[tharian]

Wow!

The finished product looks the part. It looks like an out and out adv/touring bike. Good on RE and hopefully they keep it affordable.

Now if it does 100kmph fully loaded without a sweat, its a good deal.

[Aditya]

Thank you to the Team-BHP fan who sent these pics in (he prefers to remain anonymous). Heartfelt gratitude for sharing them with other enthusiasts!

Royal Enfield’s upcoming adventure tourer has been spied in its production ready avatar. After several spy shots and videos of the Himalayan’s test mules were seen on various websites, the motorcycle has been spied with a white paint job, along with "Himalayan" livery along the length of the fuel tank and mudguard, suggesting that the bike will in fact, be named the Himalayan when it goes on sale.



Until now the motorcycle was spotted with camouflage and this is the first time we are seeing the bike in its final form. The motorcycle has black and silver panniers with black painted mounts, a tail light cluster finished in silver, yellow lens turn-indicators, a reflector underneath the rear number plate, dual disc brakes and wire wheels.



The side profile shows the bike with dedicated mounts for jerry cans on either side of the fuel tank, a new, lower set swing arm + a monoshock absorber, what appears to be a rather slim seat, a cross handlebar, round rear view mirrors that add a retro touch, a front splash guard, a medium-sized windshield, black painted front forks, and of course, Royal Enfield's all-new engine.

The engine doesn’t come with a kick-starter, and is believed to be a 410cc, single-cylinder mill with an oil cooler, expected to produce just short of 30 BHP and 32 Nm of torque. Adventure tourers form a relatively unexplored segment in India with most options priced north of Rs. 10 lakh. The Himalayan will be a breakthrough for Royal Enfield and the segment. While buyers will analyse the motorcycle's performance and dynamics, rival manufacturers will be keeping a watchful eye to analyse the segment's potential.

[tharian]

Heard that the bikes are sent for training the service center mechanics at different locations.
Probably the latest shots are of those.

[outofthebox]

I was at RE's flagship store in Khan Market, Delhi last week. Enquired about the launch date and was told by the store manager that media launch of Himalayan is currently slotted for end Feb or early March.

He said they are expecting to receive the test ride & first lot within 4-6 months of the media launch, just like it happened during Continental GT's launch.

[navin_v8]

One word "Respect" to RE for experimenting with this category and by word the production ready RE Himalayan looks and means business(at least in the pictures). It will give budding ADV touring enthusiasts an opportunity to acquire an affordable ADV tourer in the form of Himalayan. Off late I have seen Indian riders waking up to the concept of ADV tourers. This in a way is good as our notoriously broken roads deserve these class of motorcycles which one can use to commute as well as go adventure touring.

The engine specs look reasonably good with close to 30 BHP and 30+NM of torque. I believe like tharian mate said, if it is able to do 100 KMPH effortlessly all day, then the job is done. I also like the way those jerry cans are placed upfront and those touring panniers look ultra cool and will come in handy to pack stuff. This motorcycle is more in line with the legendary Kawasaki KLR 650 no fancy stuff just pure ADV touring. Looking at how RE motorcycles are chosen by riders for riding the Himalayas by many riders, this one model takes it to another level of adventure touring with all the parts falling in place. RE's transition from Bullet to Thunderbird to now the Himalayan is simply amazing and a hot topic for MBA case studies. I sincerely hope RE equips this motorcycle with a liquid cooled engine in the future to make it even more appealing.

I only hope this doesn't become a sales dud like CGT which deserved much more.

One of my Fixed Deposits is getting matured in February . Should I say more.

[bhagathmp]

Originally Posted by navin_v8

One of my Fixed Deposits is getting matured in February . Should I say more.

That was exactly what I did back in 2012 and bought the Desert Strom

The DS is just a tad bit on the shorter side for me. And I've not managed to get a 'comfortable' seating position. Would surely take a TD and decide if the DS would make way for the Himalayan !!!

Regards
Bugs.

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

most of us here feel it looks GREAT, we also coudnt care less about the looks aspect as long as the bits and bobs are functional...

when it comes to ADV bikes - Less is more for me.

Are you looking to be served a lobster at a 5 star hotel at the price of a vada pav?

This RE looks purposeful in EVERY way, Its purpose being : touring, mild offroading.

KTMs are awesome. I have been riding a 390 for around 18000 kms and still love it to bits. The value and fun factor of this motorcyle is stratospheric - But as far as this RE is concerned, I (and I am sure many others on this forum) feel that its a step in the right direction. The execution and real world performance is yet to be seen.

Indeed, in our context less is more, at least on paper: LESS money, less complexity, less weight / width / bulk, less imported parts supply issues, less specialized repair skills = a much MORE practical and (in my view) pleasing subcontinental tourer. Nobody's saying you have to try and do Paris-Dakar or the German Autobahn on it.

This is one new bike that I'm going to do everything in my power to get a test ride on once the showroom here in Manali receives one.

