Hold the presses! This is the new Royal Enfield Himalayan. Okay, so it’s not, but how cool would it be if it was? Jokes aside, the Royal Enfield Himalayan is REs only attempt up until now of building a serious adventure touring machine. Now equipped with better build quality, a BS4 motor and ABS, the Himalayan has all the making of a really great adventure tourer. More so once you consider that it is also the cheapest adventure tourer on sale in India at present. The momentum around the Himalayan is building up a bow and it’s likely to get better and better as the years go by. But will it get as good as the one on the images on this page? Read on to find out.
This Himalayan took over the internet and won many a heart of RE Fans across the globe when it broke cover at the RE exhibit at the Big Motor Sale 2018 in Bangkok. A publicity stunt, if you may, but I’m sure there are many RE owners who are calling up their local custom shops to find out how much it will cost to build something like this. I know I would. Now for those of you not in the know of Thai culture, modified motorcycles are a big part of it. This also explains why Royal Enfield chose this stage to showcase the motorcycle.
According to the company, Royal Enfield has taken inspiration for this custom bike from the rally bikes that take on the fearsome Dakar Rally. In that spirit, the stock headlight has been replaced with a vertical stack of twin projector lamps, there’s also a taller windscreen and a hot as hell quarter fairing that really adds some character to the otherwise blandly designed Himalayan. The look is completed with large crash guards on which the LED auxiliary lights have been mounted. The tail-section features a Dakar style muffler that has been redesigned to be higher than it was. The seats on this Himalayan are both higher and wider, and the high-set rally style handlebar really makes you want to get on it and go bash some dunes. To ensure it doesn’t alienate the original all-together, the fuel tank, centre panel and the bash plate have been more or less carrier forward untouched. Cursorily it would seem like the Himalayan will retain the suspension and braking hardware from the original. The Rally look is completed with a proper set of knobbly tyres. The red, white and blue livery of the Himalayan Dakar bike has been inspired by Thailand’s flag.
The rally bike will still carry forward the stock engine, but we suspect that the custom motorcycle is powered by the stock 411cc, single-cylinder motor hopefully with a more aggressive tune. Now while it is unlikely, that Royal Enfield will actually build a Dakar edition Himalayan anytime soon. Although through the plethora of special editions that they have launched and sold this year this one seems to have the potential to seriously break the bank.
