Royal Enfield Hunter 450: All you need to know about it

The Hunter 450 will obviously be powered by the same 452cc liquid-cooled engine from the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450

• On the Himalayan, this engine makes 40PS and a solid 40Nm and we expect it to be the same on the Hunter 450
• Our biggest gripe with the Hunter 350 was the lack of power and hence this new liquid-cooled engine should address that very concern
• In terms of looks, the Hunter 450 will maintain the sporty silhouette from the current Hunter 350

The Royal Enfield Hunter 350 proved to be a charming motorcycle upon its debut in India in 2022. Now, as Royal Enfield prepares to unveil another Hunter, this time featuring a new liquid-cooled 452cc engine, anticipation naturally runs high. For those who share in this excitement, here is a comprehensive rundown of what to expect from this forthcoming retro roadster:

Royal Enfield Hunter 450 Design 

In terms of design, we think the Hunter 450 will follow the same retro roadster ideology of the Hunter 450. Now, the Hunter 350 is quite a good-looking retro bike and hence if the Hunter 450 looks similar, we are definitely not complaining. That said, the Hunter 450 will be a substantially bigger bike in order to accommodate its bigger, liquid-cooled engine. Hence we expect Royal Enfield to make appropriate changes in the Hunter 450’s chassis too. 

Our second biggest complaint with the Hunter 350 was that while it had road presence, it looked quite a small bike to attract a lot of eyeballs. Hence, it did not attract as much attention as you would expect from a Royal Enfield bike. In sum, we expect the Hunter 450 to surely be a handsome bike and given how Royal Enfield has been designing its bikes of late, we think we will be right. 

Royal Enfield Hunter 450 Engine

As for its engine, the Hunter 450 will benefit from the 452cc liquid-cooled engine that we have seen on the brand-new Royal Enfield Himalayan 452. The engine is not as torquey heavy as much as the older long stroke 411cc mill, but it does have a lot of drive post 3000rpm. After that, it feels like the Himalayan 450 really comes to life. 

While we found this characteristic to be a bit weird in an adventure bike, we think it would be a lovely engine for a retro roadster, one that would be a lot more sporty than the Himalayan 450. Given the Hunter 450’s sporty handling and dynamics, we think such a sporty engine would really give it a lot more character. And given that the Hunter 450 will go up against the likes of the KTM 390 Duke, such sportiness will always be appreciated. 

Royal Enfield Hunter 450 Suspension, Tyres & Brakes

In terms of underpinnings, the Royal Enfield Hunter 450 should ideally be on par with the competition, with an inverted fork, a monoshock and 17-inch alloy wheels at both ends wrapped in tubeless tyres. There should ideally be disc brakes at both ends and what we are definitely sure of, is the fact that it will have dual channel ABS as standard. 

What we really hope is that Royal Enfield gives the Hunter 450 appropriate tyres to keep up with the sheer performance on offer. It is always painful to see a bike with great performance matched with tyres that do not provide enough grip to match the performance. 

Royal Enfield Hunter 450 Features

Features is another department we expect (and hope) the Royal Enfield Hunter 450 benefits from the Himalayan 450. For context, the Himalayan 450 gets a circular TFT console that we quite like because of it being feature-packed yet minimalist and quite easy to read. And if the Hunter 450 gets the same, it will also get Bluetooth connectivity as standard. 

That said, for the Himalayan 450, you have to leave your phone on all the time for Google Maps to work on it, and that really eats up your phone’s battery. So we hope Royal Enfield solves that issue on the Hunter 450. 

Royal Enfield Hunter 450 Expected Price & Rivals

Pricing is the key in this segment given how well bikes in this segment are priced. Rivals for the Hunter 450 include the Triumph Speed 400, Hero Mavrick 400, KTM 390 Duke and the Husqvarna Svartpilen 401. Hence, to rival them better, we think Royal Enfield could price the upcoming Hunter 450 around the Rs 2.60 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) mark.