Royal Enfield Himalayan spotted on production line

The Royal Enfield Himalayan has finally been spotted on the production line of the Royal Enfield manufacturing unit in Chennai.

Recent images which have emerged on the Internet reveal that the new Royal Enfield Himalayan is nearing completion and as we reported earlier, a launch in November 2015 seems imminent.

Royal Enfield is expected to price the Himalayan at between Rs 1.65 – 1.85 lakh, and from the latest pictures, there appear to be several firsts for any Royal Enfield bike.

The Royal Enfield Himalayan is unlike any other Royal Enfield motorcycle on sale currently, and is a completely new bike, from the ground up.

The Himalayan sports adventure styling to the ‘t’ with a prominent ‘beak’ up front which seems to be the design norm for adventure bikes these days. Finished in matte black paint, the bike features high ground clearance, long suspension travel, high capacity fuel tank, upswept exhaust and windscreen, hinting clearly at its adventure touring pedigree.

The engine is an all-new unit too, a single-cylinder, four stroke 410cc engine which will make around 28PS of power and about 32Nm of torque. Instead of traditional push rods on Royal Enfield engines, the new engine on the Himalayan will have overhead cams and is expected to be a more refined unit than any existing Royal Enfield motor. The Himalayan’s engine is expected to freely rev up to 6500-7000rpm and will also be equipped with a counter balancer to reduce vibrations.

The engine is mounted on an all-new chassis designed by UK-based motorcycle chassis and components manufacturer Harris Performance. Earlier this year, Royal Enfield acquired Harris Performance, which was responsible for the chassis development of the Royal Enfield Continental GT as well. We expected a double cradle frame like the one on the Continental GT, but from the pictures it looks like Royal Enfield has instead opted for a single downtube chassis. There is crash protection around the front, and a reinforced subframe at the rear for better luggage carrying capacity.

According to an official close to the development team at Royal Enfield, the Himalayan will also come equipped with several first-in-class features, including an all-new instrument panel which will display two trip meters, compass and even altimeter readings. Once launched expect a range of add-on accessories like hard luggage, hand guards, crash protection bars and high windscreen. The Himalayan will also be the first Royal Enfield motorcycle to feature a monoshock rear suspension.