Check out some forums - Even with the U.S.'s broad desert tracks and wide-open spaces, many owners of the big tourers admit they're really just excessively huge / unwieldy - obviously so for something like Ladakh/Spiti (as one Tiger owner/tour leader who'd dropped his several times out there also acknowledged to me, and as at least one parts-failure-stranded BMW rider I know of also experienced (yes, they can break down like anything else)).

Even this "little" RE might prove excessive for all the tiny, muddy, steep, rock-strewn fresh-cut local dirt link-roads my Impulse has been so happily running on lately. In theory you can try and run any bike of any type on any terrain, but as Ted Simon (Jupiter's Travels) asserts, the real idea in motorcycle travel is for the machine to become ultimately sort of transparent. He says (and I agree) that any random machine might finally do the job; but the way I extrapolate that is that one ill-suited to its environment becomes a pretty continuous obstacle to just forgetting the vehicle and focusing on the places / people / etc. Of course, if you're into posing, a BMW is going to get your more "mileage". So the question becomes, "WHY do I ride?" That's going to help me decide WHAT to ride.

IMO IF RE has finally got their quality control right and has done the necessary tweaking / tuning required to make it actually ride/handle appropriate to its purposes, they've got a real winner here (regardless, I might add, of how the market might finally respond). Of course, those are admittedly big "IF's".

-Eric

[man_of_steel]

Spy pics are flowing in like crazy! Here's another one of the cockpit.

IS that a gear indicator on the digital console? And the extreme right pod do look like a compass!

Source: Powerdrift Official FB Page

[tharian]

I feel the instrument console could have been designed better. This one looks very busy and will be difficult to notice a reading on the move.

They could have gone for an all digital meter with all the different readings available on one display with a button to switch. Something like in the KTM's.

Chrome rings around the meters on a adv bike ? - probably to keep the RE heritage intact.

Just my thoughts since I felt this is a bit retro on a new bike.

[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by bhagathmp

That was exactly what I did back in 2012 and bought the Desert Strom

Sometimes investments does make one smile eh! But I will hold my horses as there is news doing rounds about DSK Benelli bringing in their ADV tourer TRK 502 to India during the Auto Expo this year.

Originally Posted by tharian

They could have gone for an all digital meter with all the different readings available on one display with a button to switch.

Tharian mate you answered your own question by saying RE wants to keep its signature by including some of its peculiar characteristics. Like they say one can take out a motorcycle out of RE but cant take out RE out of a motorcycle. Children in my building still scream "Bullet Bullet" when I take out my Tbird500 for a stroll such is the image and character of RE motorcycles. I could also notice steel braided brake lines on the motorcycle which is a good add on as it is already present on the CGT.

[arulpeem]

Originally Posted by tharian

I feel the instrument console could have been designed better. This one looks very busy and will be difficult to notice a reading on the move.

They could have gone for an all digital meter with all the different readings available on one display with a button to switch. Something like in the KTM's.

Chrome rings around the meters on a adv bike ? - probably to keep the RE heritage intact.

Just my thoughts since I felt this is a bit retro on a new bike.

RE seems to have learnt one lesson from the GTs. The chrome rings in the GT meters fall off. Apart from my bike I have seen a few other GTs with missing chrome rings. And they are not sold as spares separately. They seem to have added clips to retain the rings in the Himalayan.
Another reason for the crowded look could be the readouts for both KMs and Miles. The markings can be better designed to look less crowded.

[sai_ace]

Originally Posted by sai_ace

That could be a compass. I was told this by someone inside Pricol, their instrumentation vendor.

Originally Posted by cataclysm

Altimeter or compass? Though I doubt it could be a compass. I wonder how will they keep the compass calibrated when the bike is twisting, turning, and leaning.

Or could they? It's RE after all

Originally Posted by techfreak

A Compass is of no use almost in a bike... Most likely it's a Altimeter.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Dont compasses automatically align themselves based on the poles as you keep moving? I doubt RE has had to do any R&D or engineering if they have added a compass.

Originally Posted by tharian

I don't think it is a compass either.
If the picture is zoomed into, it can be noticed just the border of the meter has some lines and the center has a digital screen.
Highly doubt if they will offer a digital compass.

It is a compass after all.

*feeling smug on getting it right*

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by tharian

I feel the instrument console could have been designed better. This one looks very busy and will be difficult to notice a reading on the move.

They could have gone for an all digital meter with all the different readings available on one display with a button to switch. Something like in the KTM's.

Chrome rings around the meters on a adv bike ? - probably to keep the RE heritage intact.

Just my thoughts since I felt this is a bit retro on a new bike.

And finally we see a analog fuel gauge on an RE.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

And finally we see a analog fuel gauge on an RE.

A dedicated analog fuel gauge, yes.

The previous generation Thunderbird had one within the tacho or speedo meters and the Lightening 535 had one tiny one as well if I remember right.

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

And finally we see a analog fuel gauge on an RE.

ThunderBird TwinSpark!