[N.r.K]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Hmmm.. That's pretty interesting. I am now debating buying this along with the Duke and still staying below the price of a reasonable used car that brings a smile to your face. If this comes to bangalore at 1.6, added with the Duke at about 2.4 we are talking 4 for two nice purpose built motorbikes.

Should actually make for a good city run about with the nice torque and solid real estate on the road and much hailed great suspension to tackle the stupid roads and traffic, even the dreaded monsoons! And a usable pillion in case a friend comes visiting. Won't miss the Dukes power in the city. Have to go test the clutch for myself. Anyone else thinking like me?

Basically, you want to use the tourer in the city and the city street fighter to tour!
But seriously, Bangalore roads need adventure bikes for daily riding!

Coming back to the topic, the reviews are consistent and mostly good. Too bad the conditions and location didn't allow anyone to test the bike's highway faring abilities. You do need to reach the Himalayas first before off roading!
But overall the bike ticks most of the boxes and comes at a price in which I wouldn't be too worried about throwing it around! I wouldn't dream of doing anything like that even if I manage to buy one of them tigers or GSes!

[tharian]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Hmmm.. That's pretty interesting. I am now debating buying this along with the Duke and still staying below the price of a reasonable used car that brings a smile to your face. If this comes to bangalore at 1.6, added with the Duke at about 2.4 we are talking 4 for two nice purpose built motorbikes.

Definitely possible.

The pricing for the Himalayan if it is to be believed, falls below the TB500 and Desert Storm as well.
That makes it a kind of bike you can buy without much thought on the cost aspect and at the same time , you get a bike that is purpose built. Overall a win-win situation provided the usual Enfield niggles are absent.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by N.r.K

Basically, you want to use the tourer in the city and the city street fighter to tour!
But seriously, Bangalore roads need adventure bikes for daily riding!

Unbelievably that's how I perceive both these bikes. As far as Indian conditions go, the Duke is built to highway blasts and Canyon carving. The himalayan like I said will be perfect for what our bangalore roads have to offer. I used to drive a 59 willys everyday in Bangalore traffic for a couple of years, and absolutely nothing came in my way.

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

Totally agree! If it were me, it would be the Himalayan for touring / commuting etc and an RC 390 for weekend fun

not to much of a fan of the committed stance with the rc390. Much prefer the touring stance of the Duke to get out and about. But agree with the commuting duties of the himalayan. That's got me very interested. After all my initial brouhaha, I just needed some time to understand where this bike would fit for me.

Originally Posted by tharian

Overall a win-win situation provided the usual Enfield niggles are absent.

This worries me. If it's the thunderbird first year debacle, goD save this company. Will deliveries happen right away for the early birds? I would at least like to see two month ownership reports before buying this bike.

Also reports say the gearbox is clunky and lots of false neutrals. Hope this is one off.

Starbucks here I come? LOL.

[Hammer & Anvil]

The pricing is meant to iron out all the comments!!
Ex Showroom is 1.55- 1.56L
On Road in Jaipur is 1.77L

[navin_v8]

Well well well... the cat is finally out of the hat. Nice to see the reviews by the various auto journos on the Himalayan. RE needs to be given credit for experimenting with this segment of ADV Tourers which was virtually untouched by many local manufacturers(set aside the Hero Impulse which died an early death). Many aspects and my observations about the Himalayan are being repeated by the auto journos. Kudos to Ceat for offering those tyres which perform well both on and off road. It is also surprising to see none of the auto journos mentioning about the fuelling issues akin to carb'ed motorcycles, which means RE has tested it well including the high altitudes. Steel braided brake lines are progressive and do their job well as per the journo's. It is nice to see a big 300mm disc upfront like the KTM Duke 390. The rear disc too has a nice bite as per some reviews which is good for an ADV tourer.

The motor is a simple no-nonsense 2 valve SOHC with low compression ratio. It is all about the torque wave and how one rides it to their own advantage. 24 odd BHP sounds less on paper but I feel is adequate for our Indian roads and traffic conditions and speeds a typical ADV Tourer does on offroad trails(remember the legendary Kawasaki KLR650 comes with 37 BHP). As per Sid Lal this will also help achieve decent mileage per litre. It is nice to see how the auto journos have defined the engine and its powerband characteristics. When it comes to motors/engines I prefer the ALCO WDM2 to the Shinkansen. Railway enthusiasts will get my drift.

Also RE is mulling ABS for Himalayan. Source: http://www.msn.com/en-in/autos/news/...kNq?li=AAgg6KI

[tharian]

Originally Posted by Hammer & Anvil

The pricing is meant to iron out all the comments!!
Ex Showroom is 1.55- 1.56L
On Road in Jaipur is 1.77L

So the OTR Bangalore what I heard last evening was true after all. Around the 1.85 mark.

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Will deliveries happen right away for the early birds?

From what I have heard, yes the initial stock is ready for dispatch, which means, not much wait for the first bookings.

[nasirkaka]

Unbelievably that's how I perceive both these bikes. As far as Indian conditions go, the Duke is built to highway blasts and Canyon carving. The himalayan like I said will be perfect for what our bangalore roads have to offer. I used to drive a 59 willys everyday in Bangalore traffic for a couple of years, and absolutely nothing came in my way.

