Quote:
Originally Posted by apachelongbow It's still meaningless. Comparison makes sense among equals or atleast two things at par. Is there any adventure/off-roader in the same engine capacity, price bracket? Has the bike been test ridden on trails or off-road before making inane claims on perceived lack of power, refinement, how things may fall off etc etc. A few post back someone compared the smoothness with his Versys. Are they even in the same range? Do we speak about say a bmw 5 series on a Thar thread?
The 390 is a different kettle of fish. It is an agressive City bike built to a cost. It's a different matter that people tour long distances on it's rock hard suspension or take it off-road.
The Himalayan is built for a purpose. Take it out on weekends hit any trail you see and enjoy. It does that well. Can it cruise high speed? May not. Can it commute like a mojo... May not... |
In black and white, yes. Himalayan is a purpose built bike and we should not compare it to others unless we have something in similar class and price bracket.
But reality is a bit complex and there are some grey areas. Not everyone buying Himalayan will be using it exclusively for off-roading, but a mix of usage which is daily rides, highway rides, ghats and trails.I myself have been considering it for daily commuting to work mainly cos of comfortable suspension, upright ergonomics, and good GC. Most of the himalayan target customers would be the guys who currently tour on other royal enfield models, karizmas, etc. Now these same guys also use the same bike for daily commute, for eg, i know may riders from various bullet riding groups who take the same bike for rides on weekends and ride the same bike in Bangalore city to commute. i too belong to this group. Cant afford/manage to keep a fleet of motorcycles purpose built for different tasks. So while making a purchase decision, off road capabilities would be one of the points where we all know himalayan scores very high in addition so many other points where other bikes which may not belong to same class does come into consideration. For eg, someone who is considering himalayan mainly for touring in southern india will obviously consider a mojo or another motorcylce. Not sure if i am able to communicate what i am trying to.
coming back to the himalayan:
Sharing information a FB post by prashant, who is well known in the biking circle in Bangalore. Pretty interesting and raised some valid points to ponder:
"A lots of debate has been happening on the newly launched Royal Enfield Himalayan, a motorcycle purpose built for the enthusiast .As an enthusiast here is what I am missing on the bike
• A lighter weight motorcycle
• Aluminium rims. Spokes and alloy Prolink on the suspension to reduce some un-sprung weight –The world has changed drastically since RE was born and wrought iron has been replaced by much lighter and stronger alloys
• Alloy swing arm (Even the “not so expensive” KTM has one )
• Nuts/Bolts/axles etc.. made of some non-corrosive materials (Stainless steel or Alloys)
• Need better Fit and finish than the current tacky setup (unfinished edges on tank, the multiple nuts welded on the front headlight frame etc.)
• A better design integration of all the bits including exhaust( the impulse can be a good reference)
• An ABS option -safety does help
• Better and a lighter power plant(don’t see a reason why the engine needs to be so big for a 410,if it was just for a larger the oil sump, there are various other ways of achieving the same )
• Closed loop Fuel injection ,not the open loop one on the classic please( It would help a touring motorcycle to go places with FI which can automatically adjust the mixture and hopefully better power
• A gearbox with better shifts
• Some consistency (time to move away from the “Hand Made” speciality)-There were three test bikes I saw ,one which had the left side of the lever hitting the wind shield as the handle bar was turning too much on one side and one screw fallen off , the second bike had an oil film from the clutch case and the third one had a carrier on which the bars were not parallel !!
The bits which I like
• Well sprung suspension setup
• Good seat and seating position and riding posture
• Tires and handling
Overall a motorcycle developed within the backyard ,by cutting corners to save costs ..made to be sold cheap and i think its quite successful at that .would i buy one ...yes as a donor bike for my next project !!
pics of some more Backyard built "Himalayan types" from 2007
Carrier Pic-credits -
Aditya Kumar"
![](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/iipcache/156042.jpg)