Seat height is 800 mm.

Pillion seat is adequate - not superlative but not as bad as the Duke rear perch either. Should not be all that bad for a day long trip since the seat is aided by a good comfortable suspension set up.

Couldn't ride it to that speed since our review ride was in the hills around Shimla. But going by the engine output and the bike's gearing, sustaining 100 kph should not be such a problem though going beyond that will take time. Tall gear ratios and relatively low power output being the reasons. Will update as soon as we get a bike to ride here in Delhi.

[MENTION=10597]Old Fox[/MENTION]
[MENTION=70586]lucifer_abhi[/MENTION]
[MENTION=6858]raja_ghuru[/MENTION]

Thanks for your reviews. Could you please tell me, whats the seat height of the bike?
And from your initial expressions could you comment on these below questions?
How is the pillion seat, is it wide enough and comfortable to accumulate an average Indian all day? Can the bike do 100kmph all day?

Had a chance to test ride the Himalayan yesterday.. Went for a 20km ride on road and around 10kms off roading. I would not say tough off roading but yes good off roading. Some of the inputs are as follows :-

1. Power - 6/10
Lower end power is good but the bike pants as we near triple digits. I could take it to 130kmph but it was (i would not say shaky) but not comfortable and stable. Though the bike picks up speed at a very swift pace. Power supply is very very less. You are always kept wanting for more power on the saddle.

2. Fit and finish - 6/10
Royal enfield needs to wake up and take notice of the stuff the other companies are making. The front visor shakes even at 70kmph. A virtual shout out is required to RE for this. The seat as i said earlier is super comfortable, even during off roading, not once did my ass get displaced. Fit and finish seem to be good for the instrument console which is very exhaustive. The compass kept changing direction according to the change in direction of the bike. But this area still remains an area of concern to highly improve upon.

3. Engine - 7/10
Vibrations have reduced a lot considering the earlier models of RE, but they still need improvement and fine tuning of the engine is required.

4. Gearbox - 5/10
Gearbox is stiff and twice or thrice i had problems engaging the gear(2nd 3rd it was) while offroading. The saw toothed brake pedals are good for offroading though.

5. I did not understand the purpose of double mudguards. For offroading a higher upper mud flap is fine, then why even have a lower mud guard.

6. Seating position 9/10
Very comfortable seating position in the road and off it as well. The height of the seating gives you the confidence to stand and encounter those obstacles while off roading as well.

7. Shock Absorbers 8/10
Best till date for RE and found them good on the roads. Encountered potholes kind of stuff on the roads without any issue. And during offroading suspension both front and rear were awesome.

8. Tyres - 8/10
For what the tyres are meant for, they serve the purpose, they had good grip on tarmac and also during off roading. The only instance of skidding was noticeable at high speed north of 70/80 (while offroading on a totally gravelled patch). On boulders and cross country the tyres had great grip and a sense of confidence seeps in to the rider while off roading. I personally feel that Pirelli dual sport should have been retained from the prototype.

9. Brakes - 7/10
Brakes front 300 mm and rear 220 mm with steel braided brake lines. Still lack the bite during emergency braking. The combination braking is good but emergency is not. The absence of ABS is also sorely missed.

10. Exhaust note is a typical muffled royal enfield at idle position but quietens down while on the run. Also the upswept exhaust is great for fording and off roading, but the catcon in this particular bike made a lot of clinking sound, i dont know if its specific to the test ride bike or all Himalayans.

Overall, Royal Enfield has tried to go away from the so called royal ways of manufacturing bikes, i must say they have succeeded to an extent but the engineering and QA control still has a long way to go. That said, Its a wonderful bike at the price of 172736 OTR Pune and serves the purpose of adventure. Royal enfield will have to watch out because the bikes clientele seems to be more of serious offroaders/tourers than the trademark Guntamantri/macho boys of Bullet.


PS: Yes that's my GSD Dasher in the background 😈.Was lucky to have the bike in the area of my choosing 😊😊

Is that the colour of the bend pipe or is it due to some issue . Anyway great review looking forward to td it .

Hi Guys,

Any feedback on the annoying head noise from the engine, tappet noise it seems. I went to test ride on 3 different showrooms all bikes have that noise.
Somebody have a similar experience?

Isn't that a trademark for all the RE bikes?

I thought this engine would be different, it was knocking or tappet noise. Mojo type engine on this chassis would have been blessing .