re: The 1st-gen Royal Enfield Himalayan thread! Hi all, let me take an opportunity to write my experience, pretty lengthy typing today !
I have been following on the RE Himalayan since quite some time. On the Youtube, saw the pre-launch and launch videos, review & test ride videos, reading various forums etc. This one surely made me MORE interested in RE (I don’t own any bike).
About two weeks back, I did go inside the nearby Royal Enfield showroom, had a glance and came out, saw a black Himalayan parked outside the store. That time, I didn’t speak with anybody in the showroom, I had a good look on the vehicle, even sat on it for a moment, just for the feel of it ! Initial Impression, then: The vehicle is quite big, long and meaty. Seats were really comfortable. The matt black color didn’t appeal much, maybe the dust on vehicle or surrounding, or whatever.
Finally, I had a Test Ride on Himalayan on Saturday 09-Apr'16, at Unison Automobiles (Mira Road). I went inside the store and inquired about H, a young sales rep pretty courteously asked me to sit, and came-up with a pricelist of RE, marking the H costings. He explained that H is carburettor, had good torque, an easy going vehicle; and though RE hasn’t officially given any FE number it would still (hopefully) return 35-38 KMPL. Upon my asking, he said delivery period for H would be about 2 months, and of STD500 (another ride of my interest) would be within 1 month, as its quite popular & running successfully to cater to demands.
Then he asked me “when are you planning to buy”, and I answered “not sure yet to even buy any, but I would like to have a test ride now”. Another colleague asked my license and kept with him. I calmly asked “test ride, without me carrying the license ?”, he smiled and said “don’t worry sir, no problem”. Even I didn’t push much, and was confident of nothing happening to me in “my area” !
The young RE chap came with a helmet for me, got the black-H on the road, it was the same piece I saw few days back (I remember because it had a scratch on the tank). About myself: Im 6’ 1” tall, 95 KGs. About pillion RE chap: about 5’6”, about 60-65 KGs.
I sat on the bike, the chap sat as pillion. For some moments, I was trying to feel it, planted my legs on ground, gazing around. Though the bike looks big, it was very comfortable height for seating. I located the start button and it fired, raised the accelerator a bit, whoowhoooo, the exhaust note was not bad! Pressed the clutch, it was not hard and reasonably smooth, put in 1st gear, and it slotted perfectly. The gear slotting was really perfect, speaks of getting confidence. Gradually I got riding on the busy road, and noticed that speed indicator (and maybe even ODO) was disconnected. I again glanced at the overall console and found it interesting, flashy displays, ODO showed some 250 KMs, Gear position shown, RPM needle was moving, though didn’t / couldn’t ‘read’ the compass.
I continued in the 1st gear pretty comfortably, found the engine to be smooth and didn’t hesitate, didn’t urge me to upshift gear. However I naturally changed to 2nd gear, again it slotted perfectly, wow. The torque was pretty good, and within no time I could feel attaining 40-50 speed, with ease. Did have to apply brake due to heavy traffic, put the bike in Neutral, and again it was perfect slot. Some bikes have very smooth gears even with a gentle tap, this wasn’t smooth (or light), but the ‘click’ slotting was really good, without actually feeling the hardness. The handle was wide, comfortable, not really very light weight, but just good to feel and manoeuvre with confidence. The mirrors didn’t do justice, they should have been placed bit wider. On top of that, the left mirror was kaput, used to bend down. I didnt feel the pillion being pushed to me, and I think there was a bit gap between us; or maybe he was sitting very cautiously not to push me!
Took a right turn onto another road and tried to open the throttle quickly, after getting good speed clicked to 2nd gear. Turning radius seems good, thought I wasn’t personally confident of turning it fast. Wow, real good ride quality, and good acceleration (or torque I may say). For a brief moment I could get to 3rd gear, but didnt really felt the need of same. Its like there was still some juice left in the 2nd gear. From a stand-still I even tried starting with 2nd gear, no issues. Pot-holes and bumps were easily taken care of. Cant really feel the actual weight of the bike. At about 15-20 speed, I braked really hard (front + rear), and bike came to a halt, with a slight amount of skidding on rear wheel. I couldn’t gauge the effectiveness of the windscreen, but it was surely below my face level which I feel was ideal. The material looks sturdy (not saying about the mounts), but the transparency (clarity) wasn’t very sharp. I got a feel that over a time it may turn dull, like those cheap plastics turning faded yellow. I maybe totally wrong on this.
Came back to the store and parked the vehicle. The overall ride was not more than 3-4 KMs, on busy traffic road. The ride experience was superb. I later had a detailed look on the vehicle, and some of the weld marks were not a good sight, some quality improvement is required. Went inside the store, collected my license, and filled the feedback form, along with my details.
so friends, this was my experience with Himalayan! I wrote what I felt, and remembered of it.
regards,
Last edited by pcpranav : 12th April 2016 at 18:17.
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