HOW RE VIEW HIMALAYAN RIDERS
The Himalayan’s brakes have been criticised but I find them OK, although they do need a good pull. The ABS has never cut in, possibly an indication of my driving habits. I tend to ride much older bikes with quite weak brake systems, so I leave a good gap between me and the vehicles in front. The five-speed gearbox means changing gear reasonably frequently, but I have no clutch issues. The Enfield’s clutch is not quite as light as on a Velocette, but lighter than all of the small Italian classic bikes I normally ride!
The ease of riding is the Enfield’s main advantage. Trickling along at walking pace in traffic and U-turns are very easy. Riding is good fun with its easy handling and comfortable, day-long, upright seating position. Only the comfort of the seat limits how long I can ride it. The reserve indicator comes on at about 180 miles, but there’s still around five litres of fuel in the tank.
As the Himalayan has been in production for a few years, there are many accessories available from several suppliers. It comes with pre-drilled and tapped holes for the fitting of crash bars, pannier racks and more. Luggage and weather protection aren’t an afterthought as they can be with many bikes. Royal Enfield and other suppliers like Givi supply equipment that is well up to the job. Hitchcocks and Cooperb supply many custom aftermarket parts such as higher screens, hand guards, crash bars, extra fuel tanks. Fitting the very substantial Givi crash bars takes about 20 minutes using the bike’s existing bolts to accept the locating brackets. There’s even a 462cc big bore kit and different cam / air filter kits which increase the output to around 28.5bhp.
There are lowering kits to drop the rear by 20mm if the seat height seems a little daunting, and the front can be dropped through the yokes to match. At 5’6” with an inside leg of 30” and a weight of 75kg I find the bike quite easy to handle. Another modification is to replace the pillion seat with a platform to secure luggage to – also useful because it makes it easier to swing my leg over the seat. This prevents the pillion seat getting scraped and marked by my boots when I get on and off, and is useful when carrying a bag across the panniers.
Enfield took a while to fully develop the Himalayan, trying it on the rugged Indian roads and trails to see what the weak points were. Initially it was carburetted but later versions have been brought up to date with fuel injection, ABS, oil cooler, sat-navigation and a few other modifications based on the trial period and subsequent owner feedback.
Even with Enfield’s own developments, owners have also adopted several aftermarket upgrades like a sidestand modification. This shortens the stand by around 15-20mm because as standard the bike stands very erect, even before being loaded. Owners also fit a bigger pad on the end of the stand because the original ‘foot’ is rather small and can leave the bike very precariously perched on soft or uneven ground. I carry a plastic pad on a length of string for such occasions.
On closer inspection, the Himalayan has been built to withstand quite a bit of abuse. It comes with substantial forks and extra-thick steel frame sections compared to other cutprice bikes. The Harris-designed frame appears to be well up to the job, although some people in India have apparently managed to break it! The harsh roads and conditions of India seem to have been the issue, so our potholes should pose no problems.
If considering a purchase you have to consider what you need from an everyday, all weather bike. If you’re in a great rush then don’t buy this Enfield! If you want reliable transport that cruises at 60-70mph, is cheap to buy, easy to handle, very economical and simple to maintain at home then the Himalayan might be the bike for you. If you think the Himalayan might not be quick or tough enough then think about where you like riding; it suits our A- and B-roads really well. Some long-distance riders have covered big miles on these bikes with very few issues as the videos on Youtube prove!
I really like the Himalayan’s easy home maintenance. Just about everything can be done at home, including oil and filter changes and valve clearance. There’s no complex shimming – just screw and locknut, although the inlet settings are a bit more fiddly due to access. It’s very similar to an old Triumph, BSA or Norton. Enfield recommend checking the valve clearances every 3000 miles, but it is a pretty easy job. With some practice it can be completed in under an hour. On my bike, at 3000 miles the valve clearance needed no adjustment. At 6000 it just needed a small adjustment to retain the 0.004” inlet and 0.010” exhaust.
Spare parts are not expensive; oil and air filter for around £25 or even cheaper if you buy in bulk from India. There is so much information on the web and instructions on how to check just about every issue that you might encounter. When completing maintenance operations I try to use the toolkit supplied. If another tool is needed I add it to the kit so I can just about manage all operations while out on the road.
After 3000 miles I changed the front sprocket to add one more tooth and drop the revs, as I tend to ride solo. This improved the fuel consumption by around 10% and the bike can run now at 70mph on the motorway at 5400rpm with minimal vibration. Initial fuel consumption for the first 1000 miles was around the 97mpg mark. Once run in and able to ride at higher speeds this dropped to an average of 90.19 mpg. As well as that larger sprocket, I’ve also fitted an iridium spark plug and a free-flowing inlet to the air filter.
The Himalayan does have a tendency to stall when cold and needs warming up properly prior to setting off in winter. The cause, it would appear, is a very weak mixture to meet emissions – the spark plug is very