE has a good loyal customer base. There are set speed limits each for back country roads, inner city commuting roads, freeways and highway roads and racing tracks. In some cases you require an extra license to go any higher than the permissive limit set by the local government and in some other, it is absolutely banned to go any higher than the said limit. I think they made these limits to adjust to those local regulations and laws
Love what RE is doing. They are amazing at keeping classics and small displacement bikes relevant! I have my eyes on the Classic 350 Reborn, such an cool bike.
I have a 2021 Meteor and, while it’s my first bike, I adore it. Most fun I’ve had driving since I was 16.
You would be happy to know there is a Classic 650 with USD forks upcoming. It's currently being tested here in India and we see a lot of Royal Enfield test bikes especially ones with 650 engines in and around Mumbai.
The super meteor 650 has already been launched. Bullet 650, shotgun(bobber) 650.
Continental GT V Twin 950 (2025) are in the pipeline
There is also himalayan 450 with Royal Enfield's first ever liquid cooled engine upcoming.
@@shree397 any signs of a 650 Himalayan yet? Pleeeease!
@@hairyneil No company openly laid out its 3year plan and no 650cc himalayan yet. But the 450 is said to be 40hp so not bad.
i am pretty sure in future there will be a himalayan with a bigger engine to challenge v storm and tiger category for cheap.
@@shree397 oh interesting, is the 450 a bored out 410 or a different block entirely?
I’ve been a hounding a bunch of friends to start riding for at least a decade. This year three of them finally bought bikes. One on a Himalayan, one on a Meteor, and one on an Interceptor 650. Thanks Royal Enfield, this company is getting many new riders on the road
I went motocamping for 10 days overseas in England (i'm from Belgium). With all the bags and my girlfriend on the back, this thing still delivered going 60mph, and man those English roads can be rough sometimes.
Zack's authentic laughter is contagious! I LOL when he wheelie'd and backed it in....he was having fun and it is one of best parts of these daily rider reviews.
yo fr was thinking the same.
I was wondering why you hadn't done a review on this gem. Not sure who would buy any 350 CC bike for highway riding. The bike is designed for secondary roads and down town, and in that regard, it is a superstar. I could tell from you voice you were grinning during the whole ride. Bought mine without a test ride, and had it shipped 1000 miles. from closest dealer. This machine was designed for ease of maintenance. Many channels show how easy, including RE's own. Was interesting how long the battle between it and the BMW took. I sold my RT 1100 after my purchase due to lack of use. Been riding 50 years, and so far, this is my favourite.
I'd take a RE over an HD any day at this point. They are really doing something.
LOL you can't compare the two. Two totally different style of bikes.
I grew up loving HD but I agree 100% with this - I would buy RE iver HD.
I also think they do compare really well, except for the very latest of HD.
@@DankoStojanovic two totally different style of motorcycles.
@@davidsizemore2745 yeah the RE is best for relaxed cruising and the HD is best for, you guessed it, relaxed cruising.
the HD acceleraters faster and has a higher top speed. Neither of which matter for cruising.
You can't compare the two.
I bought one of these for my wife. It's VERY rideable, teaches you to use gears properly, nicely balanced and fun to ride.
I'm no mechanic but using youtube I did the valve adjustment for the first time and it took me an hour. My nearest RE dealer is only a half hour away and they encouraged me to do it myself. If I had them do it it would have cost $150 which is way below what the typical valve adjustment cost is for other brands. And by the way, as others have pointed out 6000 miles is the interval after the first check.
Royal Enfield has really arrived. I mean they've been around forever, but the improved quality and styling of their current line up is getting a lot of peoples attention.
You won’t be winning any races on it, but you’ll smile the whole time you ride it. I rode them all weekend, and laughed the very same way in pure entertainment. I can’t explain it, but these bikes have such a solid charm and bring back the “experience” of motorcycling
RevZilla team!! These vids are sensational keep up the good work. However, I’ve been carrying on for so long that we need a comment on headlight performance! It’s an important feature as 40% of commuters around the world travel at least one trip in the dark. I’m sure a great portion of us watching would appreciate it and a quick spiel on headlights would be a great addition to this awesome series.
As a Meteor owner the stock headlight is not very good. It is not an LED. I'm replacing mine with a RE LED headlight. Hopefully it will be a good upgrade.
I've got a 2021 Meteor 350 and the headlight on high beam is adequate. On low beam I find that it's very easy to outride your lights.
