There was nothing much else for the company to do. The Royal Enfield Himalayan was officially unveiled to the world at Delhi today by the company CEO and MD Mr. Siddhartha Lal. Over the last year not much has remained a secret about this radical new Royal Enfield. The spy shots have been pouring in from the concept stage and couple of days back Royal Enfield themselves opened up a dedicated section on their website to showcase the work and passion gone behind developing this machine.
What we did not know was the exact specifications of the new LS400 engine. This all new single cylinder engine that finally joins the overhead cam family has a capacity of 411 cc. It produces 24.5 HP at 6500 RPM and 32 Nm at 4000 RPM. Royal Enfield says that almost 70 percentage of this torque would be available from as low as 2500 RPM. The gearbox is a 5 speed one and for now the engine will remain a carbureted one. The bike weighs 182 kgs and has a fuel tank capacity of 15 litres. Now weight wise we were kind of expecting a lighter machine but Royal Enfield promises us that this would not be a hinderance even fully loaded. The tyres are 90/90 21 inch ones at the front and 120/90 17 inch ones at the rear and are provided by CEAT. The seat height of 800mm should also be quite a boon for riders of all heights.
Now, what do we think of the motorcycle after seeing it in the flesh? For starters, do not get fooled by the pics, the bike is actually quite big and has a commanding presence. At the same time there is a strong element of function over form very evident on the machine. Build quality wise the Royal Enfield looks good and at least for now looks a step ahead of its existing line up. The company has added a counter balancer to the crankshaft that seems to have given the engine good refinement levels. The Himalayan is expected to reach showrooms by mid March and it is only then that official prices will be revealed. Although un-officially we hear it could be priced in the 1.8 lakh bracket. Watch this space for more and check out the Royal Enfield Himalayan image gallery for detailed photographs.
