[20MarkIII]

My dealer also mentioned a dealer's meeting he attended a month or so before Christmas and though he couldn't give a price, he does expect the Meteor to list within $500.00 of the Twins. I blurted out "then they won't sell any." He didn't disagree. It will be very interesting to see the climax to this minor drama.

[Richard230]

My dealer also mentioned a dealer's meeting he attended a month or so before Christmas and though he couldn't give a price, he does expect the Meteor to list within $500.00 of the Twins. I blurted out "then they won't sell any." He didn't disagree. It will be very interesting to see the climax to this minor drama.

Sounds about right to me.  RE loves to squeeze their U.S. customers for everything they are worth.   

[axman88]

With RE still being very much an unknown brand in the USA, I don't see much that will convince Americans to buy one, if RE doesn't price aggressively.

Let's look at the short list of machines in the same general size / power range as the RE Meteor:

Honda Rebel 300           ~27 hp   $4600
Honda CB 300R             ~31 hp   $4950
Kawasaki Versys-X 300   40 hp    $5500
Kawasaki Z 400              44 hp    $5000
RE Himalayan  (411 cc)   24 hp    $4750     
Yamaha Star 250           21 hp     $4350
Yamaha MT-03 (321cc)   ~37 hp  $4600

I believe that Suzuki has discontinued the GW 250, the TU250, and the Van Van 200 in the USA, otherwise I'd list those.  I didn't list any off road bikes, other than the Himalayan,  I didn't list more obscure brands like Cleveland Motowerks or Janus.

What would prompt a buyer to select the Meteor over one of the bikes on the list?  It's hard to imagine reliability being their primary motivation, hard to beat Honda and Yamaha's reputation there.  It wouldn't be because they want more horsepower.  Styling?  Perhaps, but I'm skeptical that young people would prefer what I'd call "early 70's UJM styling" over the more modern styling of many other bikes on the list, or the classic styling that they might get with a Vespa.  Price could sell bikes to beginners, provided they were aware that model existed.

Perhaps if RE offered Meteors to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, for use in their training courses, at a very attractive price, ... the equivalent of the price they charge in India or less, they could create a US market for themselves, and simultaneously create tremendous brand awareness in this country?   The Meteor's 30" seat height isn't the best for a beginner machine that needs to be ridden by everyone, those old, homely, but reliable Honda 250 Rebels had seats that were under 27" from the pavement.

Aside from a stunt like getting them in the MSF courses, or getting Greta Thunberg to give up her sailboat for a Meteor, I don't anticipate much sales of the Meteor in the USA, even if they do price them aggressively.  The USA just isn't a "practical, economical transportation" kind of market.

[Richard230]

With RE still being very much an unknown brand in the USA, I don't see much that will convince Americans to buy one, if RE doesn't price aggressively.

Let's look at the short list of machines in the same general size / power range as the RE Meteor:

Honda Rebel 300           ~27 hp   $4600
Honda CB 300R             ~31 hp   $4950
Kawasaki Versys-X 300   40 hp    $5500
Kawasaki Z 400              44 hp    $5000
RE Himalayan  (411 cc)   24 hp    $4750     
Yamaha Star 250           21 hp     $4350
Yamaha MT-03 (321cc)   ~37 hp  $4600

I believe that Suzuki has discontinued the GW 250, the TU250, and the Van Van 200 in the USA, otherwise I'd list those.  I didn't list any off road bikes, other than the Himalayan,  I didn't list more obscure brands like Cleveland Motowerks or Janus.

What would prompt a buyer to select the Meteor over one of the bikes on the list?  It's hard to imagine reliability being their primary motivation, hard to beat Honda and Yamaha's reputation there.  It wouldn't be because they want more horsepower.  Styling?  Perhaps, but I'm skeptical that young people would prefer what I'd call "early 70's UJM styling" over the more modern styling of many other bikes on the list, or the classic styling that they might get with a Vespa.  Price could sell bikes to beginners, provided they were aware that model existed.

Perhaps if RE offered Meteors to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, for use in their training courses, at a very attractive price, ... the equivalent of the price they charge in India or less, they could create a US market for themselves, and simultaneously create tremendous brand awareness in this country?   The Meteor's 30" seat height isn't the best for a beginner machine that needs to be ridden by everyone, those old, homely, but reliable Honda 250 Rebels had seats that were under 27" from the pavement.

