The 2021 ICOTY and IMOTY awards results are in and the jury has picked the Royal Enfield Meteor 350 as the motorcycle of the year. The other contenders for the prestigious IMOTY award were KTM Adventure 390, Bajaj Dominar, Hero Glamour, Husqvarna Svartpilen, Hero Xtreme 160 R and Hero Passion. Editor, Sirish Chandran and Assistant Editor, Aatish Mishra were a part of the 14th edition of the IMOTY awards’ jury amongst others. As was the case since its incesption, the main sponsor for IMOTY 2021 was JK Tyre with Grant Thornton Bharat as the official auditing partner.
The Meteor is one of the most refined Royal Enfields we’ve seen and as compared to the best-seller, the Classic 350, the Meteor is miles ahead in almost all aspects. Right from the time it was launched, the Meteor had big shoes to fill as it was replacing the Thunderbird. The Meteor gets a 350cc, BS6 compliant engine that delivers 20.2bhp and 27Nm of torque. It is equipped with two disc brakes and dual channel ABS as well. The Meteor’s trump card is its refinement over the older Thunderbird and the existing Classic 350. It is more comfortable, more refined and it even handles better, making it a great cruiser and an effortless daily bike too. The Meteor scored a total of 96 points, 15 more than the runner-up KTM Adventure 390.
Representing the Meteor 350, Mr. Shubhranshu Singh, Global Head of Marketing at Royal Enfield said, “I am privileged and humbled to receive this award on behalf of the entire Royal Enfield team. This has been an exceptional year and it is testimony to the great teamwork that in extraordinary times we received this extraordinary recognition.”
Take a look at our take on the Meteor 350 below: