The Himalayan is an Indian adventure touring motorcycle manufactured by Royal Enfield, premiering in February 2015 and launched early 2016. Pierre Terblanche led the design team during Himalayan's development.
Model History
The Royal Enfield Himalayan was conceived by CEO Siddhartha Lal, as an adventure touring, or dual sport motorcycle. The Himalayan differs considerably from the other motorcycles offered by Royal Enfield - most of which are various incarnations of the Bullet utilising the same frame and engine - in terms of its chassis and powertrain. Pierre Terblanche, formerly of Ducati and Moto Guzzi among other companies, headed Royal Enfield's design team during development of the Himalayan. An early prototype was made in mid-2014, followed by a more complete version in 2015. The vehicle was released in India in early 2016, followed by a release in international markets such as Philippines, Australia and the United Kingdom later that year. The export model differed from the domestic in that it included Electronic Fuel Injection as well as ABS. Upon its introduction, the Himalayan was praised for its good suspension and off-road ability, while some criticism was directed to the relatively low power output of the engine. The motorcycle also has longer intervals between servicing and oil changes. The Himalayan has suffered some early production issues, as it has been noted that the quality of parts is not up to the mark and some users have filed lawsuits to either demand compensation or return the bike for a refund.
Design
Engine
The Himalayan's engine was designed and produced by Royal Enfield from the ground-up and shares little to no parts with other contemporaries in the company's line-up. The engine, named the LS410 indicating its long-stroke stroke ratio, is a unit-construction 411 cc single-cylinder, oil-cooled 4-strokeSOHC engine. The motor generates a power output of 24.5 bhp at 6,500 rpm and a maximum torque of 32 Nm at 4,000-4,500 rpm. The engine also includes an oil cooler, a first among motorcycles manufactured by Royal Enfield India. Fuel is supplied to the engine via carburettor in the Indian market, and via electronic fuel injection for other world markets, likely due to emissions regulations. Due to the emission norms in India BS-IV regulation has been applied, Now the New Royal Enfield Himalayan comes with Electronic Fuel Injection Technology in India. The engine is mated to a 5-speed constant mesh transmission. This engine has a single overhead camshaft, thereby moving away from the traditional push-rod design that had been used by the company from 1955, starting with the original Bullet up to the contemporary Classic series.
Frame and Chassis
The Himalayan has a half-duplex split cradle frame. Suspension is telescopic in the front while the rear is provided with monoshock suspension. Front forks are 41 mm with 200 mm of travel and the rear suspension offers 180 mm of travel. The motorcycle has a ground clearance of 220 mm. Stock tires measure 90/90 21-inch at the front and 120/90 17-inch at the rear. These are manufactured by CEAT. For units sold in North America, the tires are manufactured by Pirelli. The motorcycle has a 300 mm disc with a dual piston floating caliper at the front and a 240 mm single piston caliper disc at rear. The instrumentation console for this motorcycle is also modeled anew. It includes an analog speedometer and tachometer, with a digital display for the odometer, gear position indicator, trip-meter and Ambient temperature gauge. Also included is an analog fuel gauge and a digital compass. Also included is a windscreen, which can be manually adjusted for height via screws to two positions. The motorcycle was designed specifically with touring in mind and features an up-right seating position, with a seat height of 800 mm, allowing the rider to be seated relatively low compared to the overall height of the motorcycle. The motorcycle also features mounts on either sides of the tank, which can serve as holders for jerrycans, as well as tank guards. The rear includes a luggage carrier, and mounts are also provided as well to install aluminium panniers, both provided by Royal Enfield as accessories.
