Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Rally Makes Its Debut With C S Santosh In Spain

Royal Enfield made its rallying debut last weekend at the Rally de Cuencas in Spain with C S Santosh piloting a modified version of the Himalayan 450. The rally allowed Royal Enfield to test the waters for its rally bike project with the goals of getting ready for the Dakar Rally 2026.

It was Santosh’s first rally since his life-threatening crash in the desert of Saudi Arabia in 2021. It is nice to see the Indian superstar once again getting back and doing what he loves. And it wasn’t so much about the results that was important for both him and Royal Enfield rather the fact that he completed the rally.

Also Read: Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Review - The Perfect ADV?

When it comes to the Himalayan 450 Rally, the bike itself isn’t that much altered from its road-ready sibling. It is still bearing the same tank, chassis, engine and even the circular headlight as the new Himalayan 450. A rally tower replaces the colour TFT screen with far more buttons on the beefed-up handlebar to control the various settings. The suspension has definitely been upgraded to suit the nature of the event and a flat bench rally seat (not the one from the accessories catalogue) arrives on the bike. And lastly, an Akrapovic rally-spec exhaust system should provide a bit more oomph.

Also Read: Finally, The Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Gets Tubeless Spoke Wheels

While the project is still in its early days, it is good to see that Royal Enfield is on track to take the fight to global off-roading giants in the coming years. And while the Rally de Cuencas was just a small start, we can expect Santosh to pilot a more authentic rally-spec version of the Himalayan 450 in 2025 at certain rounds of the FIM World Cross-Country Rally Championship. These would serve as testing grounds for the project, so that the team gets crucial data before it makes its presence at the Dakar Rally in 2026.