MOTOFOODIE

The 2024 Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 is a quantum leap from its 1st avatar – the Himalayan 411 in every aspect – motorcycle design, technology and even the riding mannerism, baring the same name-tag.

Replacing the Himalayan 411, RE’s 1st foray into building and selling an entry-level adventure motorcycle – this new Himalayan 450 makes the old Himalayan 411 appear like an ancient relic and does a stellar job to close the gaps and issues that plagued the 411.😊

• DOHC 4-valve Engine (finally) ✅
• Proportionate looks ✅
• Quality Suspension ✅
• Adequate power to tour with luggage and pillion ✅
• Better Chassis ✅

The entire design of the new Himalayan is more graceful now than the purpose-built, industrial design of the 411. ❤️

Engine:

The 2024 Himalayan is powered by the Sherpa 450, Royal Enfield’s all-new liquid-cooled, 452cc DOHC, 4 valve, 40PS single cylinder engine. It feels strange saying that it is a “modern engine” – but only in context of the legacy engines made by RE so far.

On the Sherpa 450, below 3,000 rpm the engine is not at all happy, is super sluggish and not tractable. However past this is a massive thump of power between 3,000 to 5,500 rpms – this is where it pulls the hardest (you get 90 per cent of peak torque as early as 3,000 rpm) and that’s where we spend a lot of our riding time. 

Hitting 100-120 kmph and cruising is what makes the 450 a lovely highway motorcycle.

Suspension:

The Himalayan 450 gets a new 43mm USD Showa separate function fork up front and a new swing-arm which is hooked up to a preload adjustable mono-shock at the rear. Both units offer a good 200mm of travel and are supremely comfortable, plush to plod through our cities, highways and off-road trails.

The base tune of this suspension setup is excellent and most owners will not miss any adjustability whatsoever 🙏

Through corners, the suspension feels reassuring and the bike maintains the line through corners despite slight mid-corner undulations.

Features and Highlights :

The Himalayan 450 is loaded with a bunch of goodies such as:

• Tripper Dash: 4-inch all-digital circular TFT info dashboard with phone connectivity to answer calls, shuffle music and full-map navigation using Google Maps.
  • One has to input/start/stop the navigation via the Royal Enfield app that interfaces via bluetooth with your smartphone and the dash console.
  • The dash has 2 types of display screen: 
    • Analog screen with rev counter and turn-by-turn navigation only
    • Digital screen for full-map navigation. 
• USB-C Charging Port: Located just below the handlebar
• Switchgear with joy-stick control: to toggle the dash console
• Integrated LED Tail lamp with rear indicators
• Ride-by-Wire Throttle
• Slip-and-assist Clutch
• Switchable ABS
• Riding Modes
• Tubed tyres with cross-spoke rims

Riding Modes:

One can toggle and change the riding modes by pressing the ‘M’ button on the RHS switchgear. Two riding modes ‘ECO’ and ‘Performance’ are available:

• Performance + ABS ON
• Performance + Rear ABS OFF
• ECO + ABS ON
• ECO + Rear ABS OFF

The selected riding mode is displayed as a small symbol (small dial for Performance and leaf outline for ECO) next to the ‘Speed in km/h’.

However, I couldn’t distinguish any difference in power or economy between the two riding modes 😞

City Commute:

The Himalayan 450 is a heavy motorcycle, felt greatly while taking off the side-stand and at low-speeds, but the weight is very well masked once on the move.

The combination of plush suspension, commanding, relaxed riding-position, comfortable seats and a good fuel-economy makes it an easy motorcycle to navigate in our chaotic and unforgiving city traffic.

While the motorcycle gets hot in traffic, it is manageable and doesn’t impact rideability.

My only gripe – as the speeds drop, one has to drop down to 1st gear, it doesn’t have the torque to pull in an higher gear.

Touring:

The Himalayan 450 excels as a calm, no non-sense long distance tourer, the engine offers cruising abilities at 100-120kmph with load (pillion and luggage).

Brilliant suspension, good chassis dynamics, loads of space to mount luggage, comfortable seats for rider + passenger, healthy fuel tank-range and relaxed ergonomics makes the Himalayan 450 a great touring motorcycle.

What’s missing is a Cruise-Control functionality.😞

Pillion Comfort:

Is excellent!! Soft, wide seats with grab-rails for the pillion coupled with plush, comfortable suspension makes it a pleasant riding experience for the pillion passenger.

How does the RE Himalayan 450 fare with short riders ?

The standard seat height is at 825mm and can be raised by 20mm by shifting short and long rods to the higher/lower position under the seat – very clever RE!!

For short riders, there’s a shorter 805-825mm adjustable seat option as well.

Mileage and Full Tank Range:

The motorcycle comes with a 17-litre fuel tank which translates to a usable capacity of 15-litres.

• City Mileage: 25 kmpl
• Highway Mileage: 27-30kmpl
• Real world full-tank range: 375 – 450 kms 

What I love about the 2024 RE Himalayan 450:

• Great Beginner’s Tourer: the ability to cruise between 80 – 120 kmph with a pillion + luggage along with comfortable suspension and a healthy tank range makes it a comfortable motorcycle to tour 
• Quality Dash and SwitchGear: Unlike the previous 411, the Himalayan 450 appears well-made with quality components.
• Adjustable Suspension: The Showa front forks and the rear mono shock are a brilliant kit and even in the stock setting provide a plush, comfortable experience across various terrains.

What I dislike:

• Slow off the line: the engine is very sluggish below 3,000 rpm, this is especially annoying at low-speeds in the city and on slow-trails + one has to come down to 1st gear to be tractable
• Heavy Motorcycle at standstill: it takes some muscle to take it off the side stand and at low speed manoeuvre, the 450 feels heavy – all of which disappears as soon as some speed picks-up [Momentum is your best friend while riding this]
• Standing Up Ergonomics: The mirrors touch the arms of the rider while standing up and riding
• Full-map Navigation: Available ONLY in Digital mode + in order to see the full-map navigation on the TFT dash, the screen of the phone paired has to be ON all the time – draining the battery and heats up the phone.
• No Cruise Control
• No tube-less tyres

The Himalayan 450 is designed to navigate harsh-terrains and munch long-distances – cruise control and tubeless tyres would have completed the package. 😞

Conclusion:

The Himalayan 450 is not a “love at first ride” nor is it an absolute hoot to ride – it is a calm, composed motorcycle to tour with a pillion, commute, run-errands etc – all this goodness at a frugal price of under INR 4 lakhs.

Making this an excellent contender for a “one-motorcycle garage”.👍🏻

Special thanks to Gowtham for trusting me with his beloved Himalayan 🤗

Follow his motorcycling on Instagram.