Royal Enfield Himalayan: Test Ride Review by Riderboy.

 I owned a “Thunderbird 350”bike and I rode it for almost 7 years. It was one of the best bikes to ride comfortably on long trips. I soon felt that the power offered by the Thunderbird 350 was not enough to meet my requirements for long distance touring. So, I upgraded the bike to a “Thunderbird 500” and aptly named it “Bada-Don”. Bada-Don was a perfect company for many trips, including my South India Ride 2015, Southern Survival and many more. You can read about my previous trips

Here:  Click here to view my riding blogs

"Chotta Don"

"Bada Don"

  

 Being a Royal Enfield fan, I didn’t find an opportunity to test ride the Himalayan, after it was launched. I was constantly thinking about doing a test ride on it. I finally contacted my friend and owner of H.S.R Services. I asked him for his opinion about the Himalayan, and he was kind enough to offer a test bike for me to try out for a couple of days.

As luck would have it, I was invited on a ride to Chitradurga with the Road Thrill team. The ride provided me with a perfect opportunity to try out the Himalayan on the highway. I accepted the invitation and prepared myself to ride the next day.

Early next morning, I met the Road thrill team. The starting point for the ride was on Tumkur highway near Popular Motors. We had a small briefing session before the ride started. I was made the ride Marshall along with another person.

The ride began at 5:30am,and the group maintained an average speed of 90-100 kmph. Riding the Himalayan was bliss until the speed was 90kmph. Beyond the 100kmph speed, I felt that the bike’s engine strained a lot. I didn’t feel comfortable sitting on the bike for a long time. The seat felt very hard. In my opinion, Royal Enfield could have done a better job with this.

While riding at higher speeds, the fuel gauge showed inaccurate information.  A lot of heat was also generated by the bike. I felt that the engine was a little under powered at 410cc. However, the bike handled very well both on the highway and the city streets.

We reached Sira toll and stopped for breakfast. Since it was 7.30 am, the breakfast was not ready in the hotel. We had to wait until the breakfast was ready. As soon as it was ready, we got into the kitchen and served it ourselves. We headed to Chitradurga fort after breakfast. We reached there by 10:30am. This fort is famous for the bravery of Kithuru Rani Chenamma {for history search in Google}. We also had a famous rock climber named “Kothiraju” or “Monkey Man” visit us. Kothiraju climbed the 40 feet wall within 5secs without any safety ropes. You can watch him climb the wall here.Click the link to view the video  Kothiraju’s story is very inspiring. He is one of the top rock climbers in India. He has participated in various international competitions. Also, he has adopted 27 children and he takes care of them. A heartfelt salute to such a great man.

We finished sightseeing and photo sessions: For More Photographs click this link , by afternoon and decided to head back home. I, on the other hand wanted to test the limits of the bike. So, I decided to split from the group and started to ride back solo .I tried to reach the top speed of 130kph but it was very difficult to maintain the speed consistently. I managed to ride at a constant speed above 100kmph and reached Bangalore by 2.30 pm.

Here are a few thoughts about the Himalayan after riding it for a couple of days both on the Highway as well as the streets:

Pros: 

1. Handling is awesome.
2. Good height for the riders.
3.  The bike is not very heavy.
4. The suspension on the bike is fairly good. It can handle the potholes with ease.
5. Very easy to ride through small gaps thereby maneuvering in traffic with ease.
6.   Design and looks of the bike is good.
7. Good Ground clearance.
8. No vibrations.

Cons: 

1.   Unstable and light bike. Pushed by wind. 
2.  Underpowered engine for highways.
3. Seating cushion is not up to the mark.
4. Bad Mileage at 20kmpl.
5. Gear shift is hard.{Especially at 1 and 2^nd gear} 
6.  Back brake pedal is small.
7. Gets heated up very soon in city ride conditions.

Verdict:

“Himalayan” is meant for off-roading and city riding. It is not a perfect bike for touring. The Himalayan fits somewhere in between an off-roader and commuter bike. People who are looking to upgrade from any Royal Enfield 350cc should keep these things in mind-mileage, power and stability on highway. For any Royal Enfield 500cc owner it is not worth considering the Himalayan as it is under powered and it lacks mileage and stability.

I would like to thank H.S.R Services for providing me with an opportunity to test ride the Himalayan.

To see more pictures and updates about my journeys please like my facebook page "Riderboy's Journey". Click my Facebook Page link to follow .

Please feel free to share your thoughts about the Himalayan in the comments section below.

Until next time..Keep riding!

Disclaimer: This Review is purely my thoughts and not to discourage anyone from buying the “Himalayan”.