Two shades of Himalayan

Breaking conventions, Royal Enfield started surfing uncharted waters in recent years with the arrival of the Continental GT cafe racer while it has been developing an adventure motorcycle now very much out of its comfort zone.

Being a predominantly cruiser maker, the Chennai based company has been extensively testing its upcoming adventure tourer the ‘Himalayan’ that was recently caught testing near Chennai, revealing some new details about the new offering.

To begin with, the 2016 Royal Enfield Himalayan looks every bit a tourer with the high ground clearance, raised handlebars and upright seating position. This particular model seems to be a tourer body style while earlier test mules were off-roaders.

The bike gets a tubular frame like other motorcycles from the automaker, while the rear sports a new raised sub-frame to accommodate the pillion or mount saddlebags.

There will be a lot of parts sharing on the new Himalayan with the test mule sporting the headlight, fuel tank, brake discs and instrument cluster from the Continental GT. You also see a raised exhaust, a monoshock rear suspension and telescopic forks up front with long travel, visible courtesy of the fork gaiters.

In terms of powertrain, the Royal Enfield Himalayan is said to be the first model to get the new 410cc single-cylinder engine (to be oil-cooled) that will replace the current 350cc unit and is expected to produce around 29 HP and 40 Nm of torque, paired to a 6-speed gearbox.

The said unit will reportedly return a fuel efficiency figure of 29 km/l. In terms of pricing, the Himalayan will be Royal Enfield’s new flagship, so expect a price tag of around Rs. 2.5 lakhs (ex-showroom) on the tourer.

More recently, Royal Enfield conveyed of its ambitious plans for the remainder of the decade and stated that it will be introducing one big product every year over the next 3-5 years. The automaker’s last all new product was the Continental GT introduced in 2013 and the next one is lined for a 2016 launch.

The automaker further stated that it has used these three years for developing new products lined up in the 250-750cc segment. Royal Enfield aims to become the number one manufacturer in the middle-weight motorcycle segment and the lineup will be globally inclined. – Motor Beam