This Custom Royal Enfield Himalayan Can Leave Proper Rally Bikes In Its Dust

Quick Highlights

• The Himalayan 450 has been modified to participate in an off-road rally in Spain

• It has minimal changes and most of the new parts are from the GMA catalogue

• It still uses the stock instrument cluster

The Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 is quite a capable off-roader. So much so that Spanish rider Salvatore Di Benedetto has taken a stock Himalayan and converted it into a hardcore rally bike with minimal changes. Most of the parts to make this a rally-spec bike have in fact come from the Royal Enfield GMA (genuine motorcycle accessories) catalogue.

By the looks of it, this Himalayan seems mechanically stock, or atleast without any major modifications to the engine. While there could have been an aftermarket ECU or a piggyback ECU to help change the engine characteristics to suit the rally requirements. It should have just altered the power and torque delivery a bit, rather than boosting it drastically. For reference, the stock Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 has a 452cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine that makes 40.02PS at 8000rpm and 40Nm at 5500rpm. Even the suspension units seem to be the same. The wheels are still spoke, but now with rally-spec knobby tyres. 

In terms of functional mods, the biggest change at the front is the removal of the stock headlight, and the steering head-mounted brackets for the headlight and instrumentation. This has been replaced with a custom rally tower mount that notably uses the stock circular TFT instrument cluster. It also has other auxiliary displays, including a navigation display mounted up top, straight in the rider’s line of vision. The stock windscreen has also been replaced with a wider aftermarket unit, presumably to prevent the instrumentation from getting damaged by flying gravel. Even the stock front mudguard has been removed, because ‘weight reduction yo’.

The tank braces are stock and have Kriega bags mounted on them to most likely help Salvatore carry his rally essentials like tool kits, nutrition and hydration kits. The radiator has been protected by the Silver Radiator Guard, and the belly of the bike with Rally Protection sump guard, both from the GMA catalogue. The stock split-seat setup has been replaced with what seems like the single-piece Black Rally Dual Seat, which yet again comes from the GMA catalogue, and so does the Rally Mudguard.

Astride this Himalayan, Salvatore has successfully completed the Swank Rally Di Sardegna which was held in Italy from June 11 to 15, 2024. It’s a testament to the robustness of the parts from then GMA catalogue which are capable enough to take on gruelling rally conditions and come out unfazed. Top that off with the fact that these parts are made to the exact specs of the bike by Royal Enfield, unlike a lot of aftermarket accessories which have resulted in the recent unfavourable incidents. We explained in a story how such incidents can be avoided by using recommended accessories made by Royal Enfield.  

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