[gtx2]

Originally Posted by vishal.jayakuma

4. Himalayan: Disclaimer: This is all purely my personal opinion. Kindly test ride the bike to decide for yourself how it feels for you.

I also got opportunity to test ride the Himalayan. I was eagerly looking forward to it but was thoroughly disappointed. The bike is a looker but the ride experience was not refined. Vibrations come too early even in the lower rev range and stay there during the whole ride, irrespective of what gear/rev you are riding. I found the exhaust note irritating during my 30-45 min ride. I am not a fan of noisy exhausts in general, but if the thump aids in 1:1 feedback, then it can be tasteful (like with most RE bikes). Here, in the case of 450, the combination of exhaust note and vibrations hampered the enjoyment of the ride for me.

The mid-range is very good, and the bike is the happiest there. Considering the wheelbase is long, the bike surprisingly felt very agile to me. The gear shifting was also very effortless and accurate. The bike comes with a good suspension configuration, which was evident when I went through potholes of varying size.

I was overhyped for this bike, which lead to disappointment after the test ride. It's not great IMO, but is good enough. Of-course, this is my personal experience and opinion on the bike, and I am no reviewer.

[Sam9293]

Originally Posted by Explorer_Jassi

I booked Kamet white on 8th Nov in Pune ( King's Royal riders, Wakad), Recently my SA gave a tentative delivery date as 10th Feb 2024. I believe, the people who would book now will get the delivery around March-April.

That seems to match what I have been told. I booked Kamet White on 14th Nov at Dhone RE, Pune and the delivery date is last week of Feb'23.

[tech_rider]

Originally Posted by Sam9293

That seems to match what I have been told. I booked Kamet White on 14th Nov at Dhone RE, Pune and the delivery date is last week of Feb'23.

My booking was on 16Dec (Kamet White) and I was informed that tentative date of delivery would be fourth week of April. I suggest, others waiting for dec last to do booking, to do it ASAP to avoid last week booking and huge waiting period. I think 4 months is enough time to get idea on ownership reviews and take decision in cancellation or taking delivery.

[espraveen]

Originally Posted by Sam9293

.. Can you share the tentative delivery date you have received for your Kamet White model ?

The dealer could not give a clear answer when asked about tentative delivery date. However, they said that it would all probably depend upon how many bikes are allotted to them by RE in the first lot and where we stand in the dealer's bookings list (further complicated by what all colours are allotted by RE to the dealer)

[Suited_rider22]

Originally Posted by yogeshnaik

I went to Motoverse (Rider Mania 2023) to Hill Top at Vagator, Goa taking pre-notions, high on expectations with a good mindset visualizing after reading the contents from the media and Royal Enfield's Influencers thinking I would book a Himalayan 450 Hanle Black colour. After visualising the Himalayan 450 in actual, I am still deciding, my friend is still in a slumber state whether to go for it or not.

This is probably one the best reviews I've read in a while for the Himalayan. Usually with royal Enfield motorcycles whenever there is a new product the hype is so huge that it makes the consumer feel this is the best bike ever. What i have come to see and experience is that with Enfield it is always better to wait a year and then buy the bike after reading the review of people who bought the hype. Although i do not see major quality issues in this bike as pointed out by many unbiased bike experts, the major issue for me is if I'm 2.8 lakhs the product has to deliver to my needs. Its a waiting game now.

[Narein]

Did a TD of the Himalayan 450 Kaza Brown this week. I pre-booked the bike on 7th of Nov (Kamet White) based on the hype it generated and I wasn't sure if it was a right fit for me. I am not a core RE fan and the only bike that I had was CBR 250R, hence I am sharing my observations as a noob with respect to ADVs.

Bike's Stance - The bike was quite imposing with the 21" rim on the front and 17" on the back, it gave the bike a good sporty feel to it. As many pointed out in this thread, the bike was leaning a bit when it is on its side stand and in a way it was beneficial to mount and dismount. I am 5' 10" and with 825 mm seat height I was tip-toeing on one of my foot when the bike was off the stand, so probably might go with the lower seat option (805 mm) when it becomes available. You can feel the bike's weight when you tilt it off the resting position, but surprisingly once it is on level it felt quite balanced.

