The Thunderbird 500X is the latest motorcycle in Royal Enfield’s product portfolio to be equipped with ABS. The upgrade comes at a price hike of Rs 14,000 over the non-ABS variant, with the bike now costing Rs. 2.13 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). And like the other ABS offerings in Royal Enfield's portfolio, the Thunderbird 500X also features a dual-channel unit. With the addition of ABS, the Thunderbird 500X becomes the most expensive, single-cylinder Royal Enfield bike on sale in India.
Apart from the addition of ABS, the bike remains unchanged; it still gets the 499cc, air-cooled, single-cylinder engine producing 27.2hp at 5,250rpm and a maximum torque of 41.3Nm at 4,000rpm. The 500X differentiates itself from the standard Thunderbird with a few stylistic changes – the most prominent being the bright colour schemes, a flatter handlebar, colour-co-ordinated wheel stripes and the nine-spoke alloy wheels with tubeless tyres.
As of now, the non-ABS variant of the 500X is still available at showrooms but is likely to be discontinued in light of the mandatory ABS regulation that comes into effect from April 1, 2019. Royal Enfield intends to equip all of its bikes with ABS, possibly by the end of the year. Other models that have already received this safety tech are the Classic Signals 350, the Himalayan, the Classic 500 and the Thunderbird 350X.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