Aside from a stunt like getting them in the MSF courses, or getting Greta Thunberg to give up her sailboat for a Meteor, I don't anticipate much sales of the Meteor in the USA, even if they do price them aggressively.  The USA just isn't a "practical, economical transportation" kind of market.

You forgot to mention the two 44 hp Kawasaki 400 models that go for between $4,700 and $5,500, depending upon the model and the dealership. Last year I saw a brand new all-white Kawasaki 400 Ninja (without ABS) at the local dealer who was asking only $4,200 for the bike. Also the KTM 390 Duke has an MSRP of $5,500 - at least until you start adding shipping and setup fees to the price.

[axman88]

You forgot to mention the two 44 hp Kawasaki 400 models that go for between $4,700 and $5,500, depending upon the model and the dealership. Last year I saw a brand new all-white Kawasaki 400 Ninja (without ABS) at the local dealer who was asking only $4,200 for the bike. Also the KTM 390 Duke has an MSRP of $5,500 - at least until you start adding shipping and setup fees to the price.

Actually, if you meant the Kawa Z-400, it is on my list.  If you meant the Ninja, I left it off, and any other "sport" types, feeling that these were less likely to be considered by anyone considering purchasing a new Meteor.  The Ninja has substantially the same specs and price as the Z-400.

All the prices I listed are MSRP, wherever those could be found.  Of course one can usually purchase at a better price than MSRP, based on many factors, including the time of the month and who in the dealership one talks to.  One Utube video I watched suggested talking to the owner's wife, but this seems counter-intuitive to me.

Those rules of thumb about actual vs MSR pricing seem to not apply to Royal Enfield dealers in the USA.  Even before the pandemic reduced supply side to nil, the expectation of good deals from RE dealers seemed unfulfilled.  I don't have a lot of experience with operating or purchasing from dealers, but it seems to me that there are a couple of factors that might be at play here.
    -  Supply of stock from India tends to be very slow.  Dealerships might be hesitant to sell a machine knowing they may not get a replacement until riding season is halfway over.
    -  Dealers are carry multiple brands.  Our local dealer carries Piaggio, Triumph, BMW and Zero, in addition to RE.  It's a safe bet that any one of those other machines carries a higher profit than the RE.  The urge to upsell to a Triumph is great, and the desire to cut price on a RE is small.  If the RE's just sit there, they can just order fewer, and keep the ones they have for that buyer who insists on an RE but will pay full price.  There are even stories of salesman denigrating the REs, in order to upsell.  Scandalous!
   -  The cost of offering a 3 year warranty is considerably more in the USA than in India.  Mechanic Labor rates and overhead are probably at least an order of magnitude greater.  I suspect that a good proportion of the cost of warranty service is going to fall on the dealership, making them less willing to cut the price of an already low margin product.

The KTM should be on the list of competitives. 
KTM Duke 390  (373 cc)    ~43hp   $5500         

The one drawback I see to the KTM, as a beginner's bike is that the 32.5" seat height might make some new riders uncomfortable.  It also can wheelie.  How is the US dealer network, compared to RE?

[Richard230]

I bought my KTM 390 Duke from a dealer who also sells RE. Last year they had about a dozen or more KTM bikes and three RE models. Two Interceptors and one olive drab Classic 500. The 500 had been in their showroom for months at the time. They were definitely not giving potential customers any breaks on the price of all three bikes. They were all selling for well over MSRP by the time you added up shipping and setup fees.

[AzCal Retred]

( I put a request in for the "out-the-door" price - ACR -)

2021 ROYAL ENFIELD METEOR 350

(312) 738-4269

Motorworks Chicago

1901 S WESTERN AVE, CHICAGO, IL 60608

https://www.motoworkschicago.com/--xInventoryDetail?id=9719972

https://www.cycletrader.com/listing/2021-Royal-Enfield-Meteor-350-5014672174

[Richard230]

Sounds to me like the price of the Meteor is "whatever the market will bear". Contact them about its price and they will check your zip code and credit score to determine what price you will pay.   

[AzCal Retred]

In the words of Don McLean - "The more you pay, the more it's worth"! How else can you be the first kid on the block to bask in the glory & adulation? 

[20MarkIII]

( I put a request in for the "out-the-door" price - ACR -)

2021 ROYAL ENFIELD METEOR 350

(312) 738-4269

Motorworks Chicago

1901 S WESTERN AVE, CHICAGO, IL 60608

https://www.motoworkschicago.com/--xInventoryDetail?id=9719972

https://www.cycletrader.com/listing/2021-Royal-Enfield-Meteor-350-5014672174

Same place I checked AC. At least perhaps we will get an email when US pricing is made public.