Riding Position - Once the bike starts moving it is quite nimble and agile, you will hardly feel the heftiness of the bike when it is on the move. The seating position is quite commanding and you will realise that when you ride among traffic and you see the difference in height as compared to other bikes on the road. Road visibility is quite good, part of the tank and the bike's dial came into the view, but in a way it was reassuring as it helps you to gauge the space around your bike when you drive in a bumper to bumper traffic.

Ride - The ride itself was overall good, the gear transitions were smooth and accurate, didn't face any gear slip thanks to the Slip and Assist clutch. I did feel a bit of jerk in lower RPM end needed to downshift, but the mid-range was a dream to ride on. The bike's acceleration was quite good and you can feel the power being delivered on demand (thanks to ride-by-wire). Maneuvering the bike, splitting lanes in a tight traffic was also surprisingly easy given the size of the bike. The suspension of the bike was one of the key highlights, I intentionally took it through some of the worst roads in Chennai that were battered post the rain, but the bike was able to absorb them with ease.

I was not able to see any heat radiating from the engine, the liquid cooling was doing a good job alternating the heat exhaust during the ride. Also probably I was the first person to TD that vehicle on that day so the overall run time of the bike was limited to my test drive duration, might be one of the reason on why I didn't feel the heat.

Personal verdict - The bike feels like it is a value for money ADV with all the bells and whistles. It gives good confidence while riding and you feel connected to the vehicle. The delay on the Tubeless rim was a bummer for me as I need to swap it once it becomes available. The rest of the niggles if any will only come to light once we have the ownership reviews from our fellow bhpians. Overall I was impressed with the bike and have decided to retain my booking. I hope I get the bike on time before I lose interest or get brainwashed by my wife

[espraveen]

Originally Posted by rishi.roger

... How did you perceive the weight of Dominar vs Himalayan? The Dominar feels extremely front heavy, and paddling was a nightmare for me (5,7'ish, 75kgs).
I sold it off particularly because 250 felt low on power eventually (perhaps because my last ride was a 220c) and also it was a nightmare in bumper to bumper, and I absolutely got blown away by suspension config of Himalayan 450.
Are there any things that I should look forward to in terms of losses from Dominar ?

Himalayan felt pretty comfortable on the go. But, yes, it is a large bike, especially when compared with Dominar250. Moving the bike in parking lots is something one would have to get accustomed to over a period of time. However, it is quite comfortable while riding, doesn't feel front-heavy like the Dominar. And, I don't think you are going to miss the Dominar much after riding the Himalayan
Only thing is, I hope RE gives us the 'beta testers' niggle free bikes, that's the only concern

[subincb]

All prospectic buyers, please take a test ride and don't go with reviews by others. My friend who is abroad wanted a bike and I made him book 400x immediately it was out. Later read about Himalayan and saw all the hype and made him book the day it was open for booking. He was inclined toward 400x and me towards Himalayan. I had all the positive reasons after reading all the great reviews here. Then he insisted I take a test ride of both bikes keeping in mind mainly it's going to used in city and occasionally off-road and do the test ride the same day.

First was a test ride of 400x at Keerthi. It was easy, just filled a form and they gave keys. They did not tell me how short the ride has to be. Later after the ride I generally asked them did anyone complain about engine heat as i couldn't notice that in short ride. They just gave the keys back and said feel free to take a longer one. I am not recommending Keerthi but reason i am mentioning this as at royal Enfield they told me take first u turn here and at the second u turn please come back. That's less than 500 meters.

400x test ride was good. The bike was very light, nimble and me coming for bigger bikes i felt it very easy to handle in the traffic. I did ride it like d390 between the traffic and the gear shifts and power delivery was very good. "You can pierce through traffic exactly the way you want". The accelerator response and the power ensures they match what's inside the riders head and bike goes there. The clutch was so smooth. Hardly could feel any vibration. Handle position was good. And in the end standing and riding at slow speed was so easy. The bike hides the weight very well. It's a nicely designed bike. And build quality did not find anything noticible. This all even after i was biased towards Himalayan.

