Royal Enfield Himalayan BS4 Ownership Review

Royal Enfield Himalayan BS4 Ownership Review By Divyesh Tendulkar

If you are looking or if you want to kick start adventure touring. one of the best options that you can find in the Indian markets is the Royal Enfield Himalayan.The moment you sit on the Himalayan for a test ride you would be super surprised & impressed with the smoothness (other RE being having too much vibrations) that RE has achieved in its adventure section the "Himalayan"

Ergonomics

With the upright posture a 21 inch massive big tyre & a superb suspension the royal feel that you would get on the bike is unmatched.(you won't feel the speedbrakers at all). Its just kind glids on the offroad, there would be a massive pothole & you will feel it a bit but when it come to the speedbrakers small uneven patches or even small potholes , you won't feel it just flies over it.

With the 21mm long front suspension travel & a monoshock at the rear it has achieved  a 220 mm ground clearance much big than most advts. The front suspension takes all the shocks & rear suspension let's you glide through. The seat being super super comfy, I doubt it that u would find it any advts. You just love the seat Speaking of the exhaust sound it's a please to the ears

(not to loud & not so silent ,the dug dug...) & the occasional pop up sound that's pleasure...😂

Electricals 

Speaking of the Instrument cluster they have kinda managed to keep up retro feels with a analogue speedometer, tachometer, a fuel gauge & clumped it up a digital screen displaying the temperature, odometer reading, side stand indicator, time, trip A, B, F. One more feature is that the small pop up with indicate neutral, Engine on/off, abs, battery indicator, signals are colour coded it feels great to the eyes & the helps easily access a lot of information instantaneously. In short the Himalayan has managed to keep the console's colour scheme very attractive.

Miscellaneous

Bike is way too good in mountains. The bike vibrations increases very significantly once u cross a 120km/hr speed. Its very very comfortable to cruise at 100kmph – 110kmph but not above 120kmph. The bike struggles after 120.

An advantage of Himalayan is the  Engine is designed in such a way that it offers low end power max 24hp at 5200rpm & a low end torque max 32nm torque at 4500 rpm which helps access a lot of stock power during offroading which makes it absolutely easy to go through the offroads trails & battle up all the things the road throws at you. You won't find the most fun loving elements of Himalayan if don't saddle on it you are going to miss a lot of things if u are not witnessing saddling The erect posture that it has to offer with the proper kind of balance is awesome. The Himalayan seat height being just 800mm makes it very accessible & easy to ride for any one whose height is above 5.4ft .

The versatile nature of the Himalyan really makes it up to the RE statement of "Build for All Roads, Build for No Roads"

Shortcomings

• Should have provided tubeless tyres with spokes.
• Should have provided the turn on /off  the abs of rear tyre as it becomes more fun.
• In the rainy season, if the fuel tank's fuel water eliminating hole gets chocked up due to dirt/dust, mud it is likely that the water enters the fuel tank.
• Should have got a sixth gear.

Issues I had face

• Facing a puncture in this bike is like kinda handling loads of disappointment
• Rusting in small amounts of the chassis & paint peeling off at some places.
• Battery gone dead & had to be replaced under warranty  now works very fine  

Verdict

Above all ,its a very good advt, at a very reasonable price, with its capabilities being endless, yeah which bike dosen't  get small issues so does this one. One thing which u won't crave for on this bike is fun. It's one of the most funloving bike I have ever witnessed. I would rate it 4/5.

I would recommend you Himalayan if you are looking for adventure, fun & on a low end budget & if you are not much concerned with a feature loaded advt.