Royal Enfield Bullet 500 ABS Launched In India at Rs 1.87 Lakh

Indian motorcycle manufacturer Royal Enfield has launched the Bullet 500 with dual-channel ABS in India. The new Royal Bullet 500 ABS is priced at Rs 1,86,961 ex-showroom (New Delhi). The price of the ABS-equipped Royal Enfield Bullet 500 is nearly Rs 14,000 more than the non-ABS version, which is no longer listed on the company's website.

The update comes in view of the fast approaching April 2019 deadline, making it mandatory for all motorcycles above 150cc to get the additional safety feature. Royal Enfield has already updated most of their models including the Thunderbird 350X, 500X and the Redditch paint schemes on the Classic models.

However, Royal Enfield is yet to update 350cc models such as the Bullet 350, ES350 and the standard paint variants of the Classic 350 models. These models will also be updated in the near future, ahead of the upcoming deadline.

Apart from the additional safety features, the Royal Enfield Bullet 500 ABS will remain unchanged. It will carry forward the same 499cc single-cylinder engine producing 27.2bhp and 41.3Nm of torque. It will come mated to a five-speed gearbox. In terms of suspension, the Bullet 500 uses telescopic front forks and twin gas charged shock absorbers at the rear.

Apart from the Bullet 500, the most recent model to receive the ABS update was the Redditch 350 edition. The Classic 350 Redditch edition comes with an updated price tag of Rs 1.79 lakh, on-road (Delhi).

Royal Enfield recently launched their 650cc twins in the market. The Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 and the Continental GT 650, both of which offer dual-channel ABS as standard. Royal Enfield first started offering ABS with the Signals edition, after which it has been updating the remaining models.

We got a chance to ride the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 and were thoroughly impressed with the motorcycle — read our review here.

Thoughts On The Royal Enfield Bullet 500 ABS

Royal Enfield is constantly working on updating its entire product lineup with ABS. With most of the bigger capacity products including the Bullet 500, Himalayan and Classic 500 with ABS. The company will now look towards introducing the safety feature on its 350cc models.