Royal Enfield has upgraded its Bullet range with a
rear disc brake in the Indian market. The two-wheeler brand has introduced this
feature on the Bullet 350, Bullet 350 ES and the Bullet 500. The Bullet 350
with a rear disc has been priced at INR 1.28 lakh* while the ES will be
available for INR 1.32 lakh*. The higher displacement version, the Bullet 500
can be purchased for INR 1.72 lakh*.
The Bullet 350 ES and the Bullet 500 were already
available with a front disc brake while the Bullet 350 was sold in the drum
brake variant only. Thus, the addition of disc brakes has resulted in a price
increase of INR 12,000. For reference, the rear drum version of the Bullet 350
is listed for INR 1.16 lakh* on Royal Enfield’s website.
While the Bullet trio has benefitted from a rear
disc setup, the safety net of ABS is still not available. However, Royal
Enfield is aggressively upgrading its product portfolio to comply with the new
safety norms and we expect to hear about the ABS-equipped Bullet range in
January 2019.
Apart from the addition of a rear disc brake, there
are no mechanical changes to the motorcycles. Thus, the Royal Enfield Bullet
350 and 350 ES continue using the 346cc, single-cylinder air-cooled, Twinspark
engine that delivers 19.8 bhp of maximum power at 5,250 rpm and 28 Nm of peak
torque at 4,000 rpm.
The Bullet 500, on the other hand, uses a 499cc
single-cylinder, air-cooled engine with fuel injection that churns out a
maximum power of 27.2 bhp at 5,250 rpm and peak torque of 41.3 Nm at 4,000 rpm.
Both, the 350 and the 500 use a five-speed gearbox. Hardware specifications
remain identical, and the Royal Enfield Bullet trio continue to use
conventional telescopic front forks and twin sided gas-charged shock absorbers
at the rear.
