Check out the throaty rumble of the 1954 Royal Enfield Meteor, which was powered by a 500cc parallel-twin engine
Royal Enfield purists might know that the ‘Meteor’ nameplate dates back to the ‘50s, but only a few lucky ones have seen the bike in metal. The Meteor had multiple variants over the years, during its former production, including the Meteor, Meteor Minor, and the Super Meteor. The engine capacity of these bikes ranged from 500cc to 700cc. Here, we have a video of a 1954 RE Meteor 500cc, immaculately restored to its original glory.
The video we have has been uploaded by Dutch Lion Motorcycles, a motorcycle restoration garage based in Holland. Here, we see the Meteor 500 bark to life with a well-judged kick, its twin-cylinder motor firing up with gusto. The rumble of the motor is much different from what we usually expect from Royal Enfield. The sound is deep and throaty, but instead of a thump, this is more like a roar.
The styling of the old Meteor, however, is exactly what we usually expect from Royal Enfield; the motorcycle looks like a twin-cylinder version of the Classic/Bullet 350, and in all honesty, it actually is. The overall design is similar to the RE Classic and Bullet we have on sale right now, and even after more than six decades, the styling looks absolutely lovely.
The headlamp cowl is the same as the modern Bullet 350, as is the fuel tank design. This particular model gets a single spring-loaded seat, and the dual long-bottle exhausts look brilliant. The numberplate holder here is mounted longitudinally on the front mudguard, just like how it was back in the day.
The RE Meteor 500 was powered by a 496cc, twin-cylinder motor, which generated around 30 HP of peak power. It had a 4-speed gearbox, and the top speed was between 90 to 100 mph (145 to 160 kmph). The bike wore 17-inch spoked wheels, with drum brakes on both ends.
In contrast, the 2020 RE Meteor has 350cc, single-cylinder engine, which comes paired to a 5-speed gearbox. Peak power and torque are rated at 20.2 HP and 27 Nm, respectively. Also, the new Meteor doesn’t follow the Royal Enfield Bullet design, instead, it is a cruiser-style motorcycle.