I believe I read that the Royal Enfield manufacturing plant has the absolute highest ranking you can have for quality control. To corroborate, fortnine did a limited experiment checking oil cleanliness for the first service. RE was number 1.
At 50 mph it delivers 90 mpg. It is limited to 72 mph (GPS), 75 on the speedo. If you need 70 mph every day this is simply the wrong bike. I have the same engine in my ‘22 Classic 350. It is smooth because it is counterbalanced. For two up riding on the interstate I have my 114” Harley but nothing beats the 350 for putting on the backroads.
I made it on a episode of Daily Ride!! That’s my fully electric semi at 5:53 in the right lane.
I'm a new rider (had my licence for three months). I bought my first bike, the "Royal Enfield Meteor 350cc," and I'm made up with it! It's just an amazing first bike, very forgiving, and can happily ride it all day long. I've had hours of fun even through this past winter on it. I have no interest in the super fast sports bikes or going ridiculously quikly. Chugging along, taking in the scenery, it's just fantastic. Can highly recommend any new riders in their late 20s like me.
I knew a guy that had an Enfield 10 - 15 years ago, always looked so cool, i liked them. And in recent years they have improved a ton, modernized a bit, and look very good. Apparently they got a new CEO, a very young guy that made big changes and improvements.
The first thing that CEO did after taking the reins is he took away all the company cars for the executives and asked them to ride a Royal Enfield to work.
Royal Enfield is run by bikers and it shows.
I hope you test out the Meteor 650 when it's available, I think that solves the power problems and it *looks* like they have made it a lot nicer in terms of trim and finishes. I'm curious to hear your thoughts when you make a video on it.
Yeah, the up and (hopefully soon) coming Meteor 650 looks to be the best version of the Interceptor 650 to me.
by having 40hp in a 450lbs bike....Nothing is solved.
@@just_one_opinion went from a 130hp sport tourer to the interceptor. Couldn't be happier. 40hp is absolutely fine for a fun ride
They are also, according to Indian sources, set to release a Classic 650 in the fall of '23. Almost all steel and rideable power. That might be the one to get.
@@Root_boy is it because your roads are too bad to handle more than 100 hurspurs 😋🤭
I’m at 0:04 and can comfortably say this is going to be one of my favourite episodes.
My first bike in Meteor Blue. It’s economical, approachable, quiet and gets up to speed…eventually.
Thanks for covering RE.
I’ve got one in blue and i love it. There isn’t a single day I don’t get a comment or a look. Fantastic value for money. Great commuter and for weekend rides. Ride it two up as well and there is not a big drop in performance. Yes, I know performance is limited to start with 😊. Put luggage on mine and it looks the part. Only drawback is the brakes. The pads seem to be made out of soap. Once the 650 is available it will surely be a perfect all rounder
Agree with you on the brakes. I watched a video on Yammie Noob's (ugh) channel where they had the same issues on an Interceptor, which were sorted with a better master cylinder from Magura. Which I plan on doing first with my Meteor, then better brake pads later.
@@uneasyr1der thanks for the tip 👍
@@rodintoulouse3054😮❤
You'll want a Magura Hydraulic 225 Master Cylinder (Right Hand 13mm), and you'll also need a M10x1.0 Banjo Bolt brake fitting. I put links here before, but Revzilla must have stripped them out, because they don't carry these parts. In fact, Revzilla/Cyclegear carry very little specifically for Royal Enfield, so that's their problem.
@@uneasyr1der thank you very much. I will check here in France for the parts
"A simple presentation of forward motion" is the perfect way to describe this bike.
Best Meteor review ever, and the first time I have seen someone wheelie on one, so 10/10 Zack, keep up the good work, your love of all things 2 wheel is obvious.
Love small bikes reviews, they look so fun to ride. keep them coming.
Huge numbers of modern RE sold here in Europe since 2017, reliability excellent.
Really impressed with the recent releases from RE. Glad you did a daily rider review on the 350 Meteor.
