So, this video above debuted over the weekend, promising Royal Enfield’s new Himalayan 450 adventure bike is coming soon. As per the YouTube description:
Royal Enfield has just put out an official teaser of the hotly anticipated Himalayan 450 – a liquid cooled Adventure motorcycle that will launch later this year.
It will be the flagship adventure motorcycle in Royal Enfield’s line-up, and will compete against the likes of the KTM Adventure 390, BMW R310 GS and Yezdi Adventure.
A 450cc liquid cooled single cylinder four stroke engine – a first for Royal Enfield – will power the new Himalayan. A six speed manual gearbox, spoked wheels shod with on-off road tyres, upright riding ergonomics, a sturdy frame for off road use, dual channel ABS, disc brakes on both wheels are key features expected to be on offer.
Knowing Royal Enfield and the company’s value pricing strategy, expect the Himalayan 450 to undercut both the KTM Adventure 390 and BMW R310 GS significantly. An on-road price of less than Rs. 3.5 lakh is very likely for the Himalayan 450.
Media rides of the Royal Enfield Himalayan are scheduled from October-end, followed by the official launch and price announcement sometime in November.
Cool, cool. It looks legit-ish, similar to the marketing material we see from the OEMs all the time. A few quick cuts, some sweeping panoramas…but note that this video was uploaded by YouTuber India3Sixty,不是皇家恩菲尔德themselves. Their Twitter and Instagram feeds do not mention the new bike either. The video above doesn’t really show it clearly.
从你的意志。
However, also note that we have indeed seen plenty of spy shots of the bike at this point, and in a recent Facebook post, well-known UK adventurer Nathan Millward says he’s actually seen the machine in person, presumably at some sort of industry event or perhaps at Royal Enfield’s R&D facility in the UK. Make no mistake—even if the video above is fake, the bike should be here in coming weeks or months.
When it gets here, we expect liquid-cooled 450 single-cylinder engine, USD suspension, and generally a lot more performance than the current air-cooled 410cc version. Royal Enfield has come a very long way in the past decade, and with help from its UK-based R&D center, its machines keep getting better and better.
Does that mean this could be a KLR-beater, offering bank-for-the-buck capability? Maybe not for us here in North America, but for the great chunks of the world that don’t even have access to the KLR or bikes like it, a 450 Himalayan could become an all-time classic travel ADV, if quality and performance are up to the task!
