Rumour to reality for the Royal Enfield Himalayan 650

Rumours circulating in the Indian motorcycle media suggest that there’s a more powerful, 650cc variant of the Royal Enfield Himalayan on the way in the not-too-distant future.

Siddhartha Lal, CEO of Royal Enfield, said that the manufacturer was working on a more powerful Himalayan back in 2017. Now rumours are swirling that it’ll be released as soon as next year. It’s an obvious next step for the growing brand, which recently unveiled its Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 powered by its newly developed 650cc twin-cylinder engine.

The current Himalayan comes with a 411cc, single cylinder, four-stroke unit, which produces around 24.5bhp of peak power and 24lbft of peak torque, and although many owners are happy with the current engine’s specifications, some punters felt it was a little underpowered for more serious adventures. The recently introduced 650cc parallel twin unit produces 47bhp at 7,100rpm and 38lbft of torque at 4,000rpm, which is a healthy step forward for the midcapacity adventure machine, and should help to make the Himalayan even more capable.

The primary reason that it’s not made an appearance already is that Royal Enfield is currently working to meet upcoming new emissions standards and safety regulations, which kick off in April 2020. With the date fast approaching, however, we reckon it’s likely we’ll see the new RE Himalayan 650 at the big bike shows towards the end of this year.