Being one with the Himalayas – The Himalayan Story

The Royal Enfield is a motorcycle favoured by many all across the world. In India itself it has a rich heritage and culture that dates back to decades. It’s signature sound and look have made millions of Indians fall in love with the motorcycle. It’s also the most sought after motorcycle for bikers looking to tackle the toughest of terrains. 

From the sand deserts in Rajasthan to the snow laden mighty Himalayas, the Royal Enfield motorcycle has conquered every terrain possible. Over time the Himalayas have become a playing ground for every motorcyclist looking to reach the highest motorable road and make the journey of a life time. To make the journey even more memorable, the motorcycle has to be a Royal Enfield. Now every Royal Enfield made till date can traverse the mountains of the Himalayas but there was never a motorcycle that was purpose built to handle the rough terrain and still give you a comfortable ride. 

That’s where the Royal Enfield Himalayan comes in. With the number of adventure motorcyclists increasing and that growing hunger to traverse varying terrain swelling, India needed an all-terrain motorcycle that wasn’t too expensive and which needed to be rugged and powerful. Well Royal Enfield has given us just that. A bare boned, rugged, powerful and purpose built motorcycle christened – Himalayan.

As the name suggests, the Himalayan is a motorcycle that is meant for the Himalayas but Royal Enfield engineers have made sure this motorcycle has good road manners too. It has undergone a lengthy testing process both in the United Kingdom and in India. In a measure to ensure that the Himalayan is rugged enough and capable for handling rough terrain and usage, Royal Enfield has spent years testing the motorcycle in every terrain possible. The results are more than satisfactory.

The whole point of making a new on-off road motorcycle for the Himalayas was not to dominate the mighty mountains but to go with the flow of the terrain. Every biker who’s been up in those mountains knows the strange but enigmatic connection one feels while going through mountain passes or just stopping to take a look at the beauty around you. This feeling is what Royal Enfield wants every biker out there to experience to the fullest. 

Royal Enfield has really gone all out with the Himalayan. This bare-boned robust motorcycle has a brand new 411cc engine built from the ground up which now even incorporates a counter balancer to help reduce vibrations and other technologies to help increase the duration between service intervals. It’s got a load of low end torque that is needed for a motorcycle like this and churns out 25 BHP at 6500rpm and 32Nm at 4,000rpm. Now that’s more than enough power and torque needed for a motorcycle like this.  It’s even got 41mm forks with a long 200m of travel in front, a Monoshock at the rear and disc brakes on either end. But enough about me lusting over this mean machine, take a look at the making of the Himalayan video below. You’ll see the amount of testing it has been through and the varying terrain it has traversed. It’s bound to make you want to get up and ride.