[AzCal Retred]

This was the response regarding a request for the 350 Meteor out-the-door price:

Just sendings you a quick email in response to your interest on our Meteor 350's. I do want to give you the good news that we do have a couple of allocations available still. Let me know if you would like to leave a deposit to reserve your allocation today! We did get informed that they could be here anywhere from 4-8 weeks.
 Let me know if there are any other questions that I might be able to assist with. You can also reach me at 312-738-4269 if you want to leave a deposit on a Meteor. Thank you and hope to hear from you soon.

Looks more like an attempt to stimulate anxiety around the ability to purchase rather than an answer to my question. That seems to indicate the loftier $5K price may be the goal here. If so, that should stimulate Interceptor & Himalayan sales even further. The Meteor needs to be a $3500 - $4000 machine to survive on its own merits.

[AzCal Retred]

@ 20MarkIII: Latest reply from Motorworks  -
" Well, not only do we not have your registration information, which without that I can not give an out the door since I don't know taxes but Royal Enfield have not released the actual price for the bike. "
What a nice way to leave your dealerships twisting in the wind. Maybe R.E  thinks price depends on customer attitude?   

[axman88]

Motoworks is the local, multibrand dealer that I mentioned in my previous post.  It's a cool place, lots of goodies can be found there.

But, they are, perhaps, not known for the most straightforward pricing quotes.  Have a glance at this thread:

https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php?topic=27599.msg315920#msg315920

I have a bit of compassion in my heart for dealers of motorcycles ( and snowmobiles) in the Chicago area.  Riding season is short, ( less than 6 months for many riders), but rent and utilities go on all year long.

We've seen with stories about searching for a Classic 500 that lots of dealers with online presence seem to be quite happy to leave offers to sell online for bikes that were sold weeks and months ago.  In some cases, the dealership staff doesn't seem to realize these machines are not available until the eager buyer sets foot in their store.

I wouldn't be surprised if some dealers are happy to offer machines for sale that they don't yet have.  It seems pretty unreasonable to expect buyers to cough up cash in exchange for promises when a price hasn't even been agreed on, but I guess it is one way of measuring the market desirability of a new offering.  By that reasoning, even asking for quotes at this point, showing ANY interest, only makes the price higher when it is eventually announced.

If you want this bike to be cheap in the US, don't play along with these games.  Of course, if nobody shows interest, RE will change their mind about offering it in the US, a decision that seems obvious to me.  It seems like they are having a difficult time competing with their own, UCE 350s, in their domestic market, which is borne out by the numbers here:

https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php?topic=29646.msg353371#msg353371

[zimmemr]

@ 20MarkIII: Latest reply from Motorworks  -
" Well, not only do we not have your registration information, which without that I can not give an out the door since I don't know taxes but Royal Enfield have not released the actual price for the bike. "
What a nice way to leave your dealerships twisting in the wind. Maybe R.E  thinks price depends on customer attitude?   

My thinking (shallow as it might be) is that RE is erring on the side of caution here. As we all know 350 singles have never been wildly popular in the US, at least not in pure road bike configuration, and the days of dealers selling a dozen 350 twins on a Saturday ended with the demise of the original CB350 and their marketing people are very aware of that.

There's not much markup in a 350 either so dealers aren't going to be wild about stocking them unless they know they can sell a few of them, And they also want some assurances that the bikes are going to be stone ax reliable and easy to service so they can position them as an entry level/non enthusiast sale, and not get stuck with a bunch of unsold bikes if the thing tanks.

In any event I agree that they're probably trying to gauge the market, which is tough under the best of conditions and I'd think damn near impossible the way things are right now.

Personally I'd like to see them bring in maybe a thousand of them, sell them at rock bottom prices, and see if it jumps starts the market for a simple, reliable bike that appeals to practical riders like most of us here and at the same time entices new riders. If so maybe history will repeat itself ala Honda. How many of us know guys that started on Honda 50's and ended up with a 'Wing?

Maybe RE could even offer a trade in incentive like HD did. Buy a 350, ride it for a year or two, and trade it in, with a pre determined value on an Interceptor when the time is right. I really my Himalayan and my Interceptor and have been thinking about adding a Classic as an around the block type of bike if I could find one, but would certainly consider a 350 if and when they become available.

[AzCal Retred]

Wise words from the trenches! Royal Enfield USA, are you listening? Are you willing to listen to a little real world experience?