Peak performance ENFIELD’S A MOUNTAIN OF FUN ON CHEAP

THERE are five us. Two on stateof-the-art KTM enduro bikes.

One on a gorgeous Husqvarna 250cc two-stroke enduro and another on a small Chinese off-roader bought new for £900 and literally held together with tape, despite being a year old.

I am on a Royal Enfield Himalayan, built in Chennai, India, and sold here brand new for £4,199. Not quite the bargain my mate’s Chinese machine represents – but then his is crap.

The Himalayan has its faults but it doesn’t cost the £7,500-plus of the European machines.

The point is we’re all having a huge amount of fun messing around on byeways open to all traffic (BOATs) in deepest Surrey. It’s baking hot, the trails are quiet and we know that there’s a pub nearby selling take-outs. A bit about this Royal Enfield Himalayan. At its heart is an air-cooled 410cc singlecylinder engine.

When the bike was first imported into the UK it had a carburettor. This later model is fuel-injected. Thankfully, it also has electric start.

Mind you, I’ve owned enough bigsingle trail bikes to not be scared of a bit of kicking.

This old-fashioned-looking motor produces a mighty 24bhp. Adequate in a lightweight enduro bike, but not so good in a machine with a kerb weight of 158kg. On British roads the Himalayan feels woefully underpowered, and on

motorways it will struggle to better 75mph. So avoid motorways and stick to country lanes.

Remember, this bike is £4,199. I’ll be reminding you of that again later.

I was expecting the contents of my pants to be emulsified by a vibrating single-cylinder engine, but in fact the Royal Enfield’s motor proves to be impressively smooth.

Keeping clear of the 6,000rpm red line is a good idea because at anything over 5,000rpm it sounds like it’s going to explode.

That is unlikely to happen because the Himalayan has a reputation for toughness that has been proven in

India, particularly in the region from which it gets its name.

The Himalayan was developed in the UK at Royal Enfield’s tech centre in Leicestershire by engineers who really know what they are doing – especially with frames and suspensions.

It handles really tidily on the road. The front disc brake needs a hefty squeeze but is effective. And the lads on the fancy enduros were very taken with the Himalayan’s styling, too.

We’ve got a plain white test bike, but RE has introduced blue and red versions that look even tastier.

The Himalayan is really easy to ride off-road. The weight is low down so it doesn’t feel intimidating and the power delivery is gentle, so you get impressive grip even on roadbiased tyres. That’s the only reason I struggled to go where the lads went – they were on enduro rubber. Oh, and they are more talented.

It’s only £4,199. Or £699 down and £62.25 per month for 49 months. Now that’s a very affordable way to get to work and it would soon pay for itself over the cost of a train season ticket or parking a car in a city centre. It’ll easily beat 50mpg, too.

But what the Himalayan is best suited to is a proper adventure – something really dramatic like riding from London to Cape Town.

Or perhaps a trip to the land of its birth, where its simplicity and ruggedness would come to the fore.

We had an enormous lot of fun during our couple of hours off-road in Surrey. Pound per grin, the Himalayan is hard to beat.