Riding the World's Cheapest Adventure Motorcycle

Good morning and how the heck are you? Let's talk Royal Enfield Himalayan. I've just surpassed 10,000 rough, rugged, and truly amazing miles on this beast. The Himalayan was introduced in early 2016 and is still continually made today with the new 450 model. I want to talk about the 10,000 mile review for a few reasons. The Himalayan For whatever reason, it's kind of a controversial bike, what it can do, what it can't do, and I think there's a lot of misinformation out there. So let's get started. 10,000 miles of adventures have definitely proven some misinformation and some myths out there to be correct and incorrect. So let's cover a few. It's not enough power to ride on the interstates or highway systems here, and that's not how I like to travel. But after just finishing the Mid-Atlantic BDR up to New York, it's about 11 hours of interstates back here to South Carolina, the only way for me to get back in a timely matter. No problem at all, 75 miles an hour, fully loaded with my camping gear, rode perfectly fine on the interstates, so no issues at all there. Now, that being said, this is not gonna win any races on the highway interstate system, so if you are a rider that likes to scream down these highways and roads, going well past speed limits, this just is not gonna be the bike for you, but let it be known, no problems at all on the interstate system. It's too heavy for its size, is another thing I've heard a lot. Once I got to kind of just test drive and sit on it, I didn't really think that was gonna be into play, but let me tell you this. The weight is so low. The weight kind of rides right at the head of that engine, at the lower version, and you still have almost nine inches of clearance on the Himalayan. So the bike really just exudes comfort and confidence. confidence. Easy to ride. Center of gravity is so low, whether you're a beginner just getting started, a novice, or screaming into the expert level of off-roading adventure bikes, this is a very easy bike to ride, very easy bike to correct any issues you might be having in the dirt and the mud. Absolutely. Absolutely. It might be heavier than some for an adventure bike. This is kind of on the lighter side, but yeah, no issues whatsoever. Really, really comfortable to ride. One of my favorites, With its weight and suspension, it won't perform well in the deep, ruddy mud and in the sand. Let me put that to rest. The Georgia Traverse and the Smoky 500, especially the Georgia Traverse, because we live close to it, we happened to take an adventure there last month. It was after seven straight days of rain just away. The scheduling worked thick muddy Georgia clay and if you're not familiar it is a special little piece of surface to ride on. I could barely walk on some of it and driving here the Himalayan did perfectly fine on it and that was even with tires that probably weren't aggressive enough for that weather as well. Sand. This is a special little guy, so here we have the South Carolina Sandhills, but even more than that, I took the bike out to the Mojave and Sonoran Desert and rode some jeep trails and did some riding over the winter. One of the jeep trails, 27 miles of just crazy rock crawling and very deep sand, in some cases when I had to stop to check my maps, put my foot down, the foot was, you know, up. Past the ankle and immediate sand, so 10 to 18 inch sand constantly. No problem at all. The limiting factor on that ride was probably me and my skills. The Himalayan did perfect. So a couple of myths to put to the side. That being said it's not all roses and perfect. I've had a couple mechanical issues with the bike. The fuel pump went out. I'll put that video below in the description and at the end of this video here. I just got back on a 500 mile ride of the Transamerica Trail. Right after getting back down to civilization, if you will, the highway system and getting gas, or stopping to get gas, the fuel pump started acting up. It was pretty hard to diagnose. That could have left me up in the mountains, but it did not. Royal Enfield and my dealer took care of it right away, but it's something you don't want to run into. To be fair, this is a 2022. Manufactured probably 2020 or 2021. The fuel pump manufacturer, which is not Royal Enfield, supplies fuel pumps for nine different manufacturers, and they all did have what's called COVID pumps. You might have ran into a higher defect rate on those. The opposite side of that, on the MA BDR, mid-Atlantic BDR that I just finished, if you haven't seen those videos, I'll link them below as well, I did have a second fuel pump go out. Created a very challenging and mentally tough day. I had to have my adventure buddy Barry And his bike told me, get into a U-Haul, get it to a deal. It was interesting. Testing. So two fuel pumps have gone out. I mean, it is an adventure bike. You're out there for an adventure, maybe not that type. Okay. So there has been a couple hiccups along the way. Other