A Himalayan Upgrade

Royal Enfield were always associated with long rides, Though their classic models were not really suited for long distance touring, the marketing idea actually worked out pretty well. vibrations, low cruising speed were all big flaws of legendary machine to run a marathon. Yet with a huge emotion been chained to that engine some actually loved to just spend hours in saddle communicating to the thumping heart. Being the hero of the biggest love story ever Royal Enfield was always expected to meet its beautiful lover, "The Himalayas" at least once in its life in its life. But in reality the long stroke engine struggles to breathe at high altitude and faces a lot of troubles on its quest to meet Himalayas.

Though the fanboys never accepts this The company knew this shortcomings. Thus came the concept of Royal Enfield's purpose build ADV was born.

The Himalayan was launched at 2016 and instantly caught a lot of attention. Finally India got its First purpose build ADV and it looks serious. The raw rugged looks was not appealing to all but slowly grew on everyone.

then the next year saw BS4 version of Himalayan, and sales starts to climb pretty well

Now after 3 years the Himalayan receives yet another update to be BS6 complaint and i had a chance to try this beauty.

Initial impressions were good, Loved the colours. The red and black especially looks pretty cool in my eyes. The technicians talked me through about the updates, New updates to engine, better brakes, more refinement, switchable ABS etc. In short the changes are not aesthetic but more on technical side.

Always loved the instrument cluster

As I swing my leg over and push started the engine, I observed the lower exhaust note which got bit less grunt but works fine for me. As I twisted the throttle to move, the changes to engine starts to be felt. The low end torque has increased a bit letting wheels to spin whenever you throttle it on a dirt track. It is not intimidating and actually felt fun.

Updated BS6 engine feels peppier

The low end torque also ensures you do much less effort to climb up slopes or accelerate your way out of certain sticky situation. The way Himalayan climbs a slope is similar to how Mountain goat does, slow but steady and with a lot of ease.That ease is a bit hindered by the heavy clutch tho, which I felt could have made lighter.

Then there is the vibrations. Most vibes felt on the handlebars are long gone, footpads do vibrate post 4000 but handlebars felt refined unless you redline. This felt better as high speed cruising would feel smoother now.

Himalayan was always a pretty agile bike for its size and all those remains the same.

A bash plate = offroad ready

Most Comfortable seats

New dual tone tank

But the improved brakes felt so identical to the old one. The front lacks the bite and doesn't inspire confidence under hard braking, adding that to soft long travel suspension results in a huge nose dive which intimidates you. But rear works just fine and combined efforts of both brakes will work fine provided you must get used to it.

Upgraded brakes with switchable ABS

So himalayan BS6 is it better??

Yes, It is, The higher low end torque makes it better off road and on road alike. The refinement is satisfying and brakes felt better for majority of the crowd I spoke to.

With Himalayan being the un disputed king of ADV in India, is it the bike you should go ahead and buy???

Yes but also No. You see the Himalayan is just an incredible bike, good on road and incredible off it.

But what made Himalayan a product many doesn't trust was its terrible reputation for reliability and quality issues.

I seriously don't see and improvement in quality any where in the bike. Though the engine is updated and felt good, The multiple stalling of the engine at different conditions raised a small doubt in my mind. So those who want to buy one do wait until you get user reviews.

If the bike proves to be reliable. I don't see point in choosing products twice the price to tackle all kinds of roads India has to offer.

By 

AMBADY ANIL