In Sort of similar dilemma which is to sell the 390 and get the himalayan for daily commuting. Now that Versys is there to take care of the tours and weekend rides.
390 is a great bike but will now be mostly used for daily commuting to office and within city dashes. Issues which i see with the bike is hard suspension, low on low-end torque, rough by nature engine, and pillion unfriendly, rear-set foot rest, fuel efficiency, etc where the Himalayan may score over. Things which will be missed are the acceleration, handling, road grip and brakes with ABS and may be the weight difference of 20-25kgs.
Anyways, will take a test ride and wait for the himalayan to settle down and take a call. Have burnt my finger once with a first lot C5, so no more impulsive decisions.

[ku69rd]

Any confirmations if the bookings are being accepted for the Himalayan starting from tomorrow? (16th of March)
Also any reports if deliveries will start immediately?

[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by N.r.K

But seriously, Bangalore roads need adventure bikes for daily riding!

Mate come to Bombay especially during and post monsoon and one will feel the need for an ADV tourer.

But overall the bike ticks most of the boxes and comes at a price in which I wouldn't be too worried about throwing it around! I wouldn't dream of doing anything like that even if I manage to buy one of them tigers or GSes!

That is a very good point mate as not everyone is a McGregor or Boorman who can afford to replace those super expensive plastic fairings and other parts. RE Himalayan is a no nonsense motorcycle purpose-built to the cost which will keep the owner's pocket happy.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

In Sort of similar dilemma which is to sell the 390 and get the himalayan for daily commuting. Have burnt my finger once with a first lot C5, so no more impulsive decisions.

Nasir kaka, how long will you wait before you pick one up, if let's say the test drive clears all check boxes? A month, two, six, or a year? Asking because u are a seasoned bulleteer, whereas I wouldn't normally touch one with a barge pole.

[nasirkaka]

Nasir kaka, how long will you wait before you pick one up, if let's say the test drive clears all check boxes? A month, two, six, or a year? Asking because u are a seasoned bulleteer, whereas I wouldn't normally touch one with a barge pole.

Difficult to say - mainly for the fact that the urgency is not there, unlike the C5 where i was desperately waiting for the launch ready with booking amount of 10k. If the test ride is really impressive, and if i connect well with the bike, i could book one in 2-4 months time, which i think is a decent period to get real world feedback on the bike from real users. That much time would also reveal initial hiccups/bugs if any. However, if there are issues and if they need to be fixed, it may require more than a year. C5 was identified with about 57 issues in the first year of its launch in India. Imagine things like changing the wheel size, front fork redesign with down tube offset, swing arm redesign, air filter box design change with an added plastic cover, Chain guard, etc are a few i remember. What was the company doing before launching the bike and overlooked these?? But hoping they have learnt and himalayan does look like its been extensively tested before the launch, so teething issues may be less. Hopefully.
Royal Enfield products in require some time and attention of the rider and i am sure himlayan would not be very different on this front coming from the same parent. Its not like get a regular service done and forget it for next 6k kms. Some of these points will definitely play on mind before making the final call.

[anandpkumar]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

Royal Enfield products in require some time and attention of the rider and i am sure himlayan would not be very different on this front coming from the same parent. Its not like get a regular service done and forget it for next 6k kms.

Agree with you a hundred percent on this. I jumped the gun and bought the first iteration of the RE Thunderbird 350 in 2003. That bike had so many problems that I stopped counting after a while. While I still like RE bikes - and do agree that the more recent iterations such as the continental GT and Thunderbird 500 (have test driven both these) seem better built - I would still hesitate to be the first set of buyers for a new bike from the RE stable. If some of the promo videos are to be believed, RE has done a good job of torture testing the 'Himalayan'. However, the prudent should probably wait for a few months before plonking in their hard earned money.

On a side note, the rumours of the 1.5-1.6L ex-showroom price seems to indicate a very competitive pricing.

I do hope RE plans to introduce ABS, bring in fuel injection and also come out with a twin cylinder option soon. A twin cylinder himalayan with fuel injection, ABS and priced around 2.5-3L will definitely spike my interest!

[cataclysm]

Yesterday, around 8PM I saw the Himalayan being readied for display. The showroom was closed but I still went inside. The guy had no info about the models but said that this one without any accessories is 1.55 ex-showroom Chandigarh (It was a white Himalayan). He said they'll be giving test rides from tomorrow (ie today). Will be visiting the showroom on Friday for the test ride. I must say that the pricing is extremely competitive but something tells me that this would be introductory and we'll see a bump of about 10-15k in the upcoming months.

[21Archer84]

Not sure if this was posted before. First impressions & an interview with Mr.Sid by a "Gadget Wala" .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naJqLgaS5L0

I like the way Mr.Sid asks the customers to first test ride the bike, think about it and then book it, rather than just jump into getting one. Shows confidence on the product.

[maker_of_things]

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?s...95929050620444

Review by Tushar Burman from TOD magazine.

Apart from one review (Overdrive, I think), no one else has said that they encountered false neutrals on the bike.