My brother bought a Himalayan recently. It looks like a well thought out machine. I took a short ride on it, and it was a very smooth ride. I'm of course comparing it to my DR650, which is faster, but also louder, more vibrate-y, and less comfortable. It appears that it will be easier to maintain and repair than my DR, which is really saying something. In fact, It's on my short list for the next motorcycle that I don't need.
Quote of the day “191kg and all hidden in the steel rims” couldn’t agree more with the assessment. Mine has done 9000km and gets better and better, even though I’ve had some issues and currently have a faulty ignition switch. This an easy bike to love and get along with. Comfortable, easy to manage, low c of g, very good on gravel roads and manageable on highways. A week ago I did 1200km over the weekend and all of it on highways. Not very pleasant from my perspective but the guys I run with have road bikes and don’t want to ride gravel so I just might get a different bike to run on those weekends and keep the RE as an explorer. As Nate said it is probably the best adventure bike produced in the last five years... Last weekend I rode a new BMW R1200RS and while it was lovely and great power etc blah blah blah....I couldn’t sit on it for more than an hour. RE has done something special with this bike, it’s connected with the common man that wants basic stuff without all the modern crap that goes with it. I’m glad we don’t have an ABS version here in OZ because I’d find it annoying. I used to have a BMW F650GS Dakar which to be honest was a great bike but it wasn’t for me on gravel, I always felt a bit uncomfortable with the front end and the ABS didn’t help. But this bike is like an old comfortable shoe...it just fits and is subtle enough to mould itself to you. the power is not great but if you wait for it, it just flows along at a non-hurried pace that seem to fit the bike perfectly
I'm in a different camp to you, I 'm hoping for the UK spec with EFI & ABS to come to Australia, my cash is waiting.
Nicely done Nate - I was impressed with the lack of background noise in your video. As you say, this bike is about travelling - perhaps you've coined a new category. Gratuitous photos from Canada - FI, no ABS Come visit.
It does in my opinion. I'm knocking back 72-76 miles per gallon on my commute beating cars for the hole shot and hitting 70 mile an hour stretches.
I am in India and have had the BS4 sleet edition for about 3 months now. No complains so far. I also have an older 350 bullet. Both have been rock solid for me so far. The bullet is good for ambling around town but maintaining 90kph on it becomes hard on the highway because of vibrations. Himalayan on the other hand is happy to cruise all day long at 90. Last year did a 300km or so ride with ambient temp at 45C or so on the bullet. I got roasted but the bike was fine. One issue in India is that we tend put on a bunch of cheap import aftermarket stuff (lights, horns etc). That messes with the electricals. I have kept my bikes devoid of that so far. And of course, ambient temps here can run high. A good test for me and the bike will be this ride which I have signed up for right in the middle of the monsoon season. In 10 days and looking forward to it. https://royalenfield.com/rides/events/unroad/himachal/
https://advrider.com/index.php?thre...ng-royal-enfield-himalayan-this-fall.1332652/ "Greetings all. Yesterday I got a text from Brandon at Maverick Motorsports (Missoula, MT) about how they may get some Royal Enfield Himalayan this fall. http://www.mavmotorsports.com I'm not sure if they will become a RENA dealership or just truck the MCs in for customers. 406-549-4260. Please call if you want a mellow touring MC. I've been monitoring the owners thread and Inkates are happy with the 2018 model, which is the BS4. https://advrider.com/index.php?thre...-owners-thread.1253460/page-100#post-35622021 ____ Id be down for sure if they honored the warranty. They are easy to work on." ___ ____ I created the above thread in the Rockies NA regionl thread. RENA basically has nothing in the northern Rockies. Please call and help us get the Himalayan in a a regionshe is built for.
