There’s got to be some kind of ‘most improved award’ owing to Royal Enfield for the Himalayan in 2024.
Looking at the new model, we’ve seen Royal Enfield almost double the power output from the original, from a fairly meek but usable 24 hp to a new larger 451 cc Sherpa engine, liquid-cooled, and pumping out a much more impressive 40 hp and 40 Nm of torque, with the torque gains a little more moderate, up around 20 per cent.
This has been a bit of an Achilles heel for Royal Enfield, plenty of people love the smaller bikes, and they have a cult following, but they struggle to impress those who are a little more performance inclined.
There’s also EFI and ride-by-wire on this new version, with the ride-by-wire a first for Royal Enfield I think. Importantly there’s also a six-speed gearbox, replacing the old five, and nothing dates a motorcycle more than a five-speed.
That’s linked into ride modes, a four inch TFT display with phone connectivity, and full map navigation powered by Google, ensuring that the tech matches the new performance.
Are ride modes really necessary, I’d hazard a guess no, but I think this is a demonstration of what Royal Enfield are capable of more than anything.
Suspension is also upgraded with a set of Showa 43 mm USD forks, offering 200 mm of travel, keeping in mind it was previously 41 mm telescopic units. The rear shock travel also jumped up to 200 mm from 180, but there’s no mention of adjustability here. I’d assume preload at the rear.
I was pretty happy with the original suspension at 70 kg, but this seems like a move in the right direction, and probably necessary with the extra power.
The frame is a new steel twin-spar frame, replacing the half-duplex unit previously run.
Wheels are also tweaked with new aluminium alloy rims, retaining the spoked options naturally, and we see a 90 by 90 front on the 21 inch rim, plus 140/80 on that rear 17 incher. Royal Enfield tell us the rear is for better traction and confidence in all conditions.
Brakes are bumped up to a 320 mm front rotor, still running two-piston caliper, with the rear carries a 270 rotor and single-piston caliper. Both larger rotors, with a boost in braking performance no doubt again necessary with significantly more performance on offer. The stop has to match the go afterall.
We also see switchable ABS, dual channel and you can now deactivate the rear for off-road use, which is of course going to be very welcome.
Ground clearance is also marginally boosted to 230 mm from the previous 220, and there are some trade-offs. The seat height is raised by 25 mm to 825 mm, and can be adjustabled between that and 845 mm, which does negate the old advantage of the bike of being quite short rider friendly. There’s a low seat height version that brings it back down to 805 mm, not far off the original 800.
Weight is also bumped to 196 kg, although that’s with a full tank of fuel, or 90% of that 17 litres, compared to the outgoing model which was 194 kg. Although I am seeing 182 kg listed for the original, which I think may be excluding fuel.
We also see all LED lighting, which is very nice, as they tend to massively outperform halogens and hopefully that’s the case here too.
Colour options include Kamet White, Kaza Brown, Slate Poppy Blue, Slate Himalayan Salt and Hanle Black, and the bike appears to run both a lower front wheel guard and a taller dirt-bike style version.
The base wheels aren’t tubeless, although I doubt anyone will really mind, with the up-spec model offering the tubeless from what I’ve read. So the best of both worlds.
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Images and footage courtesy of Royal Enfield Australia.
24 июл 2024
