Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Review - The Perfect ADV?

The Himalayas have been the de facto destination for adventure seekers and for a good reason. The harsh terrain and its beauty is something that can’t be captured by any frame or expressed in words. It can only be experienced. For Indian bikers the Himalayas has always been the final frontier in their motorcycle journey, which resulted in many epic trips. And then you have Royal Enfield, a brand which is manufactured in Southern India but has a special connection with the Himalayas.

For decades Royal Enfield has been the bike to explore the Himalayas and has played a crucial part in creating this cult and fan following for Royal Enfield. To help its fans achieve their Himalayan dreams they created the Himalayan 411, India’s first homegrown adventure bike. And now six years later they want to evolve the bike and this is their latest creation - the new RE Himalayan 450. It’s a proper ground up development and promises to offer a new kind of ADV experience to bikers. So is this the perfect ADV all rounder that we have been waiting for?

Engine & Performance

Among the many highlights of the new Himalayan is the new Sherpa 450 engine. With this new motor, they plan to charter into new territories, so before I speak about performance let’s see some key highlights of their engine.

This is an all-new engine from the ground up and boasts a lot of firsts for a modern RE. It gets liquid-cooling, 4-valves and DOHC technology. The result is that this is the most powerful single-cylinder engine built by Royal Enfield. Also, it uses a forged piston and this new 452 cc engine is 10 kg lighter than the old Himalayan’s motor. 

Now let’s talk about the riding experience and this engine is unlike any other motor from RE. This thing loves to rev and that too in stages. Till 4,000 rpm it revs in a chill manner, but post that you hit the power band and it comes alive. Even the throttle response isn’t very snappy like the 390 ADV, but more easy going. 

What I loved the most about this new engine is how versatile it felt on the mountain roads - you can ride it fast or you can chill in absolute comfort, it does that both beautifully. And if you want to chill more, switch to eco mode from performance mode and it feels very mellow. Now I wasn’t a fan of this mode on the uphill climbs but maybe in the city or when you want to tour this can be helpful. 

What you wouldn’t like though is the engine vibes especially when I was accelerating hard, you can feel vibrations on the handlebar and foot pegs. However it wasn’t too harsh and it does settle down a bit once you settle at a particular speed. 

Talking about speed, I can’t mention how the new Himalayan will perform as a tourer as I couldn’t find enough long straights to test its comfortable cruising speed and cruising ability. Another aspect that’s unknown is the heat management of the engine as we were riding in temperatures ranging from 7 to 12 degree celsius. The 6-speed gearbox works well on most occasions, but can feel a bit clunky sometimes. The gear ratios are well spread out and the addition of slipper clutch will be a boon in stop and go traffic.

Fuel Efficiency

Royal Enfield claims a WMTC fuel efficiency figure of 28.15 kmpl and that too in performance mode. With the above claimed figure and a 17-litre fuel tank, you're looking at a real world range of around 400-450 km, which is very very impressive. But we would reserve our comments until a proper road test.

Ride quality 

The biggest takeaway from this first ride for me was the bike's ride quality. When we started the ride, it was mostly Tarmac as we crossed Atal Tunnel but suddenly there was a big pothole, so I stood up and braced for impact. Next thing I know, I was back on Tarmac and I didn’t feel the thud that I was expecting, the suspension just swallowed it up. The ride quality is almost like a magic carpet and even on broken roads or undulation, you just need to gas it out. In fact the ride quality is so good that I wasn’t standing on many of the potholes. This is how an ADV tourer suspension should be tuned, perfecto! 

Off-road performance 

Hit the off-road trails and the new suspension setup shines through here as well. The USD fork was soaking up all the bumps and ruts, and hardly did I feel any jolts on my hands. Since the suspension is so absorbent, despite my limited off-road riding skills, I was feeling calm and confident. 

The other bit that was helpful was how slim the bike is and it’s very easy to hold the bike between your legs. My only grouse was that the handlebar felt a bit low, but then that can be addressed by handlebar riders. The new Himalayan also gets a wider rear tyre which means more contact patch and the bike doesn’t deflect much on off-road surfaces. 

Last but not the least is the low-end torque of the motor, it just chugs and helps you get better traction. In terms of off-road riding, I feel the new Himalayan is a better bike than its predecessor  for both newbie riders and experts as it gives the rider more confidence and is more capable as well.

