The Royal Enfield Himalayan ,great value.

[nathanm]

Just been out on the bike with the Powertronic fitted and kind of working okay. It's still running a bit rich, even after running the configuration programme. You can fine tune but I've not got my head around that yet.

Subjectively it seems to give more zip and surge in the midrange. Objectively, riding it with a guy on a stock bike today, it nudges about a bike length or two ahead on the acceleration away from a junction. I have a short stretch of dual carriageway near me where on the stock bike rolling on from 50-70mph in fourth and fifth it hit a GPS recorded 69mph before the roundabout at the end. With the Poweretronic it made around 70 to 71, so no huge gain. On the motorway it seemed to accelerate harder down the slip road and cruised at a GPS 76mph with a top speed of 83mph, which is same as stock. It does seem to pick up on the throttle better.

All in all then no great gains from the simple plug and play operation. I believe that maybe with a can and other altered parts it might improve slightly, but that feels like a never ending path which I'm not sure I want to go down.

The unit also robs the bike of the underseat storage and I'd be inclined to think that it would void the warranty if anything went wrong with the engine.

The guys at Powertronic are very helpful and dispatched a new unit from India in 2 days and I'm sure will talk me through the process of leaning it off a bit. I'd bypass Hitchcock's and just buy direct with them as Hitchcock's don't seem to want to get involved with the fitting or troubleshooting, so you may as well save your £100.

So in summary, unfortunately I think without a lot of effort the performance is what it is, and if it's not enough for you, then this isn't going to change that. The Powertronic enhances things a touch, and is something to mess around with in the garage. Personally, I feel it's better suited to sports bikes than a adventure tourer.

I shall await suggestion that I am fabricating all speed data for nefarious gains, although I have video evidence if required.

[minkyhead]

RE built the Himalayan for the Indian market and therefore aimed it for shorter, lighter riders. I’m 5’8” and it suits me fine I guess if you are six foot then it would not be the bike for you. Then if I was that tall I would probably have got an XT 660. When I placket up mine from Bruntingthorpe they said they had no plans for a 650 Himalayan but they were working on designs for a replacement. They seemed quite surprised at how well the Himalayan had sold in the UK and US.
For me is is a vastly superior bike to my CCM, or a CRF, and more practical. The build quality is way above the CCM and at least as good as the Honda. On the road it is more comfortable and relaxing to ride than either of them. You could pretty much jump straight on it and tour the world without having to add panniers, racks, larger tank etc which is a big plus over the Honda.
Cheers Jak

dunno jak i am now 5 years this month with me ccm and its never let me down full braaap 50odd hp rally raid gearbox over 1100hours running and it starts and runs as good as the day i bought it ...sure things have broke and been fixed ..its never seen the ccm factory since the day i picked it up ..dirtbikes break stuff and that is a fact of life ? the engine has exceeded expectation and shows no signs of wear that you could reasonbly expect at this age for a high tune motor

...i think to be fair you bought it to commute on and bought into the 5000 mile service interval and imho you cant do that you really cant ..5 days off road and mine is strip seviced ready for the next weekend ....and the himmy is way way better at comuting in traffic it demand nothing not even a gearchange ..where the ccm is a ill temered bitch when troddling at 20mph

..too be brutal the ccm is on a different planet than the enfield and the two bikes for me have /would have very different roles i dont get on the ccm to conserve fuel or relax or worryabout depreciation or steadily tour or start a world tour any of that stuff it has and is always for me been a weekend warroir and for me has delivered that without the use of a van or trailer in spades .... i get on it to to have a real blast on and off road on a good dirty weekend it runs perfect and will run with any 690 or 701 to 85 mph where its gets a bit unstable with me shit tyres but whatever it is it aint boring ...thats a fact ..open the gas at 70mph and it just fecks off at at very very impesive rate airbox booms and it fecking howls like fuck its fragile but impessive ..i still love it ....its exciting to ride with the back of the mind payback thet it could let go it wont run forever in this state of tune .... so if it lets go ill ship it home and fix it .. thats what it is and what you can expect from a motor like this ... i think its done pretty dam well given the amount of braaaap it has on tap ..thats the nature of the beast and im ok with it it is not a easy own its a very fickle bike to live with but in there its got a lot of good shit in places ita a work of art the balence of the thing on steep rocky shit is like cheating ...in places it looks like a four year old has put certain bits on it and its wiring is a aquired taste ...but after five years im know it well ..ive had the leaks the wiring the speedo the struts horn ..bearings nose brackets fracture and all sorts of niggly shit but its never ever let me down on some pretty remote places ..its done ok as far as im concerned owt now is a bonus ..it shows no signs of remotly needing opening up so far .....so bang bang im fucked now ive said it

.. .i wouldnt waste me ccm comuting to work it was never its intended role imho i keep it for them weekends that suit what its good at ....get the feuling sorted and get the gear ratios correct and final drive tuned in ...not a easy feat i grant you but its then a real off road propersition ..just point the two bikes at a 25 foot sand dune and you may find its quite rightly horses for courses

you may say this is unfair but if you state the enfield vastly supirior you need to quantify that it quite simply isnt in the same ballpark imho and was never meant to be they are not really a nywhere near a like for like ..thats why i used me old klr as its a fairer example albeit a650 the weight and stuff were similar ..that too would simply bury itself up to the axles under its own weigh and lack of braaap from the rear wheel .take the ccm to cowm quarry and i swear it will climb a wall if you asked it 100foot 70 degree jobbies are a breeze and im a shit rider

me crf 300 has been modified and built for a fair wedge less than the enfield costs and has way more weather poitection and legroom ect ..
..in fairness you have never ridden it so you have no real idea how they compare its night and day faster in all measures and better suspended by a big margin . so to throw some of them avvatages away i needed a bit more road attitude shall we say ...thats a fair ask i think ?


