2025 Royal Enfield Hunter 350 Review - Has RE Fixed The Issues?

The Hunter 350 is a bit of an oddball. When it made its debut, all RE purists scoffed at it as it was too small, modern and quirky to be a Royal Enfield. Yet, the brand didn’t care as it was targeting a young batch of bikers, who normally wouldn’t even consider a Royal Enfield in the first place. In that sense, the Royal Enfield Hunter 350 has been a great success for the company; in fact, it was the second highest-selling RE bike in April, so hard luck, purists.

What we are riding is the updated version of the Hunter 350. At first glance, you might say it looks exactly the same as the older bike, and you aren’t wrong. But apart from the new shades, there are key upgrades that the brand claims should improve the riding experience. So, have they managed it or not? Let’s ride! 

Is It Now Comfortable?

When the Hunter 350 made its debut a few years back, the biggest criticism the motorcycle faced was its bouncy and stiff ride quality. I was part of the first ride in Bangkok, and even on the butter-smooth roads, it was bouncy. When I rode it on our desi roads, the ride quality was just terrible. In fact, it had the worst ride quality of all the Royal Enfield 350s on sale.

The brand has taken the feedback and revised the rear suspension with longer travel and different spring rates. So, is it good, or is there just marginal improvement? And my answer is that the ride quality issues of the Hunter 350 are all but gone! When I rode the bike over a speedbreaker, I was waiting for the suspension to bottom out and for the jolt, but surprisingly, the bike was composed. Even over undulations, the ride wasn’t jarring, and the ride quality was actually controlled. Only when you go over deep potholes and that too at a higher speed do you feel some jolts, but it isn’t as harsh as one would expect. So, in terms of ride quality improvements, a huge thumbs up to RE engineers!

Slipper Clutch Effect

From the back, let’s come to the front, and in my opinion, this update has a far larger impact as it will be replicated across all other bikes on the J-Platform. The Hunter 350 is the first Royal Enfield 350 cc bike to get a slipper clutch, and the effect of the update is felt right from the moment you start riding the bike. The clutch action is very light, and all you need are two fingers to pull in the clutch. 

The Hunter 350 was always an engaging bike to ride in city traffic, owing to its small footprint and low weight, and this lighter clutch means the Hunter 350 feels even more effortless to ride in traffic. This update will be beneficial for young riders purchasing their first bike or commuter owners upgrading to the Hunter 350 due to its ease of use. However, the bigger impact will be on the larger and heavier 350 cc bikes (Classic 350, Bullet 350, Meteor 35,0, etc) as the slipper clutch will be a huge boon. 

Can You Retrofit The Upgrades?

I know many of you existing Hunter 350 owners will wonder whether the new rear suspension and the slipper clutch can be retrofitted to your bikes. The answer is YES! I highly recommend both of these additions for existing owners, and you can check out the cost of retrofitment here. 

What Else Is Different?

Apart from these two changes, the 2025 Hunter 350 also gets a new LED headlight, which we have seen on other RE bikes. The Bullet 350 is the only bike to still use a halogen unit. It also gets a faster charging USB port, and the GC has also gone up by 10 mm.

Visually, the bike remains the same, but the Hunter 350 now comes in 3 new colour options (Rio White, London Red, and Tokyo Black). My favourite is the Rio white, as it looks vibrant. 

Missed Opportunities?

While these additions are welcome, I feel the brand did miss a trick or two. First up, the performance, the torque-heavy engine (20.2 bhp and 27 Nm) at best can be described as peppy, but for its displacement, the Hunter 350 feels very lazy. I feel RE engineers should have changed the gearing or retuned the engine for a snappy acceleration. The Hunter 350 feels youthful, energetic and isn’t as mature (or shall I say boring) as the Classic 350 or the Bullet 350. Even the Meteor 350’s tune on this bike would have been appreciated. 

The next thing is the fully digital console as seen on the RE Himalayan 450. While the analogue dials are fine for other J-Platform bikes, the Hunter 350 is targeted towards a younger audience which appreciates tech. While I understand that it would have increased costs, maybe the same could have been offered as an optional extra. Also, the brakes still feel wooden, and there’s no feedback through the lever, and RE needs to fix this across all the J-platform bikes, as the 450 and 650 cc bikes have good brakes.

Verdict

The key to the Hunter 350's success has been how approachable the bike has been, with respect to pricing, dimensions, and riding. With the update, RE has also added comfort and ease of riding, which makes it an even more wholesome package. 

All the improvements have come at a not very high premium (₹7,000 more than the older bike), and it remains the most affordable Royal Enfield bike on sale. So, if you want a youthful roadster that is easy to ride and doesn’t cost a bomb, the Hunter 350 remains a great option and probably among the best sub-₹2 lakh motorcycles on sale.