Royal Enfield Himalayan 440 Review | A Great Urban Motorcycle? | Times Drive

Without any further ado, the Himalayan 440 is here. Now I know what your friends are telling you, they want you to buy this, they want to buy this themselves and do that trip to Ladakh. And this is a seriously capable motorcycle for going and coming back from a place like Ladakh. And if you want to do that, I'm going to urge you, go ahead, spend that money. But it's not a motorcycle that can just take you to Ladakh. The Himalayan 440 is a motorcycle that can make your daily city commute a lot better. Now exactly how is that going to be happening? Well, I've ridden the motorcycle for a couple of days now, I've spent time with it in Noida, Delhi. And these are my impressions why the Himalayan 440 is not just a great case for going to the mountains, but makes your everyday life easier as well. Hi, my name is Dhruv Paliwal, you're watching Time's Drive, let's get rolling. Now before we move ahead with this video, I have a small request to make of you. If you like the kind of content that we make, please hit that like button so YouTube also knows the same. If you know someone who loves Royal Enfield motorcycles and is probably looking to buy the Himalayan 440, share this video with them and subscribe to the Time's Drive channel for more such engaging automotive content. Now before I dive into how this motorcycle is going to work for you in the city, let me just lay out the meat of the changes. If we talk about the changes, well, Royal Enfield says the brakes are now better. It feels so in riding the motorcycle, but we'll get more to that. Instrument cluster has been changed. Now this is where I'm not a big fan. Honestly, the OG Himalayan 411 cluster, it looked really nice, did its job really well. Looked different, looked like a motorcycle that wanted to go places. Now Royal Enfield has swapped it out for one that looks pretty much like any other motorcycle they have in their line-up. The Himalayan had a different factor that made it stand out from other motorcycles, even from other Royal Enfield motorcycles. I think the cluster used to play a big part and people really loved it. I think it should have been kept the same as before, but obviously, for uniformity purposes and things like that, for standardization, even across their line-up, I think this cluster has made its way. It does its job really, really well, but there is a nostalgia associated with the older one, which I would have preferred a little bit more. But it's not making a big difference to your riding experience. What will make a big difference to your riding experience is that engine. It used to be 410cc, which we used to know as the Himalayan 411. Now it's 443cc. And we know it now as the Himalayan 440. What's the change? Well, about 24.5 bhp or 34 Nm of torque. The power has increased by 4.5% from the old motorcycle. There's a 6-speed transmission on offer. If we talk about displacement, then only 33cc has been added to this engine and the gearbox has gone from a 5-speed to a 6-speed. But those changes have made a world of difference to the riding experience of the Himalayan 440. In the 411, you used to reach that ceiling around 90-95, where the engine was kind of near its upper limit and you had run out of gears to keep comfortably cruising on the highway. With the 440, both of those problems have been solved. At 100 in 6th gear, you're riding the Himalayan 440 quite effortlessly. It's not like the engine is getting strained or the RPM is going too high. You don't feel like you need another gear and that is the big highlight of this motorcycle. The powertrain has now become a much more relaxed unit. And I would like to add one more thing. Royal Enfield has also mentioned that they have worked on the NVH of this motorcycle. That means the noise, vibration and harshness. And I have to say this. This is a brand new motorcycle that I'm riding. It's only been ridden about 200-250 kilometres. So, time will tell how this story develops. But for now, it does feel that refinement factor, that added refinement factor has come through. Now, this is not a particular place where the vibrations have reduced a lot. This is still a Royal Enfield. There are vibrations. But they aren't ones that bother you. From the handlebar, from the pegs, most of the vibrations have kind of been eliminated over here. There are still some that creep through. But I will say this. They don't really make you uncomfortable or too tired for that matter. They just feel like character and that's actually a good thing. So, that's where the changes in the powertrain have come. It's made it a lot more easier to ride this motorcycle. Last but not the least, you also got the capability to mount a top box at the back. This option wasn't available in the old Himalayan. But now, this structural integration has been done. You can load a box up to 7 kilos over here. Now, these were the meat of the changes. But exactly how is the Himalayan 440 easier to ride in the city? Let's get to that now. So, I think the number one thing that makes it a great city motorcycle is the fact that the Himalayan 440, while being an ADV, is not a huge one at that. It might look tall, but it's a really narrow, compact motorcycle and that pays great dividends in the city. When you are stuck in traffic or you have to ride in narrow spaces, this motorcycle feels at home. It doesn't feel like it's taking up a lot of space on the road. Or if you have to take a tight turn, even in those areas, the Himalayan 440 has great low-speed turning behaviour. It feels really composed doing all of that. And these are things that really, really count in urban areas. When you are riding around people, when you have to be really careful of different vehicles around you, things like that are really, really easy on the Himalayan 440. Next up, ergonomics. If you are going to ride this motorcycle in the city every day, well, ergonomics have to really matter. Because it's about your daily comfort and that should not be compromised. After all, it's a great part of the experience of riding the motorcycle. And as you can see, I've got the bike on both the wheels, flat on the ground and my feet are almost flat. Now, I'm about 5'7 in height and I'm able to flat-foot this motorcycle really, really easily. So, first of all, when you are in traffic, when you are standing in red light, you will be able to flat-foot this motorcycle very easily. And what I said earlier that this is a narrow motorcycle, that helps because your feet easily reach the ground. Next, let's come to the reach to the bars and it is a slightly raised position for the handlebar and it makes you bring your hands up a little bit but that adds the kind of leverage you have over the handlebars. So, first of all, it's an easy, relaxed, neutral riding position but when