[ebonho]

Originally Posted by nitro.1000bhp

Ebonho would you like to tell us what sort of power figures you were expecting from an aircooled 410cc motor? A 2015 sr400 makes 23hp! and thats by yamaha with all their racing pedigree. Again a honda xr600 makes about 35hp albiet a 10 year old design.

I was expecting (hoping) for early to mid 30s.

The SR400 is a retro cruiser/standard.

The Honda XR400 is what you should be comparing it to in terms of a lightweight single cylinder air cooled adventure bike.

34 bhp. 121 kilos.

I do not think the Himalayan will weigh less than 165-170 kilos.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by ebonho

I was expecting (hoping) for early to mid 30s.

Nine-year-old Oliver is a resident in the parish workhouse where the boys are "issued three meals of thin gruel a day, with an onion twice a week, and half a roll on Sundays".

Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery. He rose from the table; and advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said: somewhat alarmed at his own temerity:

'Please, sir, I want some more.'

The master was a fat, healthy man; but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupified astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder; the boys with fear.

'What!' said the master at length, in a faint voice.

'Please, sir,' replied Oliver, 'I want some more.'

The master aimed a blow at Oliver's head with the ladle; pinioned him in his arm; and shrieked aloud for the beadle.

The board were sitting in solemn conclave, when Mr. Bumble rushed into the room in great excitement, and addressing the gentleman in the high chair, said,

'Mr. Limbkins, I beg your pardon, sir! Oliver Twist has asked for more!'

There was a general start. Horror was depicted on every countenance.

'For MORE!' said Mr. Limbkins. 'Compose yourself, Bumble, and answer me distinctly. Do I understand that he asked for more, after he had eaten the supper allotted by the dietary?'

'He did, sir,' replied Bumble.

'That boy will be hung,' said the gentleman in the white waistcoat. 'I know that boy will be hung.'

And that is what will happen to you, ebonho twister.

[ebonho]

Meanwhile, here is Oliver on his XR400, eating some rocks instead.

[MM440]

The bullets always were a mediocre bunch of bikes, from the British stables you chose Norton's road holder forks fitted slim line framed bikes for roadholding, the triumphs for their twin engines and frisky performance, the BSA for your average reliable run about.
Having done long distances from the era of the bullet's elk. Let me assure the levels of praise we heap on the bullet had been our undoing, the company takes us for granted and has used time to mediocrity to mind numbing machoism. If you have ridden the 50s bullets you will find them more pleasurable than the subsequent models. One need say no more of less. Nothing much can be expected from ROYAL ENFIELD. Period.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by alpha1

the Bajaj Gulsar can also produce the same high torque numbers, albeit at high end.

And if you gear down to the same road speed, you'll have twice the torque at the wheel in case of the Gulsar. (I know I'm opening a can of worms).

Regards
Sutripta

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by ebonho

The one time you could be excused for getting a "little" excited was in the beginning of the video when he pulled away from the car (probably because he saw it filming). That could either be the bike's acceleration or the fact that the car did not respond in time. Or both

IIRC, Bblost mentioned that he was doing around 80 KPH at the time the bike started to pull away. So ya, thats what got me excited

Originally Posted by ebonho

I was expecting (hoping) for early to mid 30s.

The SR400 is a retro cruiser/standard.

The Honda XR400 is what you should be comparing it to in terms of a lightweight single cylinder air cooled adventure bike.

34 bhp. 121 kilos.

I do not think the Himalayan will weigh less than 165-170 kilos.

Still not apples to apples doc. The XR 400 is more like a dirtbike with lights rather than an adventure / touring motorcycle

Even our lightweight KTMs weigh around 160 KGs. If the Himalayan weighs just 10 kilos more; I think the boys at Enfield would have done a great job

Again; I am not relying on the numbers quoted by the Zigwheels fellas. Just like you have been burnt by many a promises of a fast and modern enfield; I have seen too many such "reliable" snippets from their "uber reliable sources". I still think that the power would hover around the mid thirties mark

But even if I were to take this news on face value and the Himalayan is indeed 28 BHP, 170 (or even 180) KG, 32 NM torque ..... any reason why it should not match the mini Ceeber which is - 26 BHP, 170 KG, 23 NM torque in terms of performance? You did mention that the latter does put out a very respectable top whack

While I am not suggesting that we allow a wave of euphoria grip us on account of the launch of this motorcycle, but lets not write it off yet basis some "information" shared by the very folks (along with teeming masses of other "journalists") who also brought us:

The KTM 390 adventure
The 250 cc Hero Impulse

And many other such gems. So place your bets accordingly. I am still rooting for this RE to come out swinging

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

And if you gear down to the same road speed, you'll have twice the torque at the wheel in case of the Gulsar. (I know I'm opening a can of worms).

Regards
Sutripta

Indeed, the whole purpose of gearing is to reduce the speed and increase the torque.