than the fuel pumps, everything has been perfect. I'm getting close to 11,000 miles, but this is officially my 10,000-mile review. Thank you There are some ups and downs, there's no perfect bike out there, so much and every company's going to have a few issues with it. for being here, But overall, what we're looking at is 10,000 miles, so let's talk about those 10,000 miles. A bunch of adventures, two different trips on the Transamerica Trail, and thank you about 1,100 miles total. The Georgia Traverse, Smoky Mountain 500. so much The SCAR South Carolina Adventure Routes, for being here. the Mid-Atlantic BDR, and more through the Appalachian Mountains, camping in the Uari, Pisgah National Forest. And all what this bike has given me and offered me has been absolutely epic. It has just been an amazing adventure for me. Again, like I mentioned, there's no perfect bike. This thing has been a home run. It's just so easy to ride, so easy to build confidence and mud, sand, junk, rocks, rock crawl, it has done everything for me and it has survived the interstate system just fine. Speaking about those adventures, now what can a venture bike like this and the Himalayan do for you? So we can get to the trail and the highways and the interstate systems, have a ton of fun out there. Now, my bike usually doesn't look this clean. I got it all washed up for this review usually has a bunch of camping gear dirt and everything else on it but it has been truly amazing. The little bit of the Transamerica trail that I've done roughly 1100 miles has been just epic on the east coast here. I'm looking to do the whole thing in the next year or two. The Himalayan now I know will absolutely get me through that. Did my first BDR and what an adventure, what an amazing experience that has been, all the way down to some real grit. That Georgia Traverse after all of that rain was just a muddy mayhem of craziness. I'd heard of the Georgia Clay prior to going. And then going after a week of rain, it is a special little thing. For you adventure riders that ride a lot in Georgia, I give props to you. It was definitely challenging, but we made it through just fine. One of the best adventures, though, that just something crazy, when I took it out to the desert, the Sonoran Desert was great, the Mojave Desert Jeep Trail experience. So I did a couple hundred miles riding through the Mojave Desert, which was extremely challenging and a lot of fun. I hadn't been through that much sand before. The bike did good, and I got to build my skills a little bit. I did a Jeep trail 27 miles through the Mojave Desert, which was absolutely amazing. It was through a canyon, slot canyon, so you had to go up to it in the sand, dive down on some rocks, really thick sand. And, um... Easily at times, 12, 18, 20 inches of sand, probably an average of about four to six. And the first time truly rock crawling with this up and down. Thank you. It was challenging as outside of my comfort level a little bit, really helped me build some confidence for myself and the bike helped with that quite a bit. So the experiences in an adventure bike like this and the Himalayan especially can give you. You know, again, whether you're a beginner, whether you're a novice or beyond, Um, if you've been looking at the Himalayan and considering a Himalayan, this will build confidence. It's going to get you out here and have fun. I cannot speak of that enough. I love this bike. I am excited for the next 10,000 miles for sure. So in conclusion, I'm not really sure why this is such a controversial bike. Um, at what, 420 pounds, uh, dry, the weight is so low. It's very easy to ride, very easy to build your skill sets. Um, any type of rough terrains, the suspension has been fine. Interstate system has been perfectly fine for me. Now, again, if you're a gasser, you like to ride and race, this is not the bike for you. There is no perfect bike for everybody. But you're not gonna win any races with this thing. It has been truly amazing. I would not have traded it for anything This is the exact perfect bike for me. The question is what is the perfect bike for you I would love to hear in the comments below Have you ridden a Royal Enfield Himalayan? Have you owned one, know somebody that has or taken a group ride with somebody that has? What are your or their thoughts on it and are you considering buying one? Or have you not even heard of the Royal Enfield Himalayan? which wouldn't surprise me for a few out there? Comment below. I'd love to hear your thoughts. That'll wrap up the review for us today. Don't forget to hit that like button. It's right down there. Go ahead. So easy, and it helps with his YouTube algorithms. rhythms. Follow me for more adventure bike advice and reviews. And if you want to see that... Canyon ride up in the Mojave Desert click right here. It's an absolute blast. I highly recommend it I'll have some more videos about the Himalayan as well. Keep adventuring guys. Have a fantastic night, and we'll see you on the next video