Honda India Working On A Royal Enfield Himalayan 411 Rival?

As good as the new Himalayan 450 has turned out, there still remains something special about the old Royal Enfield Himalayan 411. With its successor now on sale, the plug on the Himi 411 has been pulled. Well, to fill that void, Honda seems to be stepping up to the plate with its own adventure motorcycle, which looks extremely similar to the Himi 411. And the likelihood of it being made in India is extremely high.

For starters, there have just been design patent images that have surfaced online and not the actual bike or teasers. However, there’s an uncanny resemblance to the design patent images and the Himalayan 411 as well as its Scram 411 sibling. Yep, Honda seems to have taken the ‘Be Like Royal Enfield’ mantra too seriously here as there’s also a Scram 411-esque scrambler patent image.

Right from the tall circular headlamp, short beak, fundamentally sound-yet-functional design to the external crash bars-cum-jerry can mounts and side plate panels, the design inferences of these proposed Hondas is just very obvious. And we aren’t quite surprised but sad given the way Honda is approaching its Himalayan rival.

Not only is it due to the styling similarities but also the engine the Japanese bike maker is proposing to employ: the same 350 cc mill from the CB350 series of bikes. The engine in question is perhaps one of our least favourite ones out there as there simply is a mismatch in what Honda actually stands for and what it delivers as well as the clear issues with ease of rideability.

We sincerely hope Honda does come out with a more solid product that can actually give the new wave of 450 cc adventure tourers, like the new Himalayan 450 as well as the upcoming KTM 390 Adventure and the Hero XPulse 420, a proper tough fight. Else, if the approach is like how it was with the CB350 series, Honda is going to have a tough task at hand.

Source: Cycle World