Handling & Braking 

As I mentioned before, the new Himalayan is a ground up new project and employs a twin-spar frame which uses the engine as a stressed member. It’s also the first RE bike to use a bolted-on subframe, which means if the rear section of the chassis is damaged in a crash, you don’t have to replace the entire frame.

We were welcomed by some beautiful twisting tarmac and I must say the Himalayan did handle those curves with enthusiasm. I was a bit sceptical how the front end would react with its 21-inch wheel and to my surprise, it felt very poised. There is no vague feeling that one got with the older Himalayan, and you can corner with much better confidence on the new bike. 

The Ceat tyres offered good grip and I was able to even scrape the footpegs on a few corners. I couldn’t tell the weight difference (at 196 kg, it’s 3 kg lighter than the older bike) between the two bikes on the move, but I will say that the new Himalayan offers more cornering feel and confidence than the older bike. However, how agile the new Himalayan feels in traffic and is it a good bike to ride around in the city is something that I can only answer after a real world test in Mumbai. 

What I can confirm is that the braking performance is much better than the older Himalayan and that’s expected given the larger rotors. On road the brake modulation can feel a bit soft, but while riding off-road it feels spot on. The ABS calibration is good and you can switch the ABS modes on the move. 

Styling & Features 

The new Himalayan received a lot of mixed reactions about its styling, but in the flesh it looks much better and bigger, so no comparison with the Hero Xpulse 200. The styling is quite interesting, while it retains the design DNA of the Himalayan 411, it has its own unique identity. 

What I really liked is how functional the design still is, the brackets next to the fuel tank can hold soft luggage, the fuel tank shape looks odd, but it adds volume, the exhaust muffler is narrow and compact so that you can wade through tight trails. The most unique design element is the indicator integrated brake light, which looks so cool. Also the new Himalayan is available in a mirage of new colour options inspired by the Himalayas. In terms of quality, the new Himalayan 450 has better fit and finish levels compared to its predecessor. 

Features and Royal Enfield aren’t words that one uses in the same sentence, but hey with the new Himalayan, RE is breaking new ground and you would be surprised how many goodies this bike has on offer. First up is the TFT instrument console that has two riding layouts - analogue and digital.

My favourite feature is the Google powered maps that makes navigation so much easier as you can see the entire street and thereby it’s more intuitive to use than turn-by-turn navigation. The map is so clever that when you hit reserve, it can direct you to the closest petrol pump. However, you have to use the navigation through the RE app and you have to keep the app screen running as it casts the map using WiFi. This means your battery will drain out fast, to address this RE has given a type-C charger on the handlebar. 

The other interesting addition is a 5-way joystick on the left hand switch gear that lets you toggle through the various menus on the fly easily. It can also be used to shuffle through a playlist or control volume. It’s a cool new addition, but I feel it could have been slightly bigger and more sturdy. 

Accessories 

Royal Enfield has a bunch of accessories planned for the new Himalayan 450 but most of it will go on sale next year in a phased manner. The optional tubeless rims  will not be available in the Indian market soon as it is undergoing BIS certification. The Rally Edition will have to be ordered via the MIY app and essentially it’s a narrower version of the standard bike as most of the hardware is similar.

I think the two optional accessories that Royal Enfield missed out are cruise control and quickshifter. The cruise control would be a boon on highways as our road infrastructure is getting better and quickshifter would have been useful while off-road riding as the rider can go through the gears without worrying about the clutch.

Verdict 

Ok, I wouldn’t beat around the bush, in my opinion, the new Himalayan 450 is the best Royal Enfield motorcycle ever built. In fact, it ticks all the right boxes when it comes to an accessible and all-round ADV motorcycle. The new engine gives it the required punch to be a good tourer, while it has enough low-end grunt to chug it out on off-road trails. The new suspension setup is near perfect and makes the Himalayan 450 an easy bike to ride off-road, while offering brilliant ride quality on the road. The features are very useful and the overall riding dynamics is comfortable. 

Having said that, there are some questions that need to be answered which are only possible after a real-world test, so I still have a few apprehensions. Also, we still have no clarity about pricing as the Royal Enfield ADV will be launched in Goa on November 24. Our estimate is that pricing could start at Rs 2.70 to 2.85 lakh (ex-showroom). During the media   ride, I faced no issues with my media unit of the Himalayan 450. But,on a side note, if you too are planning to buy the new Himalayan 450, I would suggest waiting for the second lot to roll out in 2024 to be on the safer side, given the history of the older bike.