So is it that our fixation with high torque at low RPM (say a diesel engine) is to do with our laziness to change gears?

[Piyadassi]

Originally Posted by alpha1

So is it that our fixation with high torque at low RPM (say a diesel engine) is to do with our laziness to change gears?

Or to change the gear in leisurely manner. It's boon in a stop go traffic. And that's how Duke keeps you on edge , as a friend of mine humourously put it after test riding it and went on to book a TB.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by Piyadassi

Or to change the gear in leisurely manner. It's boon in a stop go traffic. And that's how Duke keeps you on edge , as a friend of mine humourously put it after test riding it and went on to book a TB.

At the risk of attracting brickbats, then wouldn't it make sense to offer a CVT or auto transmission.



Honestly, I would love to see some bigger bike engines come with automatic ...

For the genre that Himalayan will cater - adventure - doesn't it make sense to have automatic transmission?


In fact does any large bike offer auto worldwide? I am able to find only one: http://gas2.org/2013/05/12/honda-ctx...cally-awesome/
and another one: http://motorcycles.about.com/od/brp/gr/spyder_se5.htm


But I am curious, why not more bikes?

[PrideRed]

Dont know if this is really true, but as per shifting gears RE Himalayan to be priced at 1.65-1.85 lacs and will be launched in November 2015.

http://www.shifting-gears.com/2015/0...-rs-1-65-lakh/

The next big thing from Royal Enfield, the Himalayan will be priced around Rs. 1.65 – 1.85 lakh. Royal Enfield wants to play the volumes game and will intentionally price this new & advanced motorcycle lower than the existing 500cc models.
The Himalayan will be launched around November 2015.
Expect the scrambler-styled model to be priced around Rs. 1.65 lakh & the full adventure-spec model to be priced around Rs. 1.85 lakh.
The design which we have seen in earlier spyshots has been confirmed to be 90% the real deal. Only at the front, a new beak will be added which is synonymous of adventure motorcycles worldwide.
Powering the Himalayan will be a 410cc, single-cylinder motor producing over 28 PS of power and over 32 Nm of torque. The engine is in the final testing & tuning stage. The engine will get overhead cams which will replace the traditional push rods, this will result in a much more refined engine. Also, the new motor is expected to revv freely up to 6,500 – 7,000 RPM and will also get a counter balancer to reduce vibrations.
The chassis is an all-new double cradle frame developed by Harris Performance. The subframe has also been reinforced to increase luggage carrying capability.
The Himalayan will get a new instrument cluster with digital display for 2 trip meters, compass & altitude meter.

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by alpha1

In fact does any large bike offer auto worldwide? I am able to find only one: http://gas2.org/2013/05/12/honda-ctx...cally-awesome/

The NC700X and VFR1200 employs the same automatic DCT.

[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by man_of_steel

The NC700X and VFR1200 employs the same automatic DCT.

Precisely there's also a tourer version of the VFR1200 and my favourite among Adventure Tourers called the Honda VFR1200X Cross Tourer. It comes retains the DCT and comes with a beautiful shaft drive coupled with that award winning world famous Honda V4 engine. Some of them adventure touring motorcycles like BMW R1200GS, Triumph Tiger 1200 Explorer also have cruise control function.

[lohithrao]

November is so far away, the specs sounds interesting...

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Dont know if this is really true, but as per shifting gears RE Himalayan to be priced at 1.65-1.85 lacs and will be launched in November 2015..

Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

[naveenroy]

Ok, if this indeed is an all new, reliable (hehehe) RE bike, RE will be testing at least the first few editions on the fan boys. I can only start pitying those guys who go and stand in queue waiting to be slaughtered by RE.

But trust me, there will be loads of buyers and the first lot will surely be disappointed and we will hear horror stories. Maybe the later ones will be an improvement. Maybe, then, some of our level-headed friends can buy it.

[MM440]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Ok, if this indeed is an all new, reliable (hehehe) RE bike, RE will be testing at least the first few editions on the fan boys. I can only start pitying those guys who go and stand in queue waiting to be slaughtered by RE.

But trust me, there will be loads of buyers and the first lot will surely be disappointed and we will hear horror stories. Maybe the later ones will be an improvement. Maybe, then, some of our level-headed friends can buy it.

Well RE have mastered the art of brandname exploitation thanks to their devoted bunch of brainwashed clients who will stock up the company's product no matter how pathetic they be.
Then the same people who have paid to be lab samples will vouch for how the bike is great despite the flaws.
Having ridden bullets for years along side other bikes head made me realize how much a ride the Indian biker had been taken by ROYAL ENFIELD.
They don't even have the wherewithal to bring a decent twin cylinder bike to the market in this day and age. Yet the junta seem to think that these mediocre bikes represent something huge. Maybe they do represent something, our ability to fantasize and thump our chests without substance.
Wake up RE and give us a bike like the super meteor of the sixties with modern day Jap reliability then you will be at least mention worthy.
Cheers