Royal Enfield may be getting ready to introduce a new factory custom variant of the Classic 500, in Scrambler form. The upcoming Royal Enfield Classic 500 Scrambler was spotted testing recently and appears to be based on the existing Classic 500. The spy shot reveals that the Scrambler 500 shares a lot of parts with the Classic 500; in fact, the headlight, fuel tank, side panels, suspension, frame and engine all look similar to the Royal Enfield Classic 500. What are different in the test mule are the shorter front and rear fenders, as well as a taller handlebar with a central brace, similar to the handlebar of the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650.
The wheels are the same wire spoke 19-inch front and 18-inch rear combination, although the tyres seem to be different and are chunkier and have off-road and on-road oriented pattern. The tail section of the test mule doesn't have a pillion seat, which has been replaced by a luggage rack, although Royal Enfield may offer this as an accessory, with a standard pillion seat. The bike also features an upswept exhaust muffler to allow for increased clearance over off-road obstacles. Other than that, there don't seem to be any more changes. The Scrambler 500 uses rear and front disc brakes and is likely to have standard dual-channel ABS. The suspension seems identical to the one on the Classic 500 as well; whether it is any different or will offer increased travel isn't clear at this stage.
The engine seems to be the same 499 cc, air-cooled single-cylinder motor of the Classic 500 which makes 27.2 bhp at 5,250 rpm and 41.3 Nm of peak torque at 4,000 rpm, and paired to a five-speed gearbox. Whether there are any mechanical changes in the engine isn't clear at this stage. But what is clear is that Royal Enfield will be looking to increase its model portfolio by introducing newer variants across the company's product range. While the Royal Enfield Himalayan will continue to be the company's adventure offering, more Scrambler variants across the 350 cc, and even the new 650 cc Twin models cannot be ruled out. The Royal Enfield Classic 500 ABS is priced at Rs. 2 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), so expect the Classic 500 Scrambler to have a slight price increment over the standard Classic 500.
(Source: IndianAutosBlog.com)