From there i went straight to Kwality mobikes showroom in kanakpura road. I was shocked seeing all the ugly welds on the bike. Hope it's from the initial lot. Even the mono shock weld were grinded and looked so ugly. As I said before they let me ride 500m, it was a weekday and i was the only guy there to test ride this. I am not buying so I didn't mind how they behaved or how short the ride was. But since it was immediately after 400x test ride i could make out the huge difference. The bike was very top heavy, it's impossible to flick easy like the 400x. The clutch was much harder but these i could live with. The two main issue I found was one the bike has a minor delay, this is a problem when suddenly you think you can cut through a small gap and that .5 sec or less lag delayed your plan. Second I am not used to every thing in front of me staying straight when my handle is turning right or left. That exact angle my tire turned is not clear to me. May be once used to riding it may change. At the end however I tried to stand and ride and supposed to be designed for that but at slow speed it was very difficult to control due to heaviness. To the friend the comparison I gave was difference similar to a 2006 Ttr660 (Himalayan)and 2018 wr450f(400x) both of which he had ridden.

So all folks who want to buy please test ride. Don't trust all reviews. See for yourself don't trust mine as well.

[jaganm]

Originally Posted by vishal.jayakuma

1. Interceptor 650: Right off the bat, this felt super comfortable for me. This was my first experience with the alloy wheel version of the 650 twins. The difference between this and the spoke wheel versions is night and day. It immediately felt a lot more stable and planted as compared to the older version. There was absolutely no wobbling. The front suspension is definitely setup softer than I would have liked; switching to a heavier fork oil is definitely in the cards. The tyres are the absolute weak link for this bike. The CEATs do not have enough grip for even the slightest sand patches, and in one instance, I ended up unsettling the rear tyre. Will definitely swap to the Vredestein Centauro STs from the CGT. I have always adored the 650 engine, and it is still smooth and extremely tractable. Lots of torque low down; you can ride this at any RPM in any gear. Taking all of this into account, I think this is the perfect motorcycle for my style of riding.

I am in a similar boat, I think I prefer the roadster form factor over the ADV. So, I am waiting for a roadster based on the 450 Himalayan which I believe will be the next one off the line.

[vishal.jayakuma]

Originally Posted by jaganm

I am in a similar boat, I think I prefer the roadster form factor over the ADV. So, I am waiting for a roadster based on the 450 Himalayan which I believe will be the next one off the line.

If your requirement is a Roadster, I would suggest that you take a test ride of the Triumph Speed 400. It's a fantastic road bike, with one of the best brakes and suspension I have had the chance to experience on a sub 3L roadster. Moreover, I believe that the Himalayan and the Sherpa engine have a lot to prove, over time, on the reliability front.

Just my two cents. Feel free to disagree or add more points to this discussion

[fireblade007]

Test drove Himalayalan 450. The engine has nice performance to keep you happy in the city . The highlight is that 36nm of the total 40nm torque comes at 3000 rpm. The test drive was in the city so could only take it upto speeds of about 90kmph. Couldn't test in the highway. Compared to adventure 390 Himalayan wins handsdown in the city as far as engine response is considered.I feel that in the highway at above 100 kmph speeds adevnture 390 might have a slight edge as it is more free revving and has a higher rpm limit than Himalayan.

[Sam9293]

Originally Posted by subincb

So all folks who want to buy please test ride. Don't trust all reviews. See for yourself don't trust mine as well.

That's exactly what everyone should do. Reviews should be taken with a grain of salt, there's no one bike fits all. For me the Himalayan ergonomics feels really good and the weight is manageable. Driving in the city I could filter through traffic to my satisfaction. I can live with the compromises that I will have to do with the Himalayan. Whereas the Triumph pair feel a little smaller to me while riding even though the finishing on the bike is superior.

So always test drive the bike you want to purchase since personal preferences will vary from person to person.

[NikhilosKage]

I have booked the Himalayan - Kaza Brown color with the dealer saying that the bike might be available as soon as January for delivery. Officially, I have been quoted 3-4 months.

I took a test drive of the following motorcycles and decided to go ahead with the Himalayan. My use case was a motorcycle which I could use for my office commute (twice a week of ~20+ KM) and for touring once a month.

