Buy Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Now Or Wait For Next-Gen KTM 390 Adventure?

Royal Enfield replaced the Himalayan 411 with the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 in November 2023, making it a more competent rival to the current KTM 390 Adventure. But KTM is likely to unveil the next-gen 390 Adventure at EICMA 2024 (November 5 - November 6, 2024) and could launch it either by the end of 2024 or early 2025. The next-gen model will have several changes that should make it a worthy option to consider over the Royal Enfield adventure bike. We analyse whether it's worth buying the Himalayan 450 now or waiting for the upcoming 390 Adventure? 

Buy Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Now

The Himalayan 450 has a very good road presence with the long wheelbase, beak-like front fender and the sleek rear end. It is powered by the all-new 452cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled ‘Sherpa’ engine producing 40PS at 8000rpm and 40Nm at 5500rpm. The motor is very punchy and offers quick acceleration and has made the bike livelier than the somewhat sluggish-feeling Himalayan 411. It also offers good mileage with 29.54kmpl in the city and 31.87kmpl on the highway in our real-world fuel efficiency test. More importantly, the engine has enough grunt to do triple digit speeds with ease as compared to its predecessor. However, vibrations can be a bit bothersome at ideal cruising speeds (on Indian roads), which is generally between 105-120kmph.  

The suspension setup is one of the ADV’s highlights and soaks up bumps and potholes very well, and is also equally comfortable on smooth roads. The ADV handles well as it tips into corners quite easily, and the suspension is also perfect for hitting the trails. It is also fairly easy to manoeuvre through city traffic conditions despite the long wheelbase. 

The ADV is the most feature-rich bike from Royal Enfield till date as it gets an all-new TFT instrument console with Bluetooth connectivity for call and SMS alerts, music control, full-fledged Google Maps navigation and much more. The navigation feature works very well for the most part but in order to use it, you need to keep your phone’s screen and the Royal Enfield app on at all times, draining the phone’s battery quite quickly in the process. 

Things to keep in mind before buying the Himalayan 450

Before you buy the Himalayan 450, there are a few important things to keep in mind. The bike is quite top-heavy, so moving it around in very slow moving traffic or while parking can be a bit bothersome. The motor lacks great bottom-end torque, which means you’ll have to keep the revs at a high level to comfortably move around the city in the first two gears, and also for going off-road. 

But these niggles are something you can get used to after riding the bike for a while. In a nutshell, at Rs 2,85,000 (ex-showroom Delhi), the Himalayan 450 is a fantastic value-for-money ADV that’s capable of touring and also off-roading. And the best part about it is that the bike is available for purchase now, unlike the next-gen KTM 390 Adventure. Another fun-fact, it is a whole Rs 78,297 cheaper than the spoke-wheel variant of the current-gen KTM 390 Adventure. Another interesting fact is that the KTM 390 Adventure X is Rs 2,049 cheaper than the Himalayan 450, but it comes with less fancy features over the standard 390 Adventure.

Wait For Next-Gen KTM 390 Adventure

A few of the biggest complaints about the current KTM 390 Adventure is its peaky engine and the suspension setup not being pliant enough for off-roading. Because the motor is very rev-happy, it doesn't have much bottom end-grunt, much less than even the Himalayan 450. This affects its off-road riding and also its highway touring and city riding capabilities as you’d constantly need to shift gears in order to get the best out of the motor. Also, the 170mm front wheel travel and the 177mm wheel travel at the rear is not that enough to make it a capable off-roader. 

All of these issues are likely to be solved in the upcoming next-gen KTM 390 Adventure. It will be powered by the same 398.63cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine found in the new KTM Duke 390 producing 46PS at 8500rpm and 39Nm at 6500rpm but with a different set of tuning to suit the ADV’s character better. From our tests, we already know that the new motor is much more tractable than the previous engine, while still having that manic, powerful nature to it. So, when it makes it way to the next-gen 390 Adventure, it should definitely improve the bike’s all-round capabilities as an adventure bike. The engine is also pretty refined for its segment, and that should make high-speed highway runs all the more fun. 

The bike has been spotted numerous times till now and we know that it gets the all-new trellis frame from the new 390 Duke but the sub-frame, swingarm and the single-piece seat are different. It has a vertically stacked dual LED projector headlight setup and a beak-like front fender underneath, a taller windshield, new LED turn indicators along with a sleek tail section. The new 390 Duke’s TFT instrument console is carried over to the ADV but is mounted high above the handlebar, similar to that of a rally bike. The ADV gets an adjustable inverted fork with longer wheel travel and an off-set monoshock likely with adjustability. The ADV rolls on what looks like a 19-inch front and 17-inch rear spoke wheel setup shod with Metzeler Tourance tyres. 

The next-gen KTM 390 Adventure is expected to be priced at Rs 3.80 lakh (ex-showroom). That’s not cheap by any means, and a lot more than the Himalayan 450, but going by what we’ve seen so far in the spy shots, the wait will be every bit worth it. So, if you are a fan of KTM bikes or willing to wait 6-7 more months to see how it compares against the Himalayan 450, then we suggest you hold out till early 2025 to make the most informed decision about your next 450cc ADV.