Brixton Crossfire 500 Storr vs Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Looks: Which Turns Heads?

The mid-capacity adventure bike segment in India is heating up. With Brixton unveiling the Crossfire 500 Storr, it enters the 450-500cc ring against strong rivals including the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450. While both motorcycles are positioned as serious adventure tourers, their styling approaches are somewhat similar but still manage to look pretty unique.

Design

Both the Brixton Crossfire 500 Storr and Himalayan have a neo-retro flavour that blends rugged elements with some old-school charm. Both also get a round headlamp and mirrors, large tank protected by crash bars, an upswept exhaust, and spoke wheels. But the Brixton Storr appears wider and more muscular, it also gets a taller windscreen and handguards as standard.

The Royal Enfield Himalayan’s silhouette is taller, slimmer, and has a small windscreen. The simple lines really bring out its rugged mannerisms, especially the tank brace which forms a big visual chunk of the bike. While the 500 Storr looks like a modernised retro tourer, the Himalayan looks like it’s built to tackle the roughest terrain straight out of the crate.

Engine

The Brixton bikes’ 486cc, liquid-cooled, parallel-twin engine fills out the frame nicely, and the two-into-one exhaust adds to the presence. The setup looks beefy and immediately gives it a ‘big-bike’ look. On the other hand, the Himalayan’s 452cc, ‘Sherpa’ is a single-cylinder motor – also liquid-cooled. Its compactness goes hand-in-hand with the bike’s rugged, no-nonsense image. The Brixton makes 47.6PS and 43Nm whereas the Royal Enfield makes 40PS and 40Nm, both come with 6-speed gearboxes. The two bikes also get bash plates, but we like the design of the one on the Brixton more as it neatly wraps up the exhaust downtube and the underside of the engine.

Underpinnings

The Brixton Crossfire Storr takes the touring oriented route and has a 19-inch 110-section front, 17-inch 150-section – rear spoke wheels with tubeless tyres. The Himalayan takes a more hardcore approach with its 21-inch front and 17-inch rear wheel, clearly signalling its off-road intent. The Chennai based bikemaker gives you the option to choose between tubed tyres (90-section front, 140 rear) and wire spoke wheels or tubeless tyres with cross-spoke wheels (for an added cost of course).

Both are based on tubular steel chassis, and have an inverted fork, pre-load adjustable monoshock. In the Storr’s case the suspension is from KYB, the front has 180mm of wheel travel, and the rear 175mm. The brakes are J.Juan: 320mm front disc and 240mm rear. The Royal Enfield bike gets its components from Showa: 43mm fork and linkage type shock – both with 200mm wheel travel. And, ByBre brakes: again a 320mm front, but a larger 270mm rear disc. 

The Himalayan’s lower fork covers not only give it a beefy look at the front, but also doubles up as a protective shield against debris. We wish the fork on the Storr 500 was finished in gold - that would’ve really brought out the premium quotient of the bike. The 500 Storr has an 839mm seat height, 209kg kerb weight, and a 16-litre fuel tank. The Himalayan 450 meanwhile has an adjustable seat height between 825-845mm, lower 196kg weight, and a slightly larger 17-litre tank, and a very healthy 230mm ground clearance. We particularly like the looks of the Brixton’s seat - especially with the dual-tone premium seat cover.

Features

The Storr comes equipped with a TFT console that displays tyre pressure, distance-to-empty, real-time mileage, and other essentials. It also gets dual LED fog lamps and switchable traction control. That said, it misses out on smartphone connectivity. The Himalayan 450 fights back here with its 4-inch circular TFT console, full-fledged Google Maps navigation, ride modes, and Bluetooth connectivity. Both have switchable dual-channel ABS, and all-LED lights. While the Storr’s console is well-laid out, the Himalayan’s screen has much more useful information, especially considering the fact that its inbuilt navigation will be super handy while exploring new routes or even commuting for that matter.

BikeDekho Says

Both bikes are handsome in their own ways, but they appeal to very different kinds of riders. The Brixton Crossfire 500 Storr looks more premium and lifestyle-oriented, with its neo-retro design touches and twin-cylinder giving it more presence on the road. The Royal Enfield Himalayan 450, however, carries a rawer, tougher aesthetic, looking like it belongs in the…….Himalayas.