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Royal Enfield Himalayan BS4 UK model review

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Rogerborg
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Joined: 26 Oct 2010
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PostPosted: 23:19 - 12 Feb 2018    Post subject: Royal Enfield Himalayan BS4 UK model review Reply with quote

By, you guessed it, Bennetts, and Nathan Millward (Oz to East Midlands on a 105cc postie bike) who has gone ahead and bought one.

tl;dr version - heavy but quite likes it, usable enough for 4 grand, but have they really fixed 36 issues on the disastrous BS3 Indian model? Time will tell, and I'll be waiting for long term owner reports.
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GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike
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Pigeon
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Joined: 27 Sep 2012
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PostPosted: 01:16 - 13 Feb 2018    Post subject: Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan BS4 UK model review Reply with quote

Rogerborg wrote:
By, you guessed it, Bennetts, and Nathan Millward (Oz to East Midlands on a 105cc postie bike) who has gone ahead and bought one.



As a side, I bought Nathans book when it came out (he did a nice doodle inside), I read most of it and it sounded like a genuine guy having issues and doing something spur of the moment, travelling to turn something negative into a positive etc

However I later read his dad drove support trucks in the Dakar and then went on to do loads of production stuff with professional adventurers, including TV people like Charlie Boorman and Ross Noble.

It took a bit of shine off the story. A bit like it's perhaps not unusual for Chris Eubank Jr. to go into Boxing.
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Pete.
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PostPosted: 08:09 - 13 Feb 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's about the best looking Enfield I've seen but would I really expect it to take a 10k-a-year commute in all weathers in it's stride? Nope.
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Rogerborg
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Joined: 26 Oct 2010
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PostPosted: 09:26 - 13 Feb 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

To be fair, the metal bits on RE bikes seem to be robust, and consumables are consumable. However, they do seem to like design in a couple of chronic weaknesses per model and then refusing to acknowledge them, so I'm not taking any of their claims on trust.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike
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Polarbear
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Joined: 24 Feb 2007
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PostPosted: 10:17 - 13 Feb 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's quite nice but I actually prefer the retro look of the road Enfields.

Kudos to them with making a completely new model though. Thumbs Up
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Rogerborg
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Joined: 26 Oct 2010
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PostPosted: 10:52 - 13 Feb 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sure, I'd rather have the basic Bullet 500 on looks. It's only £200 more (ABS / Euro 4), much the same weight (my big disappointment with the Himalayan), has more power-torques, and is a lower risk purchase in terms of simplicity, known issues, and spares.

On the other hand, I like the idea of the Himalayan, and the words that are emerging from RE's lie-hole about it being a cheap and cheerful bike for real world use rather than a £15K electro-gadget. If it's sold well in India despite its awful launch, long term spares and support shouldn't be an issue - the big problem with the disposable Chinese contenders that have come and gone.

So I'm not saying never, I'm just saying... not now.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike
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stinkwheel
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Joined: 12 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: 18:21 - 13 Feb 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

There was one at the Dragon Rally at the weekend so i've seen one "in the flesh".

Looks like a proper, modern motorcycle with some sensible styling/design which made it appear both comfortable and practical.

The overall quality looked a lot higher than "traditional" enfields and it had been out on demo for three days in pissing rain, driving snow and salty roads without any sign of "flux".

The engine unit is HUGE. The guy riding it was happy with it. Not gushingly enthusiastic but happy that it did everything it was supposed to do competently.

I think they may have built the moderately priced, mediocre bike for the mass market that all companies seem to need to get a toehold in the mainstream market. Gotta build a superdream before you build a fireblade. Gotta build a trophy before a speed triple etc.

I wouldn't have one. HOWEVER if I had an A2 licence and wanted an adventure bike... I mean, at one point I wanted an IZH Springbok.

They also aren't far from releasing a pre-hipstered 650 paralell twin that looks like it'll be bang on the A2 power limit (although their claimed output in bhp is something like 0.3kW above it, which would be a classic bit of shooting yourself in the foot if it turns out to be the case).
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I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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thx1138
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Joined: 06 Oct 2005
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PostPosted: 12:15 - 17 Feb 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Id probably break it in a month of green lane riding. Wouldn't say no to one for road riding though
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