Royal Enfield Himalayan 21st January 2016 Adventure bike | Single cylinder | OHC ◄PREVIOUS STORY NEXT STORY►  Video images of the long awaited Royal Enfield Himalayan have just been posted on the Royal Enfield website. But very little is known about the new bike beyond the fact that it's an OHC single-cylinder adventure motorcycle.
The consensus of opinion is that the displacement is 410cc, and that the engine will produce around 28bhp. The road tester on the video is CS Santosh, who we understand is the first Indian rider to finish the Paris-Dakar Rally. Santosh has been quoted as saying: "For a common man, [the Himalayan] will not be intimidating at all. The power is there but it's not gonna be aggressive." 
That sounds suspiciously like a warning that this is a pretty limp motorcycle, performance-wise. But until it's been thoroughly hammered into the dirt, it's naturally all speculation. Either way, the Himalayan represents a significant move forward for Royal Enfield, albeit not exactly a giant step. But the Chennai-based firm is hungry for a much larger slice of the world motorcycle cake, and the hope is that this new adventure machine will bring home a lot of money, and plaudits. 
Meanwhile Siddhartha Lal, Royal Enfield's CEO, has been quoted as saying that the Himalayan will cover 10,000km (6,200 miles) between services, which is not exactly stunning. We've been listening to the video and comparing it to comments from other worldwide pundits, not least those in India, and when you "listen between the lines", it all sounds like an apology. But maybe Royal Enfield will surprise us. It's happened before. Go check the video and see what you think. www.royalenfield.com ◄PREVIOUS STORY NEXT STORY► | 
