Royal Enfield Himalayan GT Spotted Testing

The spied motorcycle could be a road-biased version of the potent ADV

Not a month has gone by in 2021 without a Royal Enfield test mule spotting. First, it was the Hunter 350, then the 650cc cruiser, followed by recent spy shots of the 2021 Classic 350. Now, a new Royal Enfield Himalayan has been spotted testing.

Yes, the Royal Enfield Himalayan that just got its biggest update a few months back is getting updated again. And no, this isn’t the much-awaited Himalayan with RE’s 650cc motor. Instead, this one seems like a road-biased version of the ‘standard’ Himalayan.

Why so? Well, because we’ve come across numerous subtle changes. Starting from the front, one can notice the absence of a windscreen and fork gaiters. While these are easily removable parts, what caught our eye was the front wheel, which looks much smaller than the Himalayan’s usual 21-inch wheel. This one seems like a smaller 19-inch unit and also appears to get road-biased rubber, similar to the Classic 350. This means RE might even offer alloy wheels for this variant, which would certainly add some swagger to the Himalayan.

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We can also see reworked tank extensions, which are pretty different from the tubular exoskeleton. Also, since the headlight was previously mounted via the tank brace, it seems to be mounted closer to the fork without the brace.

Coming to the rear, this mule runs a much shorter rear fender while also missing out on a luggage rack. One little thing that bums us out is the exhaust, which still looks like an eye-sore on the otherwise good looking package. We hope RE throws in some matte paint on the production model.

At a closer look, we think this Himalayan is running a single-pod instrument cluster with a Tripper pod, similar to that of the Royal Enfield Meteor 350. 

All these changes suggest this could be a road-going version of the Himalayan, likely to be called the Himalayan GT. And to make it a potent road machine, Royal Enfield could also eke out some extra juice from the 411cc single-cylinder motor. If so, this motor could eventually make its way to the standard Himalayan too. 

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