Royal Enfield Himalayan officially launched in India

Watch Royal Enfield's official presentation of its new adventure bike

FOLLOWING the first official pictures and promotional video, Royal Enfield has just launched its new Himalayan adventure bike to the world at the Auto Expo in Delhi.

The presentation, which you can watch above (skip the first 15 minutes), was hosted by Royal Enfield CEO Siddhartha Lal, who talks through the bike at length and now it's officially out there, there are some proper specs available.

We thought the engine was going to be around 410cc and we weren't far off because the Himalayan is powered by a 411cc air-cooled single cylinder carb-fed engine paired with a five-speed gearbox.

It makes a claimed 25hp at 6,500rpm (slightly less than the 28hp we were expecting) and 23.6lb/ft torque at 4,000 - 4,500rpm.

The bike's kerb weight is 182kg, although Royal Enfield doesn't explained what it classes as kerb weight.

The Himalayan is built around a half duplex split cradle frame. At the front are a set of 41mm conventional forks with 200mm travel and at the other end is a monoshock that gives 180mm travel.

Braking at the front is handled by a two-piston floating caliper biting on to a 300mm disc, while the rear gets a 240mm disc and single piston caliper.

Ground clearance is 220mm and the seat height is 800mm.

It's available in two colours - 'Snow' and 'Granite'.

The 21 inch front wheel is shod with a 90/90 section tyre, while the 17 inch rear gets a 120/90.

Royal Enfield's marketing would have you believe that it's a simple and rugged adventure bike, and its spec seems backs that up, as long as it isn't let down by dodgy footpegs.

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