Following endless speculations and numerous official spy shots, the Royal Enfield Himalayan has been officially revealed. The Himalyan is RE’s first attempt at making a purpose-built adventure motorcycle from scratch and the results are commendable.
The Himalayan is built to take its rider to places and it looks apt with its rugged albeit minimalistic body panels, a round headlight, a tall windscreen, knobby tyres, LED taillight and a hefty exhaust. Meanwhile, the instrument console is a mix of RE’s traditional design cues and some new age tech. The cluster is dominated by a large speedo, a tachometer to its right and a small digital screen. Interestingly, the Himalayan also boasts of a compass which should come in handy during off-road excursions. Additionally, Royal Enfield is offering a whole load of accessories with the Himalayan like jerry cans and panniers to take care of the touring needs.
Among many talking points of the Himalayan is its new single cylinder, 4-stroke engine. This 411cc air-cooled unit develops 24.5bhp of power at 6500rpm and 32Nm of torque between 4000 and 4500rpm. The gearbox, meanwhile, is a 5-speed constant mesh unit.
As for the chassis and suspension, the Himalayan is built around a half-duplex split cradle frame and uses telescopic 41mm forks up front with 200mm travel. The rear, meanwhile, is handled by a monoshock (a first for Royal Enfield) with 180mm wheel travel. The Himalayan has a generous 1465mm wheelbase and a widely acceptable 800mm seat height. Coming to the brakes and tyres, up front there’s a 90-section 21-inch wheel with a 300m disc and at the rear, there’s a 120-section wheel with a 240mm disc brake.
Although adventure-style motorcycles are yet to gain popularity here in the Indian market, models like the Royal Enfield Himalayan and Benelli’s upcoming TRK 502 are bound to make a big impact at the crucial affordable end of the spectrum.