Upcoming Royal Enfield Himalayan 450: All You Need To Know About It

It’ll be powered by Royal Enfield’s first liquid-cooled engine 

• We expect the 450cc engine to pump out 40PS
• To boost its adventure capabilities, it’ll likely get a 21-inch and 18-inch wheel setup
• In fact, the bike will also get a TFT console, another first for a Royal Enfield bike

Royal Enfield has a lot of bikes in the pipeline and it’s one of the biggest open secrets of the industry. Right from sporty bobbers, and retro roadsters to even big, brawny cruisers, the brand has a lot in plan for the Indian market. But one bike among the lot that really stands out is the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450. You see, the current RE Himalayan is already a very popular bike among enthusiasts so it only makes sense why the upcoming one has its own fan base already, before its launch. 

The current RE Himalayan is an excellent bike for off-road purposes. It is fairly easy even for beginners and despite that, even the more experienced riders can actually have a lot of fun on it without the bike feeling out of its depth there. So now that there’s a meaner, sharper, and very modern Himalayan 450 out there, the enthusiasts have already gotten excited. 

So till the bike makes its official debut here in India, here are some things about it you must know:

Price

Pricing for the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 is expected to be around Rs 2.80 lakh, ex-showroom. Once here, the bike will go up against the likes of the KTM 390 Adventure, Yezdi Scrambler as well as the upcoming Hero XPulse 400.

Design

One of the current Himalayan’s standout features is definitely the bike’s design. It looks rugged, purpose-built, and every bit ready to take on anything you throw at it. And what’s even better is that the bike can really do everything that its looks promise. And the new Himalayan 450 takes a similar ideology in terms of design. Recently leaked images have shown that the bike looks lean, minimalistic, and a lot more slimmer than the rather bulky-looking Himalayan 411. 

The front beak, high-set fenders, and an overall sense of ruggedness make it look off-road ready. In fact, interestingly, the upcoming Himalayan 450 does remind us of the Hero XPulse 200 4V at first glance. What will be interesting to see is if Royal Enfield offers the crash guards as standard. Given that the bike will be going off-road a fair bit, it does make sense for the brand to give such additional protection accessories as standard, even if it increases the bike’s price slightly.

Engine

The Himalayan 450 will feature a 450cc liquid-cooled engine, a first for the brand, which has only made air- or air-/oil-cooled engines to date. One particular thing we’re very interested to see is how Royal Enfield manages to place the coolant. Given that it’s their first LC engine, we hope it doesn’t result in the coolant leaking out or any such major build quality issues.

All in all, though, the Himalayan will have one of the most powerful engines ever made by Royal Enfield. Leaked documents have revealed that the bike will make around 40PS, which should make it a fantastic tourer, given the high highway speeds it’ll be able to carry. 

Accompanying it should be around 35-40Nm of torque, which should make for a lovely bottom-end grunt, which should make it a good adventure bike too. You see, a good amount of torque lower down the revs is very helpful when going off-road. 

Features

Spy shots have shown that the Himalayan 450 will get a circular TFT console, another first for the brand. While its layout looked quite simple, we expect it to pack a fair bit of information. Things like Bluetooth connectivity, a USB charging port, and turn-by-turn navigation are almost a given, for these will aid in making the Himalayan 450 a really good tourer. 

Other bits on the bike include spoke wheels, which will further aid the bike in going off-road. That said, it’s highly unlikely that the wheels will accommodate tubeless tyres. So with the tube tyres, repairing punctures will still be quite a task, something that current Himalayan owners already struggle with badly. We were hoping the brand would do away with tube tyres in the Himalayan 450 but clearly, that is not going to be the case. 

Underpinnings

Underpinnings on the Himalayan 450 will include an inverted fork at the front along with a monoshock at the rear. While we’ve only seen an inverted fork on the Super Meteor 650 before, it’s highly unlikely that this will be the same unit, for the Super Meteor 650 has a tuning that’s perfect for its cruiser intentions. The one on the Himalayan 450 will be something to suit its adventure bike intentions, something a lot more sturdy and something that’s ready to take some beating. 

The monoshock too, will be a lot sturdier than the ones on the other Royal Enfield bikes and we expect it to have preload adjustability as well.