This is the bike HD should’ve been making when they vomited the street 500. It’s stylish, approachable, affordable, and a really great bike. Long distance highway touring is the only thing Enfields don’t do
HD is unable to make a bike that is affordable because they do not have any expertise in managing scale, ie. large numbers of bikes sold. It is exactly the same reason Triumph is partnering with Bajaj for their baby triumph, they have no experience with managing supply chain of large numbers. And you cannot bring down the price if the bike without selling big numbers
I bought my 350 classic at a harley/royal Enfield dealer lol
Haha…check out the new super meteor 650 its parallel twin air cooled 649 engine with good torque its amazing
As a Meteor 350 owner, I've never gotten less than 65-70 mpg. While I wring its neck sometimes during acceleration, I normally ride 50-55 mph back roads. After run-in, I've been getting 75+ mpg.
Same for me after exactly 1 year of ownership and extremely similar riding style
Man do i wanna see a RE Scram daily rider. Ive got a 2017 grom, a 2012 wr250x, a 2022 mt09 and a 2016 xsr900. I think id appreciate something a little different than the bikes i already have. Definitely dont need tons of power to have fun. Like what RE has been doing with the company. Another great video Zack! Always appreciate your point of veiw.
Couple of bits to point out, valve check and service is every 6000 miles in the US and Europe, the 3000 mile “service” is basically just a check over of everything, like most good riders do regularly anyway!
The engine has a 6500rpm govener on and the bike has a 75mph speed limiter written into the ECU. Without it it tops out at 85mph.
Great review though :)
Oh and on mileage, if you cruise along at 55-60mph it’ll return 120miles to a UK gallon easily!
Your enthusiasm level is always impressive. You're really cut out well for this job! Thanks.
I bought a 350 classic last year and love it.
It is better on fuel than you think if you are trying. That's ben my challenge is to see how good of fuel mileage i can get.
Plus it's fun to try to ride it fast, lots of running it though the gears.
You should post a few small videos on mpg achievements.
I average 80 mpg with my classic 350 around town and commuting on roads under 50mph. It's a fun little bike that I enjoy riding. I also own a 1200gsa, street glide special, and a grom.
For the cost this bike is a great option as a second bike or solid first. Having had an Interceptor, the valve checks are cake and there are tons of TH-cam how-to videos to show how to do it. If I didn’t have a Suzuki VanVan already, I’d snag one of these.
All the cool guys like RE, and are named Dave...
@@davidc1961utube hell yeah!
just upgraded from my vanvan to a hunter 350. small world
This is my daily commuter, really does the job up to around 100kmph. Over that it falls off, doesn't struggle - just doesn't hit that push on point and you'll slow down on a hill open throttle in third.
It's still nice, sounds good, handles better than the weight would imply. Looks take it a long way. It's a great first or last bike.
You're right about the ECU being limited at 120kmph/75mph - in Brazil they had to be unlimited because of their fuel mix, there are some getting up to 140/150kmph 86/93mph.
The tripper is garbage, I gave up on trying to make it consistently work - it makes a nice clock while I'm riding 😂
RE makes great bikes. I have two. The valve checks are at 6,000 miles, not 3,000 though.
Love my Interceptor and recommend RE to pretty much anyone in the market for a new bike. They don't win on the spec sheet, but they make riding fun, and that's what it's about, right?
And for what it's worth, both my bike and my friend's Classic 350 have been dead reliable.
Have you replaced maintenance parts yet? I'd think they would be dirt cheap right?
@Yuri Teixeira haven't needed to yet but yeah basically everything is extremely affordable for these bikes.
Few month ago I went to the motorcycle shop of my town who sells Kawasaki, KTM and Royal Enfield and I ask the dealer wich of this 3 brands was the more reliable and he answers me Royal Enfield first followed by Kawasaki and waaaay behind KTM. I'm waiting for the RE himalayan 650!!
I agree with you about the specs, in general we look at the power, the weight and that's it. But they are so many paramaters like the handling, the breaks, bore and stroke, gear ratio, suspension quality that make a bike good or not (in a subjectiv way) that can change your riding experience. " Did she makes you smile??" should be the main thing.
Put your money in gas and not in expensive electronic (except ABS) and GO EXPLORE!
@@yuriteixeira5816 Yes, you're right on. I ordered 6 OEM oil filters from India $25 shipped took 10 days to arrive.
My Dad has been riding for 50+ years and has owned just about every bike you can think of. He currently has this RE Meteor and loves it. Very comfortable and capable backroad cruiser.
