The adventure bike is like the swiss army knife of biking. The high riding position allows you to have ride in comfort for 100’s of km. The long travel suspension absorbs bumps and kind on your spine and butt. Plus they are relatively easy to manage on everything from highways, B roads and the rural makcik stall that serve some of the best local foods. The undisputed king of this category has to be the BMW GS series. The latest iteration the GS1300 comes in at RM138,500. For about 20% of the GS’s price (from RM30,600) though you get the Royal Enfield Himalaya 450. But it sure does alot more than 20% of what the GS can do.
What’s new with the new Himalaya?
The heart of the things is the new liquid cooled ‘Sherpa’ engine. Unlike the 411 engine that pulls like a tractor but that’s about it, the 450cc twin cam single has a much wider powerband, providing a usable and more than adequate 40bhp and 40Nm. Peak torque takes place at 1000rpm more than the old 411 engine, but you get a lovely torque curve that spreads to a top end with almost double of the old air cooled engines power output.
Chassis and Design
Its completely new from the ground up, with a lot more sophistication in the ride and handling. It comes with upside down forks and a generous 230mm ground clearance. There’s a 21 inch front tyre and 17 inch rear tyre for this bike. The seats itself are well padded with 2 height adjustments.
It looks radically more different from the outgoing model. Or the rest of the Royal Enfield range. Its not hung up with retro styling unlike the rest of the range, which is purely our opinion. Its throughly modern in design but very much functional. It looks like the kind of bikes that henchmen would be riding through a snowy forest to catch James Bond.
How does it perform on our roads?
On the media ride to Bentong and Gohtong, we found the bike to have more than enough power to safely carry out overtakes on our B roads. You get 90% of the torque at 3000 rpm itself, and it pulls strongly in 4th gear too. You don’t need to downshift a gear. Its not superbike fast, but it’s more than sufficient.
Despite being a single, our rider, who is a Royal Enfield owner himself said that it does not feel like a single. If anything its closer to the feel of the 650 twin than the old 411 or the 350. The vibration is still not annoying or overly harsh even at 160kph. Some testers during the media ride allegedly took her up to 185kph, but we are not going to try to find out.
Road holding and touring.
The test ride route went through some B roads including the Ulu Yam road, and the Himalayan 450 ate up the turns really well. It also maintained composure on the high speed bumps, which the Lurah Bilut roads had. This bike strikes an amazing balance between handling and comfort, and its the perfect setup to cover majority of the 100 driving / riding routes we have documented under Route Hunters in the last 10 years. The brakes however, could do with a little extra bite from our perspective.
The biggest highlight though, a bike that’s this composed on the road is still extremely capable off road too. Instead of us describing, just check out this reel instead.
In Conclusion
This bike is at 20% of the GS’s price, but it does almost 40-45% of what the GS can do. Its perhaps one of the best all rounder package thats damn well suited for our back roads. The asking price of RM30,600 onwards comes with a 3 year warranty, 3 years road side assistance and 3 free services. If you’re the kind of rider who wants to go on long rides across our mountainous countryside, then this is a bike that should be in your shopping list.