so all that aside and back in the land of reasonble expectation ...? i had the idea of a road tourer /unmettled stuff like salter fell and cam high road still off roading but without the big rock steps and steep embankments and all the other stuff that you come accross on a goup ride out and im sure it would do all that easy enough ....use it for me part time job and a general runaround and all that stuff .... like i say i could amend the seat the screen pegs and all that stuff
the one thing i cant amend is the engine ...and the 25hp for 18okgm s is for me a the deal breaker ....i liked it and could see a lot of good points to it heck i even like the styling ..save the puke coulour of the test mule .....but given its more of a travel b road bike it needs a a bit more go ..to justify its weight and suspension shortcomings just a bit of fun a little kick or a mini powerband or summet to stirr abit of interest in the box ..get it into 5th and i dont want to kick down a gear theres not much point ..sorry but for me its a bit too dull

thats it peace out

[Jak*]

I do not disagree with anything you have said Minky. The reason why I think the Himalayan is the superior bike of the three for me, is that it does want I want straight out of the box. I have fitted the factory panniers, but before that did use throw overs without having to modify anything. You are someone who obviously has the skill and time to invest in getting your bike how you want it. Whilst I enjoy tinkering with old bikes and have rebuilt plenty over the years I do not expect to have to do that to a modern bike. With the CCM I cleaned and checked it over every week, changed the oil and filter every 2000 miles. I checked the oil every time I filled it up, approximately every 200 miles. The finish was awful, and as you point out the standard factory fuelling and gearbox is not right. It also ate tyres and chains, which I grant you is the price you pay for the power.
In nearly 6000 miles I have cleaned the Himalayan every two or three weeks and let the dealer service it. I do look at the oil level and tyre pressures and have a general check when I clean it. I have adjusted the chain twice.
I have not owned a CRF, but have ridden one and found it too tall and buzzy for me. I can see why most people would prefer it off road but it did not suit my riding style. Again with modifications it may make a good adventure bike and it depends on your definition of what that is and your expectations.
The Himalayan is great for commuting. In about a months time I will be going to Portugal and back on mine, so will have a better view of its abilities on a longer trip. The weekend after I will be doing the Taffy, so will have a better view of its off road capabilities. I did do the Taffy on the CCM and it was great, the second time I was going to but it was having a three month wait in the factory for a new engine. I never went to Europe on it as the first trip I had planned was not long after I bought it and with the original seat I could hardly walk after a three hundred mile day on it. The second planned trip I went on my Guzzi as the CCM was back in the factory again.
Cheers Jak

[Mike Horton]

Jak I hope you enjoy you're trips I'm sure it will be great. I love riding the himalayan slower sounds and rides so much better 60mph is a nice cruising speed in any case. Are you buying some auxiliary fuel cans they can be bought for £30 each with the fittings

[Jak*]

Hi Mike I was not thinking about the fuel cans although I would like to know where you can get them for that price. I have had nearly 250 miles out of the tank before I bottled it and filled up. Usually I do round about 200 which is four hours riding on average so that seems enough. Apart from on Sundays I have never had an issue getting fuel in any of the countries I am going to. I think I will be using some Altura cycle panniers, which with a slight mod, clip on the tank frames.
Cheers Jak

[Mike Horton]

Hi Mike I was not thinking about the fuel cans although I would like to know where you can get them for that price. I have had nearly 250 miles out of the tank before I bottled it and filled up. Usually I do round about 200 which is four hours riding on average so that seems enough. Apart from on Sundays I have never had an issue getting fuel in any of the countries I am going to. I think I will be using some Altura cycle panniers, which with a slight mod, clip on the tank frames.
Cheers Jak

Jak here's the link re the cans :-
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bmsteV09
Anti static plastic quite rugged

[Mike Horton]

Finally got my himalayan back after my nightmare warranty issues. Great to be back on it

[johnnyboxer]

Finally got my himalayan back after my nightmare warranty issues

What were those nightmare warranty issues ??

[Mike Horton]

Misting up of the clocks and panniers rails corrosion.. I or issues but took 3 months to sort. Initially they wanted to pull the clocks apart to dry and waterproof them. I ended up contacting RE direct who ignored me had to use social media to kick up a storm. I now have new clocks and rails which have been powder coated. The rails were not the same level of quality as the bike frame.
Minor issues that could a have been sorted early doors.
Just think RE really need to work on customer focus seems to be way down their list.
Shame cos other than that it's great. I'm off on a trip from Midlands to Brighton on Monday with it.

[Jak*]

They seem to use a different process for the pannier frames than the rest of the bike, perhaps they use an external manufacturer for them. Shame cos the quality of finish on the main frame seems really good. Even the pannier frames are vastly better than the finish on all the allegedly powder coated bits on my CCM, that started falling off after a couple of months.
I have not had the clocks issue so far.
Cher’s Jak