The Meteor 350 and Rebel 300 are both excellent choices. The Meteor 350 definitely has a more classic look and has a slightly higher seat (useful for taller people), but is heavier and significantly slower. The Rebel 300 has a smaller but higher revving, water-cooled engine which gives it more top-end power and speed but a little less tractor-like oomph when getting underway from a stop. The Rebel is about 50 pounds lighter and has a lower seat, features which may be important for a smaller person or for a learner who might drop it a few times. The performance numbers from a 2021 Cycle World comparison are:
Max /speed: Meteor 75 mph, Rebel 91 mph
0-60mph: Meteor 12.34 sec, Rebel 7.85 sec
Power at rear wheel*: Meteor 18 hp, Rebel 25 hp,
*note: "Power at rear wheel" numbers are lower than the advertised ones and this is normal. The "power at rear wheel" is what is actually transmitted to the road and was measured with a production motorcycle. The advertised numbers were measured directly from the engine, without any losses from the transmission, chain, etc.
After watching this video I got Meteor 350 from dealership for a very good price. For the price of Honda Grom I got full size motorcycle able to ride hours on the freeway with top speed of 75 MPH. Insurance is $28 dollars. Fuel economy is very good. Seat is the most comfortable compared to the other motorcycles I have ever driven. I think it’s not a big deal to adjust valves after every 6000 miles. I would recommend this bike to anyone who wants a real motorcycle for the scooter price.
Thank you Daily Rider for this review.
I stick to the 45-55 mph roads in Michigan and I average over 70 mpg on my Classic 350. That sort of makes it a slightly less practical Vespa 150, but it’s less expensive and has more road presence(which helps keep people from driving as aggressively around you compared to a Vespa).
I owned a Meteor for over a year and absolutely love it. Great buddy bike.
I've had my Classic, which is basically the exact same bike with a few aesthetic differences, for a full season now. It's the kind of bike that's perfect for when you have nowhere to go and no hurry getting there. 80kph is where it's the most harmonic in the engine, and I'd call 90 the max cruising speed. You can go higher as well without the engine outright complaining, but it hurts my soul a bit doing so for extended periods. On a warm summers eve, sweeping along twisty roads into the white nights of the Nordics, that's where it transforms into the best bike in the world for a short while. It's more fun riding a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow. I've done 500km in a day without any problems and the bike just asks for more. Planning on some proper camping trips this summer, now that I know I can properly trust the bike. I have several bigger bikes as well, but somehow I still go for the Royal when I just want to get out there to clear my head a bit. Bringing out the 1000cc tourer to just take a couple of laps around the surroundings would feel a bit weird, while on the Royal it feels completely natural.
I had a go on a RE Classic 350 a few months ago, same engine as the Meteor. Great little bike and the fact that it only has 20hp really doesn't matter. It's just a "nice" bike. RE are really doing good things in the retro bike sector. This is the sort thing that brands like Triumph, Honda, Yamaha are just missing at lower CCs.
Honda highness cb350 released in 2020 in India to counter RE gave RE a good run for its money
RE really filling HDs spot in the market. And honestly I'm okay with that. A very welcome change.
This video literally made me go and order a Meteor 350. A stellar red, no less. Beautiful machine and I definetily cannot wait until spring!
The Super Meteor is gonna be a banger.
The me the GT still wins, because basically the same platform and more sporty yet classic still. But I can see why some people might prefer the Meteor flavor - each to their own.
Impressive wheelie, I've got a meteor and I'm certain I couldn't do the same. It has its charms as you say. It's my first smaller capacity bike since learner days in the 70's, since then it's been 900-1200 but the meteor is great fun. I've had to relearn the skills to maintain momentum again, round the corners as fast as the straights! The turning circle has allowed me to explore some back lanes that I'd never have ridden the bigger bikes on. 👍
I did my MSF course this fall on a Meteor 350. For a returning rider, it was a bit chunky, but so am I. My only complaint is I came to a stop 0.1 seconds too late and for my pride, ill blame that on the weight and abs lol. Otherwise, I didn't have any problems doing slaloms and figure eights and whatnot. It's a manageable heavy little bike, at least for me
I like the look of the classic bikes they’re making. I almost pulled the trigger and got an gt650 but opted to pay a little more for a used cb1100. Reviews have been pretty solid on the bigger bikes. Maybe a used one is in my future depending on long term reliability.
I'm sure in the UK royal Enfield stated 6000 miles for valve checks.
Very cool bike I think. I went back and re-watched your Rebel 500 review, and I think you had more fun on this Meteor from what you’ve said about the Honda. I would have rated it higher as a commuter.
hey Zack nice video, one mistake here thought is the service interval is 6000 miles not 3000
OMG.... Zack's trepidation on putting the bike potentially above the BMW S 1000 RR was awesome. He was really struggling. Loved watching this.
