Royal Enfield Himalayan 440

The Royal Enfield Himalayan 440 is based on the Royal Enfield Scram 440 platform. Its design resembles the older Himalayan 411, and the bike is a more affordable alternative to the bigger Himalayan 450. It was recently launched in India at a starting price of Rs 2.29 lakh (ex-showroom, Chennai)

The Himalayan 440’s styling greatly resembles the original Himalayan 411. It gets a round LED headlamp, a tall windscreen, upright ergonomics with wide handlebars, luggage mounting points, and a chunky upswept exhaust. The overall design focuses on practicality and off-road ability while maintaining the same stance as the original 411.

The bike is available in 3 rugged looking colours: Sela Black, Mustang Brown & Nelong White. Our favourite of the lot is the Sela Black, which suits the bike’s rough and tough character particularly well.

Convenience Features

The Himalayan 440 gets a semi-digital instrument console with an analogue speedometer and digital display, which houses the fuel gauge, odometer, trip meter and gear position indicator. The bike also gets a Tripper navigation pod which enables Bluetooth connectivity for turn-by-turn navigation.

The bike gets a large windscreen for added wind protection, and a rear Luggage rack with up to 7 kg payload capacity, allowing riders to fit a top box. It is also equipped with a USB Type-C charging port for added convenience. 

Safety Features

The Himalayan 440 comes with dual-channel ABS as standard, and the rear ABS can be switched off for better control while riding off-road.

Rider Comfort 

The Himalayan 440 gets an upright riding position with a wide handlebar, which should make it comfortable for both city riding, and highway touring. The handlebar and footpegs are placed in a neutral position, which should also make it easy to saddle while riding off-road.

The 800 mm seat height should be fairly accessible for an adventure bike, while the 220 mm ground clearance should make it easy to tackle rough roads and speed breakers. However, the 199 kg kerb weight may take some time to get used to.

Pillion Comfort

The bike gets a fairly comfortable rear seat with enough space for a pillion and luggage, making it well suited for 2-up touring.

The Himalayan 440 is powered by the same 443cc air and oil-cooled, single-cylinder engine as the Scram 440. It produces 25.4 PS and 34 Nm, paired with a 6-speed gearbox.

City & Highway Performance

The engine should offer strong low and mid-range performance, making the Himalayan 440 easy to ride in the city without frequent gear changes. On the highway, the added performance and 6-speed gearbox should make it more comfortable at higher speeds compared to the Himalayan 411.

Brakes

The Himalayan 440 gets a 300 mm disc brake at the front and a 240 mm disc at the rear, with switchable dual-channel ABS. The brakes should offer enough stopping power for city and highway riding, while the switchable rear ABS will be useful off-road.

Handling

The Himalayan 440 gets long-travel suspension at both ends, with a telescopic fork and a monoshock. It gets 200 mm of wheel travel at the front, while the rear gets 180 mm. It rides on 21-inch front and 17-inch rear spoke wheels, wrapped in CEAT Grip XL dual-purpose tyres, which should provide good grip on and off the road.

Ride Quality

The long-travel suspension, along with 220 mm of ground clearance, should make the Himalayan 440 quite comfortable over potholes and broken roads. This setup should also make it quite capable off-road.

The Himalayan 440 is launched at Rs 2.29 lakh (ex-showroom, Chennai) & it rivals the Yezdi Adventure, Suzuki V-Strom SX and the TVS Apache RTX 310.