The Royal Enfield Himalayan was officially unveiled in India this morning.
If you skip to about the 20:00 mark in the video above, you can see the promo video for the new adventure bike from India’s classic motorcycle manufacturer.
Royal Enfield has made some very interesting decisions with the Himalayan. As expected, it’s powered by a mid-capacity thumper (411 cc single-cylinder motor, air-cooled). However, in a puzzling move, Royal Enfield went with a carburetor instead of fuel injection. While some adventure riders love carbs due to their alleged simplicity and ease of repair, EFI is a very useful feature when riding a machine at changing altitudes — which is precisely where the Himalayan is supposed to be at home.
Peak output is 25 hp at 6,500 rpm, and 23.6 ft-lb of torque between 4,000 and 4,500 rpm. Curb weight is 182 kg, ground clearance is 220 mm, and seat height is 800 mm. Suspension travel is 200 mm up front and 180 mm in rear. The front brake is a dual-piston caliper mated to a 300 mm disc, and the rear brake is a single-piston caliper and 240 mm disc. Like all good adventure bikes, the Himalayan has a 21-inch front wheel and 19-inch rear wheel.
We still don’t know if/when the bike will arrive in Canada, or at what price.
Canadian guy living in Colombia, hiding away from Winter.
This bike is completely relevent here, at 12,000,000 COL pesos vs 26,000,000 for a stock DR650SE. Sure, it’s not my BMW boxer but, conspicuous wealth in Colombia should be avoided, the Himalaya fits the bill.
They’re readily available, three dealers in Bogota alone with an extensive network throughout Colombia and service centres in both Ecuador and Peru. This bike is not built for the “first world” with its over regulation. It’s perfect for most developing nations, inexpensive, easy to maintain (10,000km service intervals) and has a decent suspension travel to cope with atrociously poorly maintained roadways.
Think I’m going to buy one, have my buddy ship my adventure gear to Colombia and get on with my dream of riding to Machu Pichu and beyond.
It’s easy for us who live in Canada to belittle this bike, with the heavy weight and low horsepower. However, it reminds me of the sixties and scrambler style rides. This thought is exciting, getting back to the basics of riding. Taken in that context, the Himalaya is definitely a viable option.
Well, just because those specs are shown for India, doesn’t mean for the rest of the world. It’ll need ABS brakes for Europe (mandatory) and fuel inevitable fuel injection for Europe and North America to pass emission laws. I agree that a 25 hp motorcycle weighing 400lb is not really ask that exciting, but the idea of the bike is.
I really want the RE Himalaya to succeed. I also really want to stop reading about the RE Himalaya.
All this hoopla (how many “sneak preview videos,” spy shots, press releases and general speculation) for a 411cc motorcycle with 25 horsepower that weighs 400 lbs? And without EFI, it’ll have a tough time passing emissions requirements. Much ado about nothing, IMHO.