Thanks for another really fun episode. I love the presentation style and the focus on the real world. RE deserves a lot of credit for making and marketing these entry level bikes. That said, if I wanted a bike like this I’d have the Rebel 250. Thanks again.
In 2019 I bought a 2010 RE 500. The military style with sidecar. It had 1700 miles. I put 500 miles on the gutless but cool looking machine. I sold it for enough to put a downpayment on a 09 flhtc. Best decision I made in a ling time.
At the age of 62, I think the meteor 350 is going to be my return to riding bike. Was quite surprised by the wheelie.
I'm getting older, so I swapped my 500 Bullet for a Meteor. I'm extremely pleased with it. It does everything I need it to do. A very nice machine to ride, comfortable and agile. Fuel injection and electric start. What's not to like?
Glad to see it fair pretty well. I bought one in early summer only to have a manufacturing defect leave it stuck in the shop for 3 months. By the time I figured out that I could have gotten a refund they figured out the issue. I’m hoping to actually get to ride it next year.
That's sad...
I just noticed… does Zack have his screen protector on his phone upside down?
27:15 The little notch looks like it’s at the bottom, but I think it should be at the top, lol
Right after we finished this video today I went out and got the Rebel 500 I’ve been eyeing. It was such a hard choice!!! Thanks for posting the video
This bike sounds much better than I would have expected
It's fun to hear people who didn't grow up with practical motorcycles make comments about the Royal Enfield. Don't get me wrong. I liked it when the motorcycle industrial first delved into making hyper focused machines. The 1981 GPZ1100 is a prime example. It was a slightly modified UJM with a small fairing, electronic fuel injection, and an oil cooler. It was still a relatively simple bike that was practical. I stopped liking the move to hyper focused machines when water cooling was introduced and things got worse from there (in my opinion). Example: Dual Sport motorcycles went from 225 lbs to 300 lbs overnight. The ever increasing drive for longer suspension travel made dual sports less and less attractive for road use. Many people no longer felt comfortable at a stop light because of the ever increasing seat height. The razor thin barely padded seats installed on the hyper machines made long distance rides quite uncomfortable. This had a side effect of leaving most dual sports with no room under the seat for a pair of riding gloves. At the end of the day, bikes became so specialized that they could do one thing well only. For me, the net effect of hyper focused machines made motorcycling less enjoyable overall, unless you had money to purchase a motorcycle from each of the hyper segments. I did that and it was great, until it got so bad that choosing which motorcycle to ride became as tedious as trying to figure out what to wear in the morning. Not to mention the sticker price of most hyper focused machines. Most people have no reason to buy these motorcycles because they do not have enough utility to support the price of admission. So yeah, Royal Enfield is the beginning of what I hope will be a trend back to general purpose motorcycles that are affordable and highly utilitarian.
Hay! I spotted my old Yamaha in the background there, the gold one 70-72 vintage, I used to roam all over the Arizona desert during my early years. I have more memories of that bike than all the other bikes I have ever owned!
That's my RE Meteor 350. I've had mine for a bit over a year now as my "kinda" first bike and it has been nothing but deee light full! And!....I joined the motorcycle group because of it. It was just like joining the 501st legion.
What he said about the bike is 99% perfectly authentic!
I'm getting a Royal Enfield INT650 by the end of the year, very excited to get that. Can't wait to finally try out this classic brand. Will definitely have fun comparing it to my other 2 bikes. (A Vstrom 650, and an old Harley Softail)
I really like what Enfield is doing these days, and they keep upping the ante! And I dont mind the 350cc, BUT it doesnt work for me in a cruiser, to me the small engine just doesn't suit the style of a cruiser. I would however not hesitate on the Classic 350 or the Himalayan 411 they seem awesome, and the slow speed kind of suits those bikes.
But Royal Enfield launched a 650 "Super Meteor" wich looks really nice and beefy, I'm looking forward to the reviews once it gets out to the stores!
Agreed
A Super Meteor would probably fit US roads better.
