450 km with my RE Himalayan 450: 10 reasons why I love my bike

Mileage obtained was well above expectation, was getting consistently over 35 kmpl. Overall, the bike feels more like a KTM rather than a RE

BHPian dodge3p recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

After about four years of search, and test riding numerous bikes, I have finally brought in a new bike. I got my Hanley black Himalayan 450 delivered last week. Following are the quick impressions of the major contenders and RE Himalayan 450.

KTM 390 Adv - First Test drove back in 2020 and the bike felt wonderful in all aspects. Decided to go for it, but the pandemic had different plans

Honda Highness - Test rode this bike in 2021, bike felt super refined compared to the classic 350 I was owning then. However, adv 390 was still the top choice. Personal and work commitments kept me away from riding during 2021 and sold my classic 350 in early 2022.

Suzuki Vstrom 250 SX - The riding bug caught up with me again in late 2023 and since October I have restarted the test rides. After learning about the baby Vstrom through various threads in this forum, decided to check it out. The bike is an excellent machine, the only grouse I had with is, it felt out of breath post 85 kmph and vibrations start to creep in too. Also, Suzuki's lack of enthusiasm in Indian bike market , did sow seeds of doubt to go for this bike

KTM 250 adv - Felt very similar to 390 adv and wanted to really go for it. However, when thought about it from a value perspective, it didn’t make sense since it was cutting very close to Triumph Scrambler 400x in terms of pricing

Triumph Scrambler 400x - Early November, had a shortish TD for this bike in 5 km rage with the sales rep from showroom going pilot on a speed 400. The bike felt butter smooth through the gears and braking was reassuring, wind buffeting was an issue though. The bike was also beautifully put together in terms of built quality. On the same day, a fresh lot of bikes have arrived at the showroom and the sales guy promised delivery in a weeks’ time. I was almost on the verge of paying full for the bike on that day, but somehow better sense prevailed and decided to give it a day or two before making final decision. Triumphs scarce dealerships and spare parts availability issues was a major contributor in deciding against this bike. Also, by this time RE Himalayan 450's launch was getting imminent, so decided to wait for it.

Harley x440 - Wasn’t keen on this one, however a colleague had booked this bike and had very good feedback about his ride experience. Took a test ride and this bike had a beautiful engine. It had lots of torque at which ever rev range it was needed, coupled with a beautiful exhaust note made my test ride a pleasure. The bike really impressed. Lack of space for a rider and a pillion, poor wiring management, and an exorbitant waiting period for top model kind of killed any hopes of proceeding with this on the same day. Later the colleague who had referred this bike, got his bike and he mentioned the heating issue is significant and was badly affecting his ride experience.

RE Himalayan 450 - Decided to book the bike after seeing all those wonderfully crafted shoots by influencers and RE's own Himalayan story series. Went to the showroom on the unveiling day and the first impressions were good. The TD vehicle was available during December 2nd week and got a shortish test ride of 5km, the engine felt rough - engine and exhaust notes felt more like a clatter, gearshift was smooth, too heavy, braking was good. The bike had only 200 odd kms on the odo, came back and provided the feedback to the sales rep and asked for a longer test ride. Upon inquiry, earliest delivery was proposed in late Jan or early Feb, but I have started to go back through all the test rides of different bikes, weighing in pros and cons and see if any of them could make the cut.

Two days later got a call from the company store that my bike has arrived and allotted. If payment can be made, delivery can be made in few days. This put me in a difficult situation and wasn’t ready to let go off the bike yet, asked them for a longer test ride. Took the longer test ride couple of days after. This time the sales rep mentioned that the bike has completed its first service.

Went out for the test, the bike felt a lot smoother, As I spend more time on the bike the heaviness issue wasn’t felt at least while riding it, suspension was awesome - felt like the bike is purpose made for Kerala roads. City riding was okay with the radiator turning on quite often, but the heat was manageable. The highway riding experience was great, and the bike really impressed there. Spend about an hour with the bike and all the negative thoughts I had with the earlier test ride kind of dwindled down. Did the PDI of my allotted bike at their yard and everything looked good, bike had 3kms on the Odo. Decided to proceed with the payment and delivery

The bike got delivered last Wednesday and since then I have rode about 450 kms.

Following are the quick observations, mind that, as part of run in, the max rpm reached was only about 4K.

• An Excellent tourer, even with a pillion this bike can comfortably munch miles

• Phenomenal suspension, probably the best I have ridden

• Braking is good and precise

• Mileage obtained was well above expectation, was getting consistently over 35 kmpl and one ride of 100+ km yesterday gave a mileage of 42 kmpl as per MID. 90% of the distance covered are on Kerala two laned highways.

• The riding position and the view out of the bike felt very comfortable and commanding. The bike is quite large and have a significant road presence

• The MID is great with lot of information provided and navigation with google maps integration worked almost perfectly, albeit some minor bugs

• The engine is getting smoother, and the clatter is decreasing as the bike accumulates miles

• Overall, the bike feels more like a KTM rather than a RE

• Haven’t seen any discerning build quality issues yet

• The gear shifts are smooth and precise - couple of times faced false neutral when shifting from first to second

• The bike requires much more frequent gear shifts than other REs, again much more like a KTM

• The seats are spacious, but cushion compound could have been a tad bid softer, Perhaps the touring seat accessory will be a good alternative

What could have been better:

• The horn and headlight could have been bit more powerful

• The handlebar controls are ergonomically okay with bare hands, with gloves it has been quite difficult to use them.

• The handlebar grips are also on harder side

• The right-side mirror gives good view of what’s behind, quite opposite for left mirror

• The front brake lever is well made, the clutch lever just wag's like a dogs tail - cant understand how these levers are polar opposite

• The fuel gauge has its own mind, with full tank, it barely moves during the first 100 kms, but the last two bars could drop on a drop of a hat. DTE also felt sketchy

• The windshield didn’t provide much protection beyond 70 kmph on open highway

Deciding to go for Himalayan 450 has been a tough one, considering this is a brand new engine and new bike from RE. So far, the experience has been great and should be able to enjoy the bike a lot more post first service.