More extreme Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Raid in the works
The Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 might have only just launched, but a more extreme ‘Raid’ variant is reportedly in the Chennai works
A new version of the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 is reportedly being developed, to exaggerate the existing bike’s off-road capabilities.
It barely feels like we’ve switched from talking about Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 rumours to talking about a bike which has been launched and tested in an official and public capacity. Yet, we are back to rumours already, as a Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Raid is apparently being developed by the Indian manufacturer.
EXCLUSIVE! Dakar-ready Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Raid Details Revealed!https://t.co/N7jKIHNlyo@BikeWale pic.twitter.com/bZ2ivNRj1I
— Pratheek Kunder (@pratheekkunder) April 9, 2022
The reports come from Bikewale, which anticipated we will have quite a wait on our hands for the new variant of the new Himalayan. July 2027 is the expected launch date.
As for the bike itself, it is fairly obviously at a pretty conceptual, pre-production point - if it exists at all. But, nonetheless, Bikewale says the specification of the Raid will be pretty heavily grounded in the standard Himalayan 450. That would mean around 40bhp and 33lb ft from the 452cc Sherpa engine, as well as a combination of 21-inch and 17-inch wheels at the front and rear, respectively. It is also anticipated that this would be the most electronically sophisticated Royal Enfield if and when it launches, with several riding modes to choose from, a ride-by-wire throttle, and a digital instrument cluster that would presumably carry from the TFT seen on the new Himalayan 450.
Heated grips, luggage options, and different handlebar choices are rumoured to be in the add-ons menu.
Royal Enfield Himalayan 450.
Bikewale suggests the new bike would be a base on which Enfield would build a bike for the Dakar Rally, which currently allows 450cc single-cylinder four-stroke bikes to compete, although Enfield would need to find a bit more poke than the rumoured 40bhp (which is the same value as in the regular Himalayan 450) to be competitive.
With the launch window for this bike seemingly so far away, it looks like we’ll be swirling round the rumour mill for a while trying to piece together what exactly the Himalayan 450 Raid might be.
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