ROYAL ENFIELD has applied for two new name trademarks, one of which could point to a new, small capacity Himalayan adventure motorcycle.
Royal Enfield Sherpa
The two names the company has trademarked are the Sherpa and the Hunter, one of which is new to the brand and the other, the Sherpa, was last used between 1963 to 1970, then in a 175cc, two-stoke machine. The rumours point to the Sherpa becoming the small capacity successor to the 411cc Himalayan. While a smaller capacity Himalayan may seem strange for the UK and EU markets, it only makes 24.5hp so is well within the A2 licence segment, it would make sense over in India, where bikes under 350cc gain tax breaks in India. Opening the smaller ADV machine to a larger audience.
Royal Enfield have also been reported to be working on a 250cc unit for some time now. Shoehorning that engine into the spacious frame of the Himalayan and sending it out to do battle with the rest of the small capacity ADV bike crowd would be a fairly easy task for the team at Royal Enfield. The 250cc unit could also be tweaked to put out roughly the same amount of power as the 411cc Himalayan. So, a lighter, cheaper to run and insure, and easier to ride off-road version of the bike sounds good to us!
Royal Enfield Hunter
With the Sherpa likely to be tagged to the next adventure machine to come from RE, the origins of the Hunter are less obvious. We think it points to a lighter, lower and more accessible machine, possibly for the Indian market only though. It could be the final moniker used for the J1C project Royal Enfield are working on, aimed at making motorcycles more accessible to both men and women and younger riders alike.
