Royal Enfield Himalayan 750 development bikes found abandoned at scrapyard

As the launch of Royal Enfield’s all-new Himalayan 750 draws closer, a group of test mules appear to have reached the end of their development phase after being spotted at a very unusual location. 

Images on social media show a line of six Himalayan 750 bikes lying on the ground at a scrapyard. Although these bikes were development models only, seeing them deserted at a scrapyard like this is a sad reality of what some bikes go through at the end of their life cycle. 

It's believed that these bikes were left near the company's R&D centre in the UK. This would make quite a lot of sense, as Royal Enfield operates its UK Technology Centre from Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire, which plays a crucial role in the development of the company’s global products. 

The new Himalayan 750 is currently being developed by members of Royal Enfield’s engineering teams in both India and the UK, while the new model was recently spotted testing in the UK, making it likely that these bikes could have been part of those tests.

In some ways, these photos do offer a positive narrative, which is that the arrival of the production-ready Himalayan 750 is edging closer. However, seeing images like these does beg the question of whether there’s a better solution for what happens to bikes used for development purposes only. 

The new adventure model will form part of a brand-new range for Royal Enfield, with the Indian-owned company set to move beyond the 650cc segment for the first time. 

The Himalayan 750 will be joined by a new Continental GT 750, while we would expect more models from its current 650 range to gain a 750 variant in the future. This could include motorcycles such as the Bullet which received a 650cc model earlier this year, and the Interceptor. 

Royal Enfield has not revealed when the new Himalayan 750 and Continental GT 750 will make their global debuts, although we could expect to see at least one of the new bikes launched at EICMA, which takes place on November 5-8.

Find the latest motorcycle news on Visordown.com