C S Santosh Teases Upcoming Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Rally Bike

It is no secret that Royal Enfield is working on a rally bike based on the Himalayan 450. After all, the bike maker has joined hands with several key personnel who have braved and conquered the Dakar rally in the past. This time round, India’s first Dakar rally finisher, C S Santosh, put out a couple of photos of the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 rally bike that he has been testing and developing in Spain. And it does look promising in the little that we can spot.

For starters, the Sherpa 450 engine has a brand new upswept rally-ready exhaust. We can even spot a small panel above the exhaust that has a ‘Rally’ sticker on it, which could be the auxiliary fuel tanks that Dakar race bikes usually have. The image also showed knobby tyres and a highly uprated USD fork.

In fact in the other image (check below), the one sans the tank where the bike was just draped in cables, it does have all the buttons and the navigational tower that is used in cross country rallies. Rally-spec handlebar, triple clamps, fork clamps and a sophisticated USD fork (adjustable high and low speed compression) stand out.

It is likely that Santosh and Royal Enfield will take part in one of the Baja rallies in Spain this year with the latest creation. While Dakar 2025 is unlikely for the company to make its presence felt, 2026 could be an achievable dream, provided the bike is refined and tested over the course of the forthcoming year at various other rallies. Santosh’s former team – Hero MotoSport Rally – remains the only sole Indian manufacturer left at the Dakar rally. Hopefully, Royal Enfield’s entry into the cross country rally world results in better times for Indian motorsports, not only at the international level but also the grassroots.