This is Royal Enfield’s Himalayan DAKAR EDITION concept

Do you love this? We do. We love it a lot.

Royal Enfield unveiled this awesome one-off Himalayan at the recent Bangkok Motor Show – and we think it’s the coolest RE ever.

Essentially, the standard Himalayan has been overhauled to look like a factory Dakar racer. Sadly, there’s been no news if the bike will go into production – or even compete in rally raid events in the future.

Think of this as a ‘what’s possible’ platform for the eager Thai market where bolt on bits and pieces are huge business.

And while Royal Enfield has taken the chance to showcase just what’s possible with its affordable, entry-level adventure machine it does leave us wondering why the company doesn’t just make this bike.

It’s a well-equipped machine – and it looks the business, too. The engine is protected by massive crash bars. There’s LED auxiliary lights which provide further light. At the front end there’s a carbon fibre light guard, two small round headlights and a decent size front screen. There’s a thick padded seat, a raised exhaust and a small duckbill front mudguard. And, of course, it’s had a blue, white and red custom paint job.

As it’s just a concept – the bones of the bike are unlikely to have changed much underneath all the new rally raid-ready gear. It’s still powered by the Himalayan’s standard 411cc single-cylinder power plant, and will kick out about 25bhp.

It’s a pity Royal Enfield isn’t doing more with the concept right now. The factory doesn’t have to go the whole hog and produce the complete Dakar Edition machine, but it could offer bolt-on parts and accessories for owners to create their own, unique, kitted-out Himalayan.

Come on Enfield, make the thing.