Royal Enfield trademarks Meteor badge: More affordable Interceptor 650 in the works?

Royal Enfield is currently busy developing facelifts for its Classic and Thunderbird range. The test bikes have been spotted testing multiple times and sport various changes all over. However, it seems that behind the curtain, the company is working on some other projects too. Royal Enfield has trademarked a new name at the European patent office this February. Interestingly, this name is ‘Meteor’, which in fact is not an all-new name for the company, but more on that later. A report suggests that the Meteor term might be plastered to a more affordable version of the hot-selling Interceptor 650.

As already mentioned, the trademark was filed in February this year but it got published in April. Moreover, the trademark is filed under both Class 12 and Class 25. To let you know, these two classes consist of both motorcycle (plus related parts) as well as riding gear. What this hints towards is that a new range of riding gear might also be in development apart from the new variant. The company already has a comprehensive lineup of riding gear and apparels which are available online as well in the dealerships.

Coming to the term ‘Meteor’ itself, it is not an all-new name for Royal Enfield bikes. Turning a few pages in Royal Enfield’s history reveals that the company sold a motorcycle called the Meteor in the US market back in the 1950s. This bike was later on replaced by the Super Meteor in 1956, which was subsequently replaced by the Interceptor in 1962. The Interceptor 650 also derives its name from the 1962 model bike. Heritage is a strong part of the overall brand appeal of the Royal Enfield brand and therefore it is not surprising that the company choose Meteor as its latest term for nomenclature. The recently launched Bullet Trials also have a good dose of heritage attached to them and the same is the case with other bikes like the Classic Signals or the Classic Pegasus.

Going by the report, the Meteor name could come branded on a more affordable version of the Interceptor 650. Why this seems likely is because Royal Enfield might want to offer a lower priced version of the bike which uses the same new engine and technology along with maintaining the premium quotient of the Interceptor, all the while offering higher value for money proposition. It was earlier being speculated that the company might develop a 650 cc Bullet which strengthens this theory even more. In the coming future, the prices of the Interceptor 650 will definitely rise given its popularity and other factors which will further create space for a lower priced 650 cc bike in the model lineup.

As it will be more affordable, the Meteor branded bike will obviously be shorter on kit and equipment levels than the Interceptor 650. It could come with a simpler instrument console, retro design language, fewer colours options (no dual tone, chrome etc), cheaper and locally-sourced tyres and less flashy design. The 650 cc engine itself could be detuned a bit to offer better fuel efficiency rather than outright performance. Speaking of its launch, the company hasn’t revealed any details on this topic yet. However, EICMA might be the Venue where Royal Enfield might reveal a bit on this ‘Meteor’ scenario.

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