Royal Enfield Himalayan 20000km Review

I've had a lot of questions about this bike. Basically, what's my experience been like on it and how have I found it? I've done a bit over 20,000 kilometers on it. The bike itself's done about 22. I got it second hand. I've taken on highways, dirt roads, rocky trails, single track, sandy tracks. Across most surfaces you'd probably take one, except probably deep mud. I haven't had the pleasure of pulling this out of deep mud yet. I think the main thing you should consider when listening to someone about a bike is how they're using it. What are they using it for? And does that relate to what you're going to do with one? I mean, if Toby Price was going to take this on the think, he'd probably say, yeah, probably need some more power and the suspension needs an upgrade. But what I wanted the bike for could probably be described in one word, exploring. I wasn't trying to cross a country in a day. I wasn't trying to go up the gnarliest hard enduro track. I was just out looking around, trying to find interesting places, cool places around this little country of ours. There are two main things that dictate the way I ride this. One, I'm riding solo, so I've just got to be more careful. If you're around mates, yeah, you know, you've got that back up. If I go down and do damage, I could be in real strife. So I have to just hold back on basically everything. The other thing is I have a backpack with camera gear on it. And if I go down, something's going to get damaged. So I'm limited compared to what I might do on a dirt bike, riding around with mates. So let's start off with reliability. I've done 20,000 kilometers on it. The bike's done 22, and I've personally had no issues. I had a chain that needed replacing, obviously, because chains wear out, and it got to at the end of its life. Swapped back tires twice, once to the original, and an obli, which was a Dunlop 650D, great in the dirt. Then this Scorpion Pirelli, great lasting, not so great in sand. I guess the only issue I really did have, I did have one, the bolt that holds the windshield on rattled out. I'd ridden about 200 kilometers on corrugations, so just a minor thing. Oh yeah, I've actually dropped this thing quite a few times. Once onto the gutter beside a dirt road, it was actually upside down. But the bonus of not having a massive adventure bike by yourself is I can lift this with all the gear on. So definitely a bonus solo riding, is you've got to be able to lift your bike. And these, even with all the gear on, easy. And on that subject, with the panniers and fuel tank, even though I've dropped it, the bike's never actually been hit. So they've taken all the brunt of the fall. I haven't really ever crashed fast at all. It's just down some random dirt trail, or big boulders on the trail, and just click one of those. It's a small engine to start with, so it's not going to get a lot. It seems to be tuned for lower end torque rather than higher end speed. I mean, I sit on a highway at 110, which is the legal speed limit around most of the country. There is somewhere in North WA, the Northern Territory, that's about 130, but otherwise it's 110 or 100. And yeah, it's fine. It's, you can compare it to, say, the KTM 390 Adventure R. It's, you can feel that one has the more high end, but it doesn't have quite as much torque. So it's just the way it's tuned. So again, depending how you're going to ride the bike, one might be better for touring, say the KTM. This might be better for exploring. Also on the highway, if you're fully loaded and going up a long, steep incline, you will feel the bike come off that top speed and slow up, just weight to power ratio. I try to avoid highways, but it is a thing. If that bothers you, no, it can happen, depending on how much weight, I guess, you put on the back. If you came up a hard track, you know, on a dirt bike, you might use all the power and bounce up there. This thing, you're probably going to want a more tractor. And with that, like with deeper rocks, ruts sort of thing, this thing doesn't have the highest ground clearance, like a dirt bike. So you've got to watch that. I have taken, uh, destroyed one skid plate or bash plate. Did its job. Didn't affect the bike. But if you then lifted the bike, then your seat height's going to be different. And this is quite comfortable for me. I've got both feet planted on the ground and I'm 5'8", 5'9". If you are under 5'7", 6", there is a kit to lower it, I think. Yeah. Suspension setup on this is on the softer side. You wouldn't want to be smashing up a trail that's got potholes or big rocks because you're going to be yo-yoing the whole way up. Again, it's built for exploring, just getting up there, trying to get somewhere rather than a dirt bike where you're actually riding the bike. Everything's about concentrating on the bike on a dirt bike. This thing, it's about where you are and getting to places. And yeah, if you take it easy, the suspension's fine. If you're going to bomb it, you're going to be bouncing away. I personally never bottomed out the front or rear suspension, so for me, it was enough. It's a fuel tank, 15 litres. I've gotten 450 kilometres out of it. I think I read somewhere officially it says 462, so close. I do have the two extra 5-litre spare jerrycans on it, so technically that would get me 750 kilometres of range. I'm never going to ride that far, probably at one place, but I end up going down random tracks. I mean, when I went to Murray Sunset chasing those pink lakes, I rode in five hours and had to turn around and ride out five hours. So that's more why I use it. Again, if you thrash it and are heavy on that throttle, you're not going to get the 450 or 750 kilometres on it. Ergonomics of it. Seating position, for me, it's comfortable and I can stand both feet over the top of the bike. Handlebars, in quite an upright position, so it's comfortable if you're doing longer stuff. I would like some sort of peg off the front if I can work that out because my knees do lock up a bit after, you know, three, four hours. You start to, I find, feel it in the knees, but I then stand up and I find it fine to stand up 100, 110, just to relieve those knees. Talking about standing up, it's really comfortable standing up. It's like it was built for standing up first. I just, very balanced for me. So where the pegs are, where the handlebars are, really balanced. Great for riding in, you know, dirt trails or tracks. If you're a taller rider, you might want to bring