Royal Enfield Himalayan global unveil on February 2nd

It’s the news all adventure motorcycle enthusiasts in India have been longing to hear. Royal Enfield has sent out an invite asking us to block our dates on February 2nd for a press conference in the presence of Siddhartha Lal, MD & CEO Eicher Motors Limited. While the release doesn’t give out any further details we expect the above event to be the venue where the Royal Enfield Himalayan would make its global debut. The new adventure motorcycle is among the most highly anticipated new motorcycle launch for 2016 and it will also debut a new 410cc powerplant for the iconic Indian bikemaker. 

The production-spec Himalayan was spotted recently and the bike pictured above is the top-spec version with the panniers, long travel suspension and large windshield. The panniers on the spy picture seem to be an optional fitment. On either side of fuel tank, we can see plastic containers coloured in red which can be used to carry water or fuel during long journeys.

Powering the new Royal Enfield Himalayan will be an oil-cooled, 410cc, single-cylinder powerplant pushing out around 28PS of power and 30Nm of torque. The motor will also have overhead cams instead of the traditional push rod architecture on Royal Enfield engines and is expected to freely rev to 6,500-7,000rpm. The engine will also be equipped with a counter balancer to reduce vibrations, so expect the Himalayan’s mill to be the most refined unit seen on a Royal Enfield yet. The instrument console will house an analogue speedometer, tachometer, digital display for clock, odometer and trip meter along with compass and even altimeter readings. Being an adventure tourer offering, the Himalayan sports a long travel telescopic front forks and it’s the first Royal Enfield motorcycle to sport a monoshock suspension. Braking on the Himalayan will be done by disc brake on both the ends while ABS wouldn’t be offered even as an optional extra. The new adventure motorcycle offering from Royal Enfield is expected to be priced around Rs 1.7 lakh ex-showroom.