you do need to, when you do need to make a gap, it's very easy to put some effort into the bars and just drop the motorcycle into a gap. I did not expect this motorcycle to make gaps as easily as I was able to do with it in the traffic, especially considering the fact that this got a 21-inch front and a 17-inch rear. It's a mismatch that way and it's not really meant for city riding but surprisingly, it does hold up really, really well. Now, one thing you will have to keep in mind are the brakes. You've got decent feel from the levers over here, nothing to write home about but obviously, Himalayan 440, it's got long travel suspension at the front and sometimes it does catch you out because in a situation where you're applying the brakes really, really hard, that front does need to compress. It takes that time and that time gets added to your braking time. Now, that's one of the caveats I faced with riding this motorcycle in the city. Never really ride it at its full limit because when you will need to brake, you will need that extra second. So, if you're not someone who's going to be just on the throttle all the time, I don't think you'll find this to be a big problem. Once you do adjust to it, there is an adjustment period with any new motorcycle. I think you will understand how the braking works and it will become a tad bit easier for you. But yes, that disadvantage of that long travel suspension compressing every time you get on the brake hard is something you will have to adapt with in your riding style. Now, apart from that, let's also talk about standing up because can't do it right now but you'll see a video of me doing it on your screen. But the thing over here is this, people think that standing up on a motorcycle is only for when you're riding off-road and I'm going to say these kind of people are wrong because they've obviously not lived in a city like New Delhi or Mumbai or Chennai or Pune. You see, what do all these cities have in common? Well, they're metro cities and they're getting choked every day with traffic. So, sometimes you can see traffic lined up in front of you but you can't really do anything about it. And I think once you stand up on a motorcycle, you get a lot better look at what's in front of you and you can actually decide your route home pretty much early on seeing how much traffic is there in front of you. Another example is when the rains come in and things get waterlogged, you want great visibility up ahead and sitting down on your motorcycle with a car in front of you doesn't really allow you to do that. But on a motorcycle like Himalayan, you can simply just stand up, look over the car in front of you and gauge what conditions are like up ahead. And obviously, this kind of a setup in rainy conditions, if there's a motorcycle you should be riding, the Himalayan 440 is one of them with the upswept exhaust and everything. This is a better motorcycle to take care of conditions like that. And when you do stand up, your legs, they lock around the tank really, really well. I have zero complaints in this department. The narrow tank, it just feels like it's meant to get you to stand up and make you ride this motorcycle. So I think in terms of ergonomics, the Himalayan 440 is very comfortably placed when it comes to being a city commuter motorcycle. Now while the Himalayan 440 is a great bike for the city and for going to Ladakh as well, there is a big compromise involved in both those applications. You see, these spoke-type wheels, they're great for adding strength to the wheel when going off-road. They add great amount to the look of this motorcycle. Kaafi achi lagti hai spoke wheels ke saath. But still, you've got a tube-type tyre in there. And while I didn't talk about the weight of the motorcycle earlier, which is 199 kilos, because it feels surprisingly light to move around for its weight, I'm not saying it's a light motorcycle, I'm just saying it feels surprisingly light to move around. Once you do get a puncture and that tube instantly deflates, you will be left with a 199-kilo motorcycle that you will be pushing either in a city or out in the hills in Ladakh. And that's going to be a major problem. Now people have been calling out Royal Enfield for this for a long, long time and still a solution is not there. The only way I see this happening is that you go to the aftermarket and either get alloys for this motorcycle, which will completely ruin the look of this, or you get spoke-type wheels, which are tubeless and they are an expensive proposition. I think Royal Enfield should be doing a little bit better over here because seriously, pushing a 199-kilo motorcycle is no joke when you get a puncture. Now at Rs 2.29 lakh, I think the Himalayan 440 is offering phenomenal value. Let me just give you some context, the Himalayan 411, when that was discontinued, it was priced at Rs 2.23 lakh. So basically, only a Rs 6,000 increment has happened over here. Now if you have a chunk of change left, maybe you can use it to accessorize the motorcycle. Royal Enfield will be offering a lot of accessories for this and obviously the aftermarket will not be far behind. You can actually accessorize it for your daily use in the city or add stuff like a top box for when the Ladakh trip finally makes it out of the group chat. Or if you really save up, maybe you can go for tubeless spoked wheels because they will really enhance the proposition of owning a motorcycle like the Himalayan 440. Now ultimately, why you should and why you shouldn't be looking at the Himalayan 440. Well, for starters, if you are someone who loves relaxed riding, wants a reliable commuter for everyday riding that can take care of 99% of the problems the road throws its way, the Himalayan 440 is going to be a great bet for someone like that. One reason why you should avoid this motorcycle and that will come down to if you like to ride in a sporty manner all the time. That means you are really fast and loose with that throttle hand. Well, in a case like that, while the Himalayan 440 will be able to support you to a certain extent, it's not outrightly engineered for being a fast or a quick motorcycle. You will be left a little disappointed in that regard. This is the kind of motorcycle that likes to take it easy, take it slow and that's where the speed comes in. This is not a horsepower game, it's a torque game, I would say over here. So if you are someone who really likes to hustle their motorcycles, then you would probably be better off looking at a KTM 390 Adventure, which is obviously in a much higher price bracket. But if you are someone who likes to take it easy, wants a relaxed motorcycle that can do the everyday grind and also take them to Ladakh, in that case, I think the Himalayan 440 makes a great case. Thank you so much for watching this video and until the next one, goodbye.