[Hammer & Anvil]

Originally Posted by nettooran

Oh!!..So Royal Enfield tests their vehicles before production ??

The bad word here is homologation- where Pulsar and Discover riding staff preside over the features and testing of bikes like Ducatis to Royal Enfields.
There is a 'homologation' thread on this forum somewhere- but its a bloody crime if you ask me.
I am sure there is some good coming off it... The US failed our Scorpio for failing crash tests...
Maybe we can mess with an Alfa Romeo too...

Originally Posted by ebonho

its still not going to top 130 kmph.

For the vast majority of 'helmet?' crowd that we have- this is riding in the death zone-
Bugs, dust, rain, wind- everything blinds riders and I still see hundreds of bikers zooming- visors of cheap helmets flippin' open at >100...
This 130- is going to see casualties by the dozens- and I fail to see any way to improve the 'safety education' of our riders at large.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Hammer & Anvil

For the vast majority of 'helmet?' crowd that we have- this is riding in the death zone-
Bugs, dust, rain, wind- everything blinds riders and I still see hundreds of bikers zooming- visors of cheap helmets flippin' open at >100...
This 130- is going to see casualties by the dozens- and I fail to see any way to improve the 'safety education' of our riders at large.

Frankly bro, an informed and aware parent makes for an informed and aware child.

I've enforced the always-helmet rule for my son while he is under our care, and I hope it is soon going to become so second nature to him that even when he is on his own, he will instinctively wear a helmet.

Still does not change the fact that the Himalayan will likely not top 130-140. Like every other RE before it.

Just because we as a whole have poor driving skills has not stopped 200+ kmph capable cars flooding our market.

I see no reason why the good drivers and riders, who are conscious about safety and work on their skills, should be deprived of good machines because of those who are not.

[Hammer & Anvil]

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

...ve missed out but just wanted to point out that it's not without reason that seat heights are whatever they are

My take on this-
If your design team comes to work on Pulsars and ten variants of the Bullet and try and design for the future... Its not going to work.
Almost every bike in the Indian market- slated for delivery is of foolish seat heights. The recent picture of the RS Himalayan being taken out for a ride with a rider in sandals is just a grim reminder of this approach.
JLR allows no Indians in its design facility- go look this up- for this reason. They dont want managers who have climbed the Tata ladder from Maruti 800s to Indicas to come and even look at what 2018 models could be like.
IF the majority of the populace is going to be about 5'6"- what sales numbers will you target?
Good tourers are with 140mm GC and we are talking about bikes for the riders at large, not moto-X riders....
Please dont tell me that one needs the seat height to accomodate for hardware. You just have to have good 'literate' and globally aware designers.

Originally Posted by ebonho

Frankly bro, an informed and aware parent makes for an informed and aware child.

I've enforced the always-helmet rule for my son while he is under our care, and I hope it is soon going to become so second nature

Ebonho-
my comment was not personal to you- it was just reflection of the attitude of the general rider persona.
I am very glad of your family helmet awareness.
My father in 1987 did not allow me to take possession of my First Hero Honda Cd-100 till I bought a helmet. And an accident in 2013- saved my life.

I am glad for your son.

The name is KD- skip the Bro please.

Regards.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Hammer & Anvil

Ebonho-
my comment was not personal to you

Hammer & Anvil

It was not taken as something directed at me either.

Was merely sharing my take on the helmet scene, and bolstering my point with a personal anecdote.

Cheers, Doc

[vinay kamath]

So, some very interesting news crops up on the internet.
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.

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

[rakesh_r]

As per a website,RE has started the production of the Himalayan. Don't know if this is true.Pasting the link.
http://motorcykle.in/royal-enfield-h...n-the-factory/
The bike in the picture still looks too crude for a production ready bike.

[man_of_steel]

This is unreal! A spy shot from the production line itself and claims that trial production has started.




From the above pic it seems to be a new semi double cradle frame and what looks like an OHC cam gear's cover on the LHS of the engine head.

Source: http://www.rushlane.com/royal-enfiel...2161252.html#2

[vinair]

Bike is seen with a rear number plate and I seriously wonder if this gets added on the production line!

[bblost]

Higher Resolution Images without any watermark.
Got as a Whatsapp Forward.

[tharian]

One thing I noticed was in the picture, the side box has 'Himalayan' mentioned on it , and RE is not named this bike yet.
Looks like that bit was photoshopped.

Number plates do come factory fitted on most of the bikes made here. It may be removed during transportation as was the case with RE earlier.

[ebonho]

This LML Adreno windscreen was actually tried by many Bulleteers quite long back.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by ebonho

This LML Adreno windscreen was actually tried by many Bulleteers quite long back.

Bro,

LML Adreno was a half bikini fairing bike. Also came with a rectangle helmet if I remember it correctly.

Are you sure it was LML Adreno or some other bike you referring to?

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Bro,

LML Adreno was a half bikini fairing bike. Also came with a rectangle helmet if I remember it correctly.

Are you sure it was LML Adreno or some other bike you referring to?

Sorry. LML Energy FX.

Its an almost ditto copy.

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Are you sure it was LML Adreno or some other bike you referring to?

I think LML Energy (FX?) used to come with a wind screen over that dome headlamp.

[Edit] Doc beat me to it!

[outofthebox]

Great pics and very exciting to see the bike on production floor - hope the employee who clicked these doesn't get fired.

Windshield seems to be 'inspired' by the Puig naked windscreen design: