Indian manufacturer Royal Enfield has finally unveiled its new Himalayan, an all new lightweight adventure bike.
Rumours of the bike have been circulating for some time, and the bike has been spotted undergoing extensive testing in recent months.
Official photos and video of the bike were released a couple of weeks ago ahead of the unveiling this week.
The design philosophy behind the bike was to keep it light and simple.
Company CEO Siddhartha ‘Sid’ Lal has been riding in the Himalayas for over twenty years and said that “large adventure tourers that currently define this category, do not fare well in the Himalayas as they are very heavy, extremely complicated, and not really designed for this environment.”
“With its purpose-built ground-up design, the Himalayan is a simple and capable go-anywhere motorcycle that will redefine adventure touring in India.”
The Himalayan is powered by a completely new 411cc single cylinder overhead cam engine that is the base for the company’s new long stroke LS 410 engine platform.
Power output is a meagre 18kW and torque is quoted as 32Nm. With a kerb weight of 182kg, the Himalayan is not going to be known for it’s outright performance.
Royal Enfield claims that modern design and materials in the engine are giving increased efficiency and lowering maintenance, and that the engine can go 10,000 km between oil changes.
The 15 litre fuel tank provides a range of approximately 450 km.
The frame was designed and built by British company Harris Performance, which was purchased last year and is now wholly owned by Royal Enfield.
Luggage mounting points for hard panniers, soft luggage and jerry cans are integral to the motorcycle’s design.
The instrument cluster is simple and shows speed, direction, ambient temperature, travel time, service intervals and multiple trip distances.
The seat height is 800mm and the seating position is more upright as you would expect on a motorcycle designed for long rides.
Royal Enfield says it has been careful to design a bike that will appeal to the enthusiast as well as the regular commuter and that the bike is intended purely for the Indian market – for now!
Even though we may not see the Royal Enfield Himalayan in Australia, what is important to us is that this bike probably gives an insight into the company’s future model strategy.
We currently have three Royal Enfield model ranges available in Australia – the Continental GT Café Racer, the Bullet 500, and the retro styled Classic models.
The Royal Enfield Himalayan will be released for sale to the Indian market in mid March.