I have yet to see anyone go all out on customizing a Himalayan, I think the platform would be great for it. I want to see an apocalypse styling, or maybe a John-Deere/Massey-Fergusson theme since its a tractor 😁
For an old guy, it is ideal, that low down torque is so much more important the bhp on everything but a sports screamer. One of the best reviews of any bike I have seen, well done. That Honda 300 had lots of reliability problems in the early days and calling a 286cc a 300 is con..and no torque...so I hate it for being a fake. The 500 is a lot more money and still no fun, it has more bhp, but sitting upright that is no use. You guys really don't get when comparing bikes, fun is everything, you cannot use bhp on an upright bike, unless you like pain and discomfort, so what then?
I am planning on buying some RE as i get 18 y.o. I really like their bikes and i want to see more reviews. I would like to see Interceptor 650, Hunter 350 and Himalayan 450, I know you had Himalayan in your common tread XP and i loved the video.
@@CurlyWolf_ But im not from US, im from europe
@@CurlyWolf_ Oh yeah sorry, i didnt get it on first
Are you sure the owner's manual says every 3,000 miles to adjust the tappets, always? I thought that was just for the first time during the run in, then 6,000 after that for the life of the bike.
4:17 loved that small drag race between electric and petrol engine.
Great review, as always, Zack. Here in the UK RE are killing it, both the Meteor and the closely related Classic 350 are the best sellers in their respec classes and overall in the top 10 brands, RE is 7th, ahead of the likes of Piaggio and Ducati, which is flippin awesome if you ask me.
I'd like to add me and my friend Jon are big into bikes, but don't ride yet, but every year we say we're gonna pull the trigger, I think the accessibility, affordability and style that RE have, as well as a rich and fascinating history are just draws and icing on various cakes, I'm 99% sure a Meteor will likely be my first big bike and probably a keeper from everything I've heard.
Look forward to the review of the fancy electric Bimmer. You and Ari keep doing awesome stuff. Peace ✌️
In India meteor is facing tough competition from honda highness cb350
@ruchi mowar I really want Honda to sell the H'ness in the UK, looks a brilliant bike
Zack over here with his screen protector upside down on his phone. Love Daily Rider.
Thanks for answering my question! However my lady friend ended up going off the deep end and getting a street twin, but we appreciate the input.
First thing I thought when I saw this pop up was good luck trying to wheelie, how wrong could I be, I absolutely laughed my socks off. I do enjoy these videos, thank you. 😀😀🏍😀😀
It’s oddly harder to do a low speed footless than it is when you’re, say, following a car. like it’s a process that starts 50 feet back and not just something you do at a line. I wonder how trials riders do it.
Slow speed maneuvers are always harder.
Knew a RE Daily Rider episode was coming after Zack mentioned the tripper pod on the most recent High Side/Low Side. Always good to see these bikes get more exposure, hoping we can get a look at the Super Meteor 650 next year (assuming it comes to the US). I have to disagree with the conclusion on the leader board thought - isn't the ranking about how it would be as a "daily rider?"
I agree - I'd kill myself if I had to commute and run errands daily on an S1000RR
As it stands, the whole leader board is a flawed idea. No way you can directly compare bikes that vary so widely in price and purpose.
Travels With Charley deep cut Steinbeck 10/10 great video as always
Loping through the countryside around 45-50 mph on my Royal Enfield Classic 350 (which has the same engine as the Meteor) I get right at 85 mpg.
My compliments on the best review I have seen in a week of viewing dozens of them.
I think it looks very nice. A classic style with modern amenities. Reminds me of the old Honda nighthawk 650. Which was about the same weight.
I own a RE Meteor and want to correct two things that Zack erred in saying. First, he claims the mirrors do not get lose. In my case the right mirror vibrated lose while I was riding back to Chiang Mai from the RE shop in Lampeung. Despite tightening it by hand (Royal Enfield does not supply any tools with the bike) the mirror was hanging down when i was on the highway. If you don't care what is behind you it is not important. To me it is a life-and-death matter. The next time I rode it on the freeway the left mirror vibrated out of perfect location. I could tilt it back up and then it was down again next time I looked When I got the 500 km. service I got the mechanic to tighten that nut. But it still tilts down as I ride around town. Other people have mentioned this in other reviews.
The second issue is that the foot pegs are too far forward. So what? So when you ride over bumps, pot holes.... logs, roads under construction... you naturally tend to press down on the pegs to absorb the shock. You use your legs as shock absorbers, unconsciously. The peg are too far forward. So you press forward with your feet and have to absorb your weight with your arms. Or else you just sit and absorb the bumps to your lower back. Neither is a good option. I have seen one other review that mentions this drawback of the this bike.
