As the summer goes by, we’re seeing more and more buzz about Royal Enfield’s upcoming adventure bike. All the information we’re seeing so far is rumour, but we’ve seen most of these rumours often enough that they’re worth taking a closer look at.
The Himalayan will be more affordable than the Continental GT. According to rumours published all over India this week, the Himalayan will cost between Rs 1.65 lakh and Rs 1.85 lakh in that market — that works out to roughly $3,300 to $3,700 CAD. Meanwhile, the Continental GT sells for about Rs 1.92 lakh to Rs 2.15 lakh (roughly $3,800 CAD to $4,300 CAD).
In Canada, the Continental GT currently sells for $7,025, so expect the Himalayan to sell in the $6,500 range when it gets here. Speaking of which …
The Himalayan is supposed to be released this fall. The general consensus of the moto-blogs is that we’ll see the made-in-India adventure bike on the market by November. That would put the launch around EICMA. Royal Enfield made an all-out attempt to woo the world’s motojournalism press last time they launched a model this significant, so a model release around EICMA would be unsurprising.
What does that mean for Canadian consumers? Royal Enfield seems to be motivated to get their products to market, instead of waiting months or years to export them overseas, which is more than we can say for some of the competition. If they really do debut this bike in November, it could be in-country as early as next spring.
The Himalayan is supposedly powered by an air-cooled 410 cc single. This one is puzzling, but it’s been a consistent rumour. The motor is supposed to be all-new, which could mean we’ll see a highly reliable engine that’s tuned to be more smooth and refined than their existing powerplants. In an age where 650 cc is generally considered the minimum for an adventure bike, 410 cc sounds small to us, but in India that’s still a big motor.
There’s also a rumour that Royal Enfield is building two versions of this bike, with another model sporting a larger engine. They’ve done this sort of thing before in their lineup, so it’s possible. There are also rumours of a 650 cc – 750 cc parallel twin in the works for Royal Enfield, so maybe we’ll see the Himalayan get that motor if it’s developed.
The 410 cc single supposedly makes about 28 hp and 23 ft-lb of torque. It’s also rumoured to come with a six-speed transmission.
I hope they stick with the 410cc. I wouldn’t be interested in a 650 or 750 – there are enough of those available already.
Warren Harras
Max Adams
I’m interested to see what Pierre dreams up. I think a DR650 with a few mods is still the best and most simple adventure bike.
Well everyone knows that!
Except for when you take one apart and don’t have time to put it back together.
$6500 for an air-cooled 410cc single ?
Give it a rest RE, you’ve got to do better than that to woo a North American market…
That’s not an official line. But I can’t see it selling for any less than $6,000, at the numbers they quoted there.
Too bad….