As the Royal Enfield Himalayan approaches its new rumoured launch date, spy images of near production ready model continue surfacing on the Internet. The motorcycle was spotted on the production line in September 2015 while the launch date was rumoured in November. However, for reasons unknown, the launch is now reportedly postponed to the 2016 Auto Expo in Delhi.
The latest set of spy images come courtesy avid Motoroids reader Vishal Venugopal who spotted this upcoming adventure tourer near Tamil Nadu. Esho also suggested that the motorcycle has lost the trademark Royal Enfield thump which isn’t particularly surprising as the Himalayan will feature an all-new powerplant, which may have a character of its own. Also, the new Himalayan will be a tourer and a relatively quiet exhaust note will be appreciated by the riders.
Moreover, this is also for the first time that we have spotted the motorcycles with a proper, pre-registration TC number plate, instead of a sticker on the tail. Does this mean that the Himalayan has reached into its final rounds of tests? We sure hope so. We can also see an LED tail-light with eight illumination points on this upcoming motorcycle which is a welcome change.
Click here for a detailed report on the Himalayan’s instrument cluster
The new Himalayan series is expected to draw power from a newly developed 410cc engine with an oil-cooler which is rumoured to deliver 24 bhp of power. The engine is also expected to receive a five-speed transmission.
As reported earlier, the Royal Enfield Himalayan will be available in two variants – an adventure tourer and a street focused version. The motorcycle in the new set of spy images appears to be the adventure model but without the full set of equipment. The adventure tourer variant is aimed to devour lesser known roads, and will come packed with features such as a windscreen, luggage panniers (as options) and a high raised mudguard. The street focused avatar, on the other hand, is expected to roll out of the showrooms sans the windscreen, luggage panniers, a conventional front fender and a relatively cheaper price tag. The two variants may also get different varieties of tyres of suit their character better. While we cannot be entirely sure, this specific variant seems to be running CEAT Vertigo off-road tyres.
The motorcycle was earlier spotted on the production line and is rumoured to make its debut at the 2016 Auto Expo. According to previous reports, Royal Enfield intends to price the Himalayan below the psychological barrier of Rs 2 lakh and in fact, according to insiders, may well be priced between Rs 1.65 lakh to Rs 1.85 lakh.
What are the things you would expect RE to take care of before they launch the new model? Do let us know via comments. Rest assured, even RE is listening.
Great suggestions there, Kamran. Keep the comments coming.