Himalayan has been in the news big time – before its launch it was for the hype and expectations it created and after launch, for all the wrong reasons surrounding its absolutely unacceptable quality and truckloads of issues a lot of the motorcycle owners are facing.
Nonetheless, Siddharth Lal, head of Royal Enfield, has made a very interesting clarification regarding its power. In an interaction with Motorcycle Magazine, he admits that a lot of experts said that Himalayan is underpowered (which it is!). He goes on to say that they have NOT made the motorcycle for these ‘experts’ and instead it is a product for people who are upgrading from commuters! He elaborates that for bikers graduating from a 150cc, Himalayan is a big way forward.
Royal Enfield has always highlighted that their motorcycles come with practical performance which can be used on our roads. Even for the Continental GT, they propagated hard that the motorcycle can be enjoyed to its max without you worrying about it going mad upon a throttle twist!
This is, kind of, acceptable that if you are gunning for these kind of machines which come with retro technology you are agreeing to live with that kind of a performance. However, there is a problem here – Himalayan is promoted as an Adventure Tourer. Had it been an Adventure-only machine, its performance is quite acceptable (specially given the fact that we do not have any comparison machine at this price point in India). But as soon as the motorcycle reaches well-paved long highways, which is the job of a tourer, you begin to understand the ‘lack of performance’ on offer.
So, what do you feel?
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Next Read: Bigger, More Powerful Himalayan Confirmed; Could be a Twin Cylinder