I ride a SV 650 and I rode a hunter 350 at a demo and it's nice to be able to use the whole throttle instead of just half of it. Really debating about buying one I loved it so much.
Just went from a Street Triple R to a RE Classic 350 and couldn't be happier. It's a different style of riding for sure, but it makes the trip itself a lot more enjoyable. I have more fun on this bike than any bike I've owned in my 12~ years of riding. To nitpick if it's better/worse than the BMW S 1000 RR is neither here nor there, but for the price and practicality of the thing, it kicks the BMWs ass.
Speaking of beginners bikes: it’s easy to recommend something in 500-650cc range, thinking it wouldn’t be intimidating. I bought a Suzuki GS500F for my first bike, but it wasn’t really my first bike. I rode small mopeds as a kid, went through a 20h riding school on a 250cc ETZ, and I rode friends bikes occasionally before I bought that 500. If I were to recommend a true first bike to someone who hasn’t ridden and may have challenges with the manual shifter, I’d probably recommend something in 200-300cc range with a low seat, which will definitely stall and let you catch the bike, and not spin out from under you butt.
Btw: love the look of this bike!
Love the style and price point of RE but it has a similar power to weight ratio of my Honda Monkey. Well mines modded so probably less but my Monkey still gets over 100 mpg.
There is also the new Hunter 350, which has more modern styling using the same engine and frame. Great bikes for country roads and inner city riding.
Very poor ground clearance and lacking road presence hunter 350
The Hunter is cheaper, turns faster, is lighter and the rear suspension is better. I hope they test this on the channel.
RE retained their British bike heritage while making a cruiser with forward foot controls and they hit the target. But for me, a lighter bike is more controllable and should be outfitted and prepared for "multistrada" or multi road surfaces. Specifically gravel and dirt roads, able to ford a creek with higher exhaust; in short, a scrambler, skid plate ready.
I like used speakers. I have a set of Infinity SM 125 in one room, infinity SM85 in the Garage, and infinity RS1 bookshelf speakers in the bedroom. I have less than $200 in speakers. As for recievers, the living room gets a HK 3370, the garage gets a vintage Yamaha CR-620, and the bedroom gets a Yamaha NS-301. Three wiim pros, one Como Turntable in the bedroom and I use my macbook with a CD rom when I want to listen to cd's. I have less than 1500 bucks for three listening areas.
What’s that got to do with a motorcycle
Favorite part of the video: Zack honking at a Tesla and telling it to move 😀
What wasn't mentioned... The exhaust note sounded good (on the video) for a 350 thumper, more English than Japanese. Was the acceleration from a stop thrilling or lackluster? Could the bike handle a gearing change to cruise at 70/75 if riding freeways often was needed ? What would be the difference of engine characteristics between fueling with and without ethanol?
I had the Royal Enfield 500 and put a lot of miles on it and never had a problem, This bike is built for the back roads, not the highway, stick to 80 km roads or 55 mile an hour roads and it is more than you need. The 500 hundred I did take on many highway trips and never had a problem, but a 350 think I would stick to the back roads. and that is 90% of my riding no mater what I am on. they are saying between 37 and 41 km per liter of gas with a 15 liter gas tank, that is well over 550 km ( 340 Miles,) not many bikes will do that. If they had a dealer on the Island (PEI Canada ) I would have one or two in my stable. Like the new 450 Himalayan and the Metro or the Classic, or even the Intruder. They have so many bikes to chose from. If you want to do highway they also have a 650 cc. witch a lot of people seem to really like. Royal Enfield is one of the oldest bike companies around and there is a good reason for that. They put a huge smile on you face, they are dependable, and very easy to work on. All at a very good price.
Daily Rider is the best segment Revzilla produces.
Lots of us commute in the dark. I would love it if you incorporated headlight effectiveness into your Daily Rider segment.
Will you be reviewing the Super Meteor 650 when it becomes available?
I'm glad that you're doing smaller bikes! Still waiting on a TU250X video, but I understand that they're more rare in California
I have a Meteor 350. I'm really really satisfied.
My only complaint is the damn stock mirrors. They vibrate a lot.
Way to go with the wheelie. Never thought i would see that on a Meteor 😊
others have probably already said the service interval (for valves) is 6K miles not 3 ( at least that's the way I read it in my Classic 350 manual 🙂)
It’s the same with the Meteor