Triumph Speed 400

1. Easy to ride bike with a forgiving nature
2. The engine is refined and smooth. Couldn't take it above 5k rpm to check how the vibrations felt though.
3. Torque is plentiful across the rev range. You can ride aggressively or ride in a relaxed manner. It can do both with ease
4. Brakes are great
5. While turning the steering from left to right at 40+ kph speeds, the front suspension felt a bit weird like it was disconnected for half a second. It might be due to the test ride bike being dropped as mentioned by the sales representative
6. Verdict: Excellent bike and for me this is a close second to the Himalayan for the value it offers. In Bangalore, I was quoted ~3L on-road for the Speed 400. A concern is the limited service network.

Triumph Scrambler 400x

1. Felt better to ride. Takes a little more getting used to than the Speed 400
2. At 5'9", I could flat foot the bike at stand still. However, at low speeds I did feel a bit tentative about it. That should improve as one gets used to the motorcycle over time
3. Brakes are excellent with the larger 320mm doing the job well
4. The bike kept turning off randomly. In the 1km+ ride I did, it turned off 4-5 times.
5. The test ride bike was poorly maintained. It had a bent gear lever which made it difficult to test the motorcycle and left me with a not-so-great experience as compared to the Speed 400.
6. The scrambler loses out on the VFM aspect of the Speed. I was quoted ~3.54 L for this machine.
7. Verdict: My test ride was limited because of the not-so-well maintained test ride bike. I will definitely visit another showroom to get a better feel for the 400x before I take delivery of the Himalayan. Another concern is the limited service network.

Harley Davidson X440

1. If I was in the market for a cruiser, this would have been my choice
2. Felt great to ride and was very comfortable
3. The x440 pushes the rider to settle at a speed. It doesn't peg you on to go faster. There is no urgency in the ride.
4. The bike did definitely feel heavier while going through speed bumps
5. I was quoted a price of ~3.71 lakh on-road
6. Verdict: Rejected because I was not looking for a cruiser. Took a test ride because the Hero showroom was close-by

Royal Enfield Himalayan

1. Excellent engine. I would say the Triumphs have the better engine overall. The Himalayan's engine is something I enjoyed riding more though due to it being so tractable across the rev band. It should drive well in the city.
2. Suspension: Enough has been said about this and I concur
3. There is a slight delay while accelerating from a standstill as mentioned by subincb. For me, it isn't a deal breaker
4. The bike definitely feels big. I felt comfortable riding it and did not feel the weight unlike I felt riding the X440. The bike should do well in the city
5. Engine heat was felt once on my leg. After that I was able to adjust my seating and never felt the heat again
6. Verdict: I was slightly biased towards the Himalayan's touring capabilities. In all rights, the Triumphs are better for the city especially the Speed 400. The Himalayan scores better in all touring aspects. The Himalayan would have been perfect with the tubeless tires. At ~3.6 Lakhs, it is not as VFM as the Speed 400

TLDR;
Himalayan is a better tourer and I chose it for that. It was an easy choice for my single motorcycle garage.
You wouldn't go wrong with either the Speed 400 or the Scrambler 400x as both are excellent motorcycles on their own merits.
The X440 was never in the picture as I was not looking for a cruiser.

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

I have booked Slate Blue and my dealer has informed me that the bike will be delivered before the 20th of this month. I had pre-booked on the 7th nov.

Have visited the dealership twice now. Both times they said it will anytime soon. Today when I went I was told there was couple of blue sent to NCR but by the time they could bill it some other dealer took it, then I was told I will get the chassis no on the app as soon as a bike is allotted to you.

As far as price protection is concerned - since I booked on 7th Nov it will be valid on my booking.

[shyamg28]

Ergos on the left side of the handlebar -



I hate this headlight twister thingy.
I have short thumbs and I find it difficult to reach this thing quickly.
I feel manufacturers should not change some of these things. Just make them standard and leave them be.


The rest of the stuff is easily reachable. The joystick can take some learning to use accurately. It's intuitive more or less.
It didn't take me the longest time to learn how to use it.
Pull the stick to the right and hold and it prompts the wifi SSID.




The "Home" button where one usually finds the "pass" switch.
Useful but I wish it worked as a "back" button as well.