Royal Enfield has been making motorcycles since 1901. It’s the oldest continuous production motorcycle manufacturer in the world. And you can see its heritage linked with its products even today. Most of its bikes are old-school and retro with construction and electronics as simple as possible. It is because of this simplicity, Royal Enfiled bikes are preferred by many custom builders. However, things would become a bit ‘sophisticated’ in the upcoming times as Royal Enfield is planning to add Bluetooth and navigation in its future models.
Perhaps, the most sophisticated electronic feature that you would find in Royal Enfield’s present models is ABS. Some of its motorcycles have single-channel ABS that only functions with the front wheel whereas some come equipped with dual-channel ABS. It is the latest-gen Euro 5-compliant Royal Enfield Himalayan that has switchable ABS which lets you disable the system for the rear wheel and have more fun in off the roads. It is similar to the SuperMoto mode that we have seen in many KTM bikes.
Apart from the Anti-lock Braking System, there’s nothing really too complicated in a Royal Enfield. However, the company has realised its need of the hour by listening to its customers’ feedback and is planning to take things a notch higher and include Bluetooth and navigation features in its future models.
Royal Enfield would add a revised instrument cluster with a digital display in its new models that would feature Bluetooth connectivity. Customers would be able to connect their smartphones to this system via Bluetooth and benefit from features such as turn-by-turn navigation, telephony, and music. It is likely that to connect a smartphone with the bike, there’d be a dedicated mobile application that the customers would need to download on their smartphones.
It is being said that the first Royal Enfield motorcycle to feature these convenient features would be the upcoming Meteor 350. It was supposed to be launched in India in April but things got tangled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Speculations say that the Royal Enfield Meteor 350 will break cover as soon as the health situation in India returns to ‘normal’.
Even if Royal Enfield launches the new Meteor 350 with Bluetooth and navigation features in India in, let’s say, a few weeks, it would still take much longer for the brand to bring it here in the UAE. In fact, chances are that the Meteor 350 wouldn’t even make it to us. What’s your say in this?
