The Royal Enfield Hunter 350’s recent update has made significant improvements to its appeal, which means it’s now time to ask where it stacks up against the competition. Its strongest rival is another neo-retro roadster with a British badge and a similar price point that’s aiming straight at the Hunter buyer.
The Triumph Speed T4 could be considered as the Speed 400’s lesser sibling, but its reduced performance brought along increased tractability and better city manners, which makes for a fine fit for this kind of a motorcycle. With its recent price revision, the Triumph Speed T4 now costs just Rs 21,000 more than the top Hunter and that makes this a very valid comparison review
Both motorcycles wear clean, classic lines and when parked side by side, they do look quite similar, especially since both our test bikes have similar colour schemes. Both have round LED headlamps, slim 13-litre teardrop shaped fuel tanks and clean tail sections. While the Triumph here has a black finish for the exhaust, the bike is now shipped with a more classy looking brushed stainless steel finish.
Both bikes have semi-digital instrument consoles as well and the top Hunter models come with RE’s Tripper navigation display. This is a small circular TFT display that shows simple arrow based navigation assists when connected to the RE app and it doubles up as a clock when not in use.
Fit and finish on both bikes are commendable and both will leave you with a happy feeling about the quality you get for the money paid. Neither of the two are large bikes by any means, however, the Hunter does come across as slightly smaller. This can be felt in the seat heights which is at 790mm on the Hunter and 806mm on the Speed. For shorter riders, this can make a crucial difference.
There’s only a one kg difference between the two on paper, but the Triumph manages to feel noticeably lighter on the move. Where the RE claws back some advantage is that it has a tighter turning radius. Both are reasonably spacious even for larger riders, but tall folk will find the knee bend on the Triumph a little more comfortable thanks to the taller seat. If carrying a pillion is important, the Triumph does a little better here too, in terms of the space, seat comfort and grab handles.
The common theme throughout this comparison is that these two bikes are really quite close to each other in most aspects. However, there is one area of great difference and that is the engine. The Triumph’s liquid cooled single cylinder makes 31hp and 36Nm which are both leaps ahead of the RE’s 20.2hp and 27Nm, and it shows in our performance tests. The Triumph’s 0-100 time of 8.08s is nearly half of what it takes the Hunter to hit the same speed. Effectively, the Triumph can easily leave the Hunter behind in pretty much any situation and any gear should you whack the throttle open.
It’s not like this is anything new and pretty much any motorcycle at a similar price point will outrun an RE, but the difference here is that the Triumph manages to also retain a decent sense of character in its sound and tractable nature. Essentially, this engine makes for a nice fit with what kind of bike the Speed T4 is trying to be – even over the more powerful engine in the Speed 400.
To be fair, the Hunter comfortably keeps pace with the Triumph within the city and all of us who rode them unanimously agreed that it was the more engaging engine. The Hunter’s slower thump, meaty low-end torque and delightful sound with that occasional pop from the exhaust make it a very endearing engine to live with inside the city. The T4’s fueling is good, but the RE’s is even better and its new slip and assist clutch is now just as light as the Triumph’s. While RE’s five speed transmission has one less gear, it has a more slick and precise shift action.
Up to about 80kph, the Hunter is a thoroughly enjoyable bike to ride. While it can hold a steady 90-100kph with nearly no vibrations to be felt, there’s not a lot more performance in reserve. This means highway overtakes need some planning and if you intend to do a lot of highway riding, the Triumph will be the better choice. Remarkably, the Triumph manages to give you all this extra performance while still consuming about the same amount of fuel in our tests.
Where the T4 has a clear performance advantage, the Hunter claws back some ground when it comes to suspension and handling. With its latest update, it has gone from being uncomfortably stiff to pleasantly pliant. It handles potholes and bad roads without hammering the rider’s back like it used to and we found that ride comfort was better than the Triumph. The T4 is not bad over broken surfaces, but if you hit bumps at higher speeds the suspension feels a little underdamped and doesn’t cope as well as the Hunter’s.
It’s a similar story with the handling, where the Hunter has a more planted, confidence-inspiring feeling when leaned over that hasn’t been compromised with its new suspension. In comparison the Triumph chassis gets a little more disturbed by things like central white lines in the road and its MRF tyres weren’t as good as the Hunter’s Ceats in wet conditions.
The Hunter produced slightly shorter braking distances in our tests but that was likely due to the ABS intrusion being a little higher on the Speed. In general riding conditions, the Triumph’s brakes have noticeably better bite and feel than the Hunter’s front disc which is rather wooden and needs a full handful of the lever for strong braking.
The Hunter and Speed T4 are remarkably similar in the type of experience they’re trying to offer the rider. If you are someone who has no particular need for performance, you will probably enjoy the Hunter more and the price savings will simply be a bonus on top.
However, with a price of over Rs 2 lakh on road, these bikes aren’t cheap and they are likely to be someone’s first premium motorcycle purchase. With that in mind, it’s impossible to ignore just how much more performance the Triumph is giving you while still retaining the engaging and easy going nature a bike like this should have – and that’s why it’s our winner here.
Also see: Royal Enfield Hunter 350 vs Triumph Speed T4 comparison video
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