Greetings All, Demo ride in Seattle. Back ground: last MC was a DR650. 30,000 Miles 4.2 years. I went ADV TOURING with her 2014 and put ~21,000 miles on her. Bought brand new. 5'-10" 162lbs The demo MC had 6 miles on the engine. ----- Very impressed with the total package. She looked great in person. White color. Torque engine. She pulls easily in 1st and 2nd gear. @eakins was right. She is more refined than the MIGHTY DR at lower speeds (5mph). Seattle has some hills and she pulls up them with ease. Very good turning radius atslow speeds too. Fueling was very good. Ive ridden EFI bikes before and sometimes it's delayed. Transmission was very good. Nice clank noise. No issues. Gear indicator is great. Lower left screen. There is a little bit of a delay on the green N icon when you go into neutral. Hard to stall. The clutch lever is a little hard to pull in compared to the DR, but seems like the HIMI likes lower rpms more. You have to let the clutch out more on the 411cc before she goes. Very comfortable MC.I was her for 10 miles or about 35 mics or so and the seat was fine. Padded foot pegs are nice. At a traffic light they are not in the way. Ergos are great for me. Standing ergos are spot on for me. No need for bar risors like the DR. I have a tach guage to go off. 2,500-4,500, she is highly refined and smooth. I put her in 5th while going up a hill and went WOT and she spun up from 40-60pretty well. She did start to get a little buzzy at 60mph. I do not think l went above 4,700rpm. It's easy to get her up there. Around 40mph I put her in 5th and she was fine. It was flat. I'm sure I could get 70mpg when out tourng about. So 250 miles comfortable on a tank. MC felt planted and I kind of was niether on top off or inside the MC. There were no twisties but I kind of tried and there was that lazy fell you get with a 21" front, but planted. Not bouncy like on a DR650. While at lights I could barley flat foot with sneakers. Suspension is a good compromise too. Stiff for an ADV TOURING MC, 85% of the time you would appreciate it. I hit a few bumbs on purpose and she felt fine. Tyres were not scrubed in. I got alottle lose one time. The MCis as advertised. side racks. Centerstand. Muffler sounds great. I was suprised how good the engine brakings is. In 1st gear on a steep down hill the rpms stayed really low. This would be great for forest road switch backs! Brakes started to get stronger as the ride progressed. At first I thought they were as bad as some thought, but they are fine. Very little engine heat while riding in traffic. That was a shocker. Of course the engine is fairly small. 411cc. There is no need for a mellow MC to have water cooling. I had some cool air hitting me and some slight wind buffeting. I basically have no experience to draw of off. Felt fine. Horn sounded about like the DR650. So, fine. _____ I recommend getting a demo ride. I was lucky cause they just got a shipment of 5 in. All white. My only complaint are the service intervals. I'm sure they will be spread out after a couple of years. If the MC had 10 more horses ,I could understand such tight intervals. The salesman said about half of their customers are female. They sold a bunch from March. One guy flew into Seattle and bought the MC then went to Alaska. Even though the DR has way more torque,the Himi seems to find away to be just as good in the urban jungle. Most impressive. I did not get to ride her on an Interstate, but I'm sure being down ~10 horses to the 650 would really show up. My DR had nasty vibes for many thousands of miles. The Himi is good to go out of the box. Most impressive. After 22,000+ miles the DR started to slowly getreally smooth. I went WOT a few times a year on the 650. With the Himi it would be a few times a month. The Himi is great for the buy and ride guy (just need bark Buster's), the DR will always be a platform MC. I wish the DR had the suspension set up as the Himi. Perfect for my style.
Dang ! If I'd have known ahead of time you were coming to the wet side I'd have rode in and met ya for lunch and done some I-5 and some logging roads with you. How long you here for and you have any blank space in your itinerary? Maybe I can still work something out with my schedule.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm pushing towards Portland this evening or tomorrow. I'm letting the traffic cool off. Folks are in a hurry here. I saw two fender benders today. Live. ___ I plan on riding the Himi in Portland and getting speed past 70mph. ___ Have a goodng.
Man I hope the one you ride in PDX has more miles than the one in Seattle or better yet is well broken in. Mine was a lot freer revving and smoother running after a couple hundred miles and got even better after that. FWIW fuel pump quieted right down sometime in the first hundred miles.
So I’m selling my 1200GS. This is the bike that I always wanted, the little underdog of ADV bikes. Almost an enduro bike that looks like a classic motorcycle. None of that GS “megatron” look. It makes me feel like a kid again when there was no heated seats, cruise control or ride modes. Just plain old motorcycling fun. Love it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
interesting retex " precious" and "mxz" A question as I am not a native english speaker ; what is the meaning of " wot ' ? Some relations here on the "trail riders forum" in France had also bought a him' to replace the mega GS Yesterday i had tested the right fall after the left one during the week end . . 1) The MT60 and the him' do not like both flangeway and grass, worse with water in it . 2) easy to pull back in space the brake pedal and the speed selector ; because of the steel himself !! SO put the protector for the DOT stuff. Next time if there is this kind of conditions i'll take the swoum... but less distance, minimum roads
