The only official news that the Himalayan 450 exists is in this short and very brief video published on Royal Enfield’s official social channels last week.
Everything else we know about the bike is rumors, photographs and patent information gathered by journalists. Today, however, we may have some of the most revealing images of the bike, after the Asian website RushLane obtained some images, taken while one of the new machines was being stored.
The bike is parked next to a row of what appear to be Super Meteor 650s and, although there’s nothing factual we can say about the bike’s specifications, the pictures give a very clear view of the new machine to choose from.
For a start, it’s not a simple design that will take the Himalayan concept away from its roots, and we already knew that anyway. The style of the bike is very much a case of evolution, not revolution. However, the fuel tank is new and looks much larger than the tank on the previous model.
It’s also the first clear image we’ve had of the new 450 water-cooled engine and, as you’d expect from such a radical change from the previous one (the previous bike has a 410cc air/oil-cooled unit), it’s something completely different. At first glance, the engine case on the right-hand side looks very much like the item found on J-series bikes such as the Hunter 350 and Meteor 350. The elimination of the engine cooling fins has also given it a more up-to-date look (compared to the previous cooling fins), which almost gives the feeling of improving the overall look of the bike.
Another change is the switch to a TFT instrument panel, which isn’t really a surprise. There are a number of new models in the Royal Enfield range with a TFT, and given that this should give the bike turn-by-turn navigation – a must on a modern adventure bike – it can only be a good thing.
The only other thing we can deduce from the pictures is that the frame of the new bike has a USD fork, rather than the telescopic items found on the old machine. We can’t tell if there’s any adjustment at the front, but they are sturdy looking forks, between 43 and 45 mm is what we estimate.
The RushLane team also revealed a supposed date when all the interesting information will be made public, with November 1 rumored to be the launch date. This means that our first chance to see the bike will probably be at the EICMA trade fair in Milan in the second week of November.
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