Royal Enfield Himalayan 410 unveiled

Royal Enfield has just launched the Himalayan, the first adventure/dual purpose motorcycle from the brand for the Indian market. The bike is powered by a 411cc single cylinder four stroke, oil cooled engine that puts out 24.5 Bhp of peak power at 6,500 rpm and 32 Nm of peak torque at 4,000-4,500 rpm. Interestingly, the Himalayan uses a carburetor instead of fuel injection while a 5 speed manual gearbox is standard. Royal Enfield has retained the long stroke (78 mm bore and 86 mm stroke) characteristics on the brand engine, for that torque kick across the rev range.

Also, this is the first SOHC (single overhead camshaft) engine from the Indian motorcycle brand, which has always bet on an overhead valve layout running on hydraulic tappets. What this means is the new engine of the Himalayan may have more consistent performance across the service duration. Royal Enfield, for its part seems quite confident, and that explains the 10,000 Kms service interval for the new motorcycle, which is the highest ever for a bike from this manufacturer.

Coming to the meat of the matter – suspension – the Himalayan uses telescopic front forks with 200 mm travel, and a monoshock rear with a 180 mm travel. The motorcycle has a half duplex split cradle frame developed specifically for on-off road use. The bike has a hefty 220 mm of ground clearance, with a 21 inch front wheel shod with a 90/90 section tyre and a 17 inch rear wheel with a 120/90 section tyre. The bike’s quite heavy though, at 182 kilograms, while retardation is handled through disc brakes (300 mm twin piston front and 220 mm single piston rear) on both wheels.

Interestingly, the Himalayan has dispensed with a kick starter, and is the first Royal Enfield motorcycle to go electric-start only. The bike has a transistor coil ignition, which means that it can’t be jump started if the battery’s dead. So, having a kick starter would have been a good idea on a go anywhere motorcycle, especially one that keeps the serviceability factor high by dispensing with fuel injection in favour of a carburetor. Length, width, height, wheelbase and seat height of the motorcycle measure at 2,190 mm, 840 mm, 1360 mm, 1465 mm and 800 mm respectively.