2025 Royal Enfield Hunter 350 Review: Why The Updates Actually Matter
Royal Enfield Hunter 350 has been selling well ever since its launch in 2022. It is, in fact, the second-best-selling Royal Enfield today, with the Classic 350 taking the top spot. Earlier this year, the company rolled out a significant update on the motorcycle, which brought a handful of desirable changes to the model. These have added more appeal to the bike. We lived with the updated Hunter for a week and rode it for a few hundred kilometres. Here's why the updates actually matter...
2025 Hunter 350 Price And Variants
Let's start with the variants and prices. The motorcycle continues to be offered in three broad trims. The ex-showroom prices now range from Rs 1.49- 1.81 lakh. While that of the lower variants have remained the same as the previous bike, the top-spec Hunter's price has had an upward revision. This is because most of the updates on the 2025 bike have come on the range-topping variant.
What Are The Changes?
Royal Enfield rejigged the colour palette of the new Hunter 350. It now has six colours- Factory Black, Dapper Grey, London Red, Rio White, Tokyo Black, and Rebel Blue. These are distributed among variants. The colour on our test bike- London Red, is exclusive to the top-spec variant. The base variant comes in Factory Black alone.
Most bits on the design front remain unchanged. The revised colour palette brings more visual appeal to the table. Another notable addition is that of a new LED headlamp. This is the same unit that's found on multiple other Royal Enfield motorcycles as well. In fact, the Classic is now the only Royal Enfield that comes with regular halogen units.
We found the illumination to be fairly adequate during our night rides. Truth be told, it wasn't anything exceptional. On purely visual grounds, the LED unit looks more appealing than the bulb setup.
Take a closer look at it, and you will find out that the exhaust pipe has been slightly redesigned and rerouted. This has, in fact, generated more usable ground clearance. The old Hunter used to have 150mm, whereas the new bike has 160 mm.
Royal Enfield claims to have made minor changes to the rider triangle as well. The handlebar is now placed a bit closer to the rider, compared to the previous bike. While the design remains the same, the seat's foam has been upgraded. These are claimed to increase rider comfort, especially on long rides.
The seat height continues to be 790mm, accessible to most people. There is enough room for even tall riders to ride comfortably. With a pillion, however, things can get slightly tight for tall riders.
The biggest upgrade on the new Hunter 350 is its suspension. The previous bike was criticised by many for its stiff ride quality. Long saddle times could give riders tough times. Royal Enfield seems to have taken customer feedback and calls for a softer setup seriously. The rear now gets progressive springs. The previous bike used to come with linear springs. The spring swap has made the motorcycle much more comfortable to live with.
Next, the company has given this motorcycle a new slip/assist clutch. This is claimed to reduce the clutch effort significantly and make it lighter.
Finally, the company has given this motorcycle a C-type USB charger. The previous bike used to come with a Type-A USB smartphone charger. The new port makes faster charging possible.
New Hunter 350: Ride Impressions
Well, all these changes reflect well in real-life ride scenarios. The most noticeable impact is in the ride quality. The progressive springs ensure optimum comfort and control over potholes and speedbreakers. Even on rumblers, the motorcycle feels planted and keeps the occupants reasonably comfortable. It is definitely a big leap upwards from what was offered on the previous motorcycle. Like its predecessor, the new Hunter feels agile and dynamic.
The slip/assist clutch is extremely useful in city runs. The clutch now feels lighter than before and requires significantly less effort. However, don't expect it to be extremely light as can be seen in some Japanese bikes. Let's just say that the Hunter 350 has become more comfortable to live with, especially for beginner riders.
Existing Hunter owners can retrofit both the progressive rear suspension and the slip/assist clutch on their motorcycles. The sip/assist clutch can in fact, be fitted on any J-platform bike.
Circling back, the engine and its character feel almost the same as before. The motorcycle is powered by the familiar 350cc engine that churns out 20 hp and 27 Nm of torque. It feels torquey and smooth. The exhaust sound has the gentle, characteristic 'thumping' intact, especially at low revs.
Verdict
The updated motorcycle has managed to iron out most flaws of the previous Hunter 350. It feels good to see a manufacturer like Royal Enfield addressing customer feedback and inputs comprehensively.