Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 (2024) REVIEW

Welcome to Bennett's Bike Social. Welcome to the Himalayas. Yeah, you got that right. I'm in the Himalayas, a place I've dreamed about riding. Some place that I love to ride. We're here with Royal Enfield for the launch of their new Himalayan. Where better place to ride it than in the Himalayas? Now this is a massive test for this bike. There is no tougher terrain than the Himalayas. The old bike was designed for the Himalayas and it was a huge success. To be honest, it was designed for the Indian market and then when it came to Europe, we fell in love with it as well because it was robust, simple, cost-effective relative to the cheap. But what they've done for 2023 is given us a brand new Royal Enfield Himalayan. So it's a completely new platform, completely new engine, completely new chassis. There is nothing of the old bike that you can bolt on the new bike. So we've got a new 452 single cylinder water-cooled engine. Now it's water-cooled, it's a completely new engine with considerably more power. It's 10 kilograms lighter. So there's 25% more peak torque, 25% more engine speed. It's 40 PS. It is a big step in engine development compared to the old air-cooled, very heavy single cylinder engine. So this is a very, very special trip. I mean, look at the scenery. Look at, I mean, this is just, we're in the Himalayas. It doesn't get any more extreme than this, I don't think. It's kind of the biggest mountain range in the world. Enfield designed a bike to take on the Himalayas, which was called the Enfield Himalayan. I think that was quite some years ago now. And it was kind of a bike built for the Himalayas, for the Indian market. Little jump. And then it went on to be a global success. Jesus, look at it through there. And it's got to be able to take off. Off-road, on-road, altitude, deep water, everything. But as you can tell, we've got more suspension travel. We can wade through deeper water. We've got better brakes. We've got off-road ABS. We've got six-speed gearbox, bigger fuel tank. 450 kilometer range, if I remember rightly. Off-road again. But it's still got that ruggedness. I've ridden in India before, but never in the North. And this is just absolutely beyond words of spectacle. Completely new chassis, shell suspension on the front, shower on the back with adjustable preload. Completely new tech. We've got fly-by-wipe for the first time. We've got water cooling for the first time. Double overhead cam for the first time. Rider modes for the first time. TFT dash for the first time. This is a big step for Royal Enfield. But it's still got its robustness. It's still got that kind of strong kind of Land Rover feel to it. Now we've had two days here in the Himalayas. And to be honest, for the first four hours, I had no idea or assessment of this motorcycle because I was in awe of the landscape and the amazing scenery of the Himalayas. But then once you kind of get a little bit used to it, if you can ever get used to it, you can start to appreciate the qualities of the new Himalayan. Just taking a tiny break to warm my hands up and just to look at the scenery. I've got my guide with us. Look at the glacier. And then down there is a little bridge. Kind of a little bit on my own now. Oh, cows are sacred. That's why it's got to be so solid and robust. Because you come around a corner and you're straight into... That's power the old bike never had. Feels like it wants to go off-road where the old bike was like, you were trying to make it do something. Where there's like a tank and the seat is so much narrower. It's got this lovely seat on it. The pegs are like, there's nothing getting in the way. I think the bars could do it to be a bit higher. And I'm only five foot seven, just. So taller riders, but it's a rally kit that gives you that taller bar position. Wow, look at that. We're at nine to 10 and 11,000 feet. So that saps not just my energy, but also the energy of the bike. So on sea level, I can see this is going to be a big jumping power over the old bike. It's a noticeable jumping power here at altitude. So at sea level, that's going to be colossal. The old bike kind of had the performance of a quick 125, but this should be good for 80, 90, even maybe a hundred miles an hour. And it's pulling up these hills pretty much effortlessly. The new TFT dash is a real big step forward. There's new switch gear. It's relatively intuitive and relatively simple. However, some of the buttons, to be honest, just feel a bit fickle. What this bike has done in the Himalayas has proven how robust and trustworthy and just reliable it is. We've hit every road type of imaginable. The suspension is really impressive. They've done a really good job. It kind of holds the heavy chassis really well in the corners, doesn't top out or bottom out. And then when you go off road, it's manageable. The seat's quite low and it's relatively easy. You're limited by the road bias tires and you're limited by the weight of the bike. This is not a 450 Enduro, but you can take on terrain like we've got in the background relatively easily with relatively simple. Although don't expect to be launching the front with a pop of the clutch because it is still 196 kilograms fully loaded. Two days has also highlighted the comfort of this bike. Royal Enfield have quoted a range of 450 kilometers and I can see that it seems very frugal from the information on the dash and comfort is exceptional. The chassis is really good. Like the stroke for the suspension, but you've got to go from big potholes like that to tarmac, to potholes, to water. Look at the houses down there. Really kind of comfortable and manageable as well. There is like an eco mode that drops the power, but I don't think you'd really want to. Navigation is excellent. So we're still in India, but we're not too far from the border. Oh, that looks safe. Looking at the amazing scenery, 20 degrees. And this little Enfield is so good at just plodding through. It's got like a Land Rover-esque about it. It just chug chug, just plods through. Doesn't seem to be unfaired by quite hard terrain. Bars could do with to be a bit higher and that's it. Oh, look at the mountains through there. Oh my word. So that's the drop. It's a single track road. We've got rolling boulders. This road was kind of made a little bit famous by Top Gear in that they said it was one of the world's most dangerous roads. Woo! And to add to it, this is a road. So there is forward, like oncoming traffic. Could do with to be a little bit higher and the mirrors get a little bit in the way of your forearms, but the narrowness of the seat, the shape of the tank, all works. And it's not, oh Jesus. It's not intimidating. How am I gonna pass this guy? There we go. There's... Holy shite. Sheer drops that way. Look at that. Been on this bike all day. We're supposed to have been back at the hotel ages ago, but if we're not allowed to ride well, it's pretty dangerous to ride when it's dark. We've still got a long way to go. And it's so comfortable. Day two. We're about 11,000 feet, apparently. The air is thin, which means it's difficult for me and it's difficult for the bikes. The bike's just not getting any air. So we've got the increase in performance, but we need that increase in performance because it's gasping. Suspension works really well. It's coked with like the off-road, the on-road. It's made by Shower. We've got non-adjustable on the front. We've got preload on the rear. The only thing I can't do is if I go for the mode button, machine change denied. So you can't change the modes on the fly, which is a bit annoying. This just goes on forever. So bright this morning. These little undulations, the suspension holds it really well. The brakes are pretty good. We've got ABS front and rear. We can turn the ABS off if we want. Shame the lever's not adjustable. It's quite a reach for the lever, which is a bit of a shame. The old bike was just really good at being methodical and getting from A to B and plodding through. And the new bike carries on that trait, but raises it up a level. I think of the old Imolaine as an old Land Rover, like a Series 1 or a Series 2. And the new one is more like a new 90 or a new Land Rover 110. It's got the qualities of the old bike, but everything has been upgraded. The only negative side for me, the switch gear is a little bit fiddly, especially when you're in gloves. It's not very positive. If you want to go off road, you're going to have to change the tires. And the big question mark is going to be price. We expect the price to be around 6,000, maybe high five in the UK, but we don't know for sure. That will be the big decider. Hopefully when we go live with this video, we will have the price confirmed. We can put that in description and you guys can tell us if it's a good price or a bad price. If it's around six, it's going to sell well. If it's under six, it's going to fly. If it's over seven, then maybe not. You can see why the bike's been designed the way it is.