your handlebars up a bit. The only other thing would probably be the foot pegs. You might get a wider foot peg if you're going to stand up a lot on it, but I've had no issues. It's, yeah, it's really, again, balanced up on the pegs. And even when you're steering, like around corners on highways or this, it just, the whole bike seems, the best word would be balanced. It doesn't feel as heavy as you think it would, but that's the way I found it. Talking about steering with a 21-inch wheel, it's not going to be as dynamic as a sports bike, you know, really responsive, but having that 21-inch wheel helps when you're on the dirt and going over logs and rocks and stuff. But again, just tip in and there's no change in that at all. It's just that balanced in, balanced out. While still on the ergonomics and in the seating position, the windscreen, I find pretty good. Every now and then I'll feel some buffeting, but most of the time not. If I duck just a little bit, I really feel like I'm not getting hit at all. So, I mean, you could put an extension on it, but it's never bothered me that much to want to do that. Braking. Yes, the bike has brakes. They're not the greatest, but they're sufficient. Again, I drive a 1975 Kombi Volkswagen. Brakes aren't great on that either. So, it's just about giving a lot more space when you need to. Also, I have had one emergency braking situation in Tasmania where a sheep ran out of tall grass from the side and I was going 90, 100, I'm not sure, but I was able to brake in time to then wash off enough speed to then turn and get around it. So, they've sufficed for me. They've been good enough. As I mentioned, I actually got this bike second hand and it came with a lot of extras and was really cheap. Panniers, find them great, carry a lot. They're lockable. For me, that's good. I need the locks because some of the gear I carry. What else is on here? Exhaust, sports exhaust. I don't know what the original one was like, so it's there. It sounds okay. Next, the hand guards. They're great. I've gone on trials, stops things smashing your hands, and they protect the levers when you go down. So, I haven't broken a lever, obviously. Next is the grip warmers. Personally, I never would have bought any, but I've used them a lot. The fact with the hand guards and that, I've actually ridden down about four degrees still with my summer gloves on. They're just, yeah, I haven't needed change into winter gloves, so I gather colder than that I might start the struggle, but yeah, no, really good. Something I didn't think I'd ever use. So, the other thing was the crash bars. Great. They don't actually have a scratch on them, but what I have been told, make sure you get one with three connection points, because if this isn't here, that can bend into the engine. The other upgrade on the bike was LED lights. Bright, great. I've heard the original ones aren't that bright, but these LED ones are really good. Electronics doesn't have a lot. I mean, it has a side navigation thing that I've actually never worked out how to do. It's a turn-by-turn thing, and all I need to know is I'm under the speed limit or on it, that I'm not revving the hell out of it, and is there gas or not in the tank, and it displays all that. Riders' aids, I think it has ABS. Again, you could just skill up. You'll find the best guys in the world riding hard trails and all that, they turn everything off. So, and I'm, again, not going fast enough to probably put myself in the situation that I need it. But if you are, it's a thing to consider that they just don't have a lot of riders' aids. Tyres, I think the original, was it CET, I think they come with. I still have the front one on, so it's done 22,000 kilometers. I will change that before the next trip. The back one probably did, 11, maybe. I put a knobbly on, which is awesome on dirt tracks, rocky trails, sand. It was the Dunlop 605D, but again, it's going to wear a lot quicker. This one is the Pirelli Scorpion, great wearing, not as great in sand as the other, but fine. I don't know how far I'll get with the Scorpion mileage-wise. The knobbly, the Dunlop 5,000 to 6,000, I guess, and obviously the front one's over 22. Chain-wise, I think I got about 14,000 kilometers before I needed to change it. On another bike, that was about the same, so I gather that's normal. Again, I haven't had experience of hundreds of bikes, so would there be anything else I'd upgrade? Well, probably just the side stand foot, just on dirt and sand, I just think that would be a rather large help. But otherwise, it does basically everything I need it to do. But if you're asking me what I would really like, more power, nobody's going to say no to that. But again, that's going to affect the price. The other thing would probably be either higher gears at the higher end, like the ratio, or a sixth gear. Again, it's going to affect the price. But that's the big thing. The price of these things is, compared to everything else, is cheap. You get a little more capacity engine bike with all the electronics, you double, you triple the price, and you can go up from there. So to just get out there and, I mean, it's all about your priorities. Do you want all the great gear? Nothing wrong with that. People love gear. But if you just want to go out and explore, it does the job. It's like a farm instructor. It gets the job done. And it's got a bit of character to it too. So again, I have a 1975 Combi, so I'm used to things being a bit more agricultural. And I don't mind that at all. I mean, I think it's part of the adventure. But if you like all the high-tech stuff, aids and all that, this doesn't have it. But it's still a hell of a lot of fun to just ride around and explore. And that's my main goal, is exploring. So for that, this bike does well. And for the price, I mean, you could save, I'd have to say about, what, another $20,000 for higher-end certain brands. And that means I wouldn't have gone on my last trip. I won't be going on my next trip. I would still be saving. Or the time it takes me to save, I could be out riding. Instead of earning money there, I could just be out riding. Because the way I also ride, I try to avoid caravan parks and paying for camping sites, because there's some great free ones out there. It's actually cheaper being on the road, because I don't eat as much on the road, which would probably be a good thing. So again, I just think it's more about getting out there. And this enables me to get out on the road, exploring more, more often.