Let's have a look at the Royal Enfield Himalayan, specifically the
2018-2020 BS4 model, because that's the one I have. There it is, in the
picture up there. Look at all those pipes.
What does BS4 mean? It stands for Bharat Stage 4, and it's a set of
Indian vehicle emissions standards analogous to Euro 4. Bharat is one
of the Indian words for India. The Himalayan was available in BS3, BS4, and
BS6 models, roughly 2016, 2018, and 2021 in that order. It was replaced in
2023 with a new 450cc Himalayan, but I'm going to talk about the original.
Depending on your outlook the original Himalayan is either a cult adventure
legend, or a decent cheap adventure bike with some acceptable compromises, or
a poor person's BMW 1250 GS, or an underpowered pile of cack. Critics damned
its tractor-like engine and ludicrously short service intervals, fans praised
the comfortable ride, and also the fact that for £4500-5000 it undercut the
competition by around £1000.
Objectively the Himalayan has all kinds of issues, but on an emotional level
it's appealing, and as the chaps from Fortnine pointed out in
their video review of the closely-related Scram 411, it's not completely inept. The Himalayan was at the very least built
from the ground up as an adventure bike, rather than a street bike with raised
suspension, and the low-power-but-decent-torque engine is perfectly fine at
modest speeds on bad roads.
What is an adventure bike? It's a motorbike designed to travel long distances
on the road in relative comfort, and also go up and down poor-quality dirt
tracks without getting bogged down, and maybe have a go at mud tracks every
once in a while.
I live in the countryside of Southern England, land of the pothole, and the
Himalayan fits well into that environment. I also commute with it,
but if you live in London and plan to drive to work on a Himalayan you'll
probably get sick of its size and poor acceleration. And if you live really
far out in the countryside you'll worry whether it's going to start on a cold
morning. In between those two extremes it makes a lot of sense.
The optional aluminium panniers will take an airline-sized backpack,
although the mounting system - the bare metal blocks - tend to scrape the
paint from the mounts. The panniers were an optional extra, costing around
£700, but a lot of people bought them because they look great.
I haven't noticed any handling differences whatsoever with one, two, or no
panniers. They're heavy, but percentage-wise they don't add much to the
bike's overall weight. The chances of a heavily-laden, pannier-equipped
Himalayan exceeding 70mph are quite small.
There's the Itchy Boots factor. Itchy Boots is a popular motorcycling
personality who runs a Youtube channel where she rides around the world on a
motorcycle. For the first couple of years she rode a Royal Enfield Himalayan.
It was a BS4 model, just like mine. She started in India - which is why she
bought a Himalayan - then moved to Malaysia, Iran, Oman, eventually Peru, at
which point COVID intervened and she had to cut that trip short. She was a
fantastic brand ambassador for the Himalayan, albeit that she paid for it with
her own money and Royal Enfield didn't notice her until many years later.
But for every Itchy Boots there are two or three poorly-informed copycats who
churn out boring multipart adventure vlogs with droning, badly-recorded
dialogue. With a "himmy". If you plan to build a Youtube career around your
adventures with a Himalayan, you're going to have to bring your A-game,
because you'll be facing stiff competition.
This raises another point. Itchy Boots' videos are often cited as evidence of
the Himalayan's toughness. But she bought her bike brand new, and although she
subjected it to a tonne of abuse she kept up-to-date with the servicing, and
she rode it every day and generally looked after it. I mention this because
the BS4 apparently has a problem with passive battery drain whenever the bike
is left standing for a while. If you're going to buy a Himalayan on the used
market, try to get one with a full service history and preferably a dealer
warranty. Some of the electrical issues that plague the model seem to kick in
after a few years, by which time the original factory battery will have
started to wear down.
There's some debate on the internet as to whether the upper mudguard - the
beak - is superfluous, or if it helps direct airflow onto the engine.
On a physical level the bike attracted negative press in the early days
after a series of photos emerged of a BS3 model with a snapped headstock,
which left the front wheel bent forward as if it was a customised chopper.
Royal Enfield apparently revised the welding in 2020, and although I can
find a rash of forum threads about snapped headstocks, they all seem to be
talking about the same couple of bikes.
Quite infamously a footpeg fell off in one of the Himalayan's promotional
videos, at 02:32
here,
although Royal Enfield seems to have edited that out. I bought my bike used,
at the 14,000-mile mark, and although I only have a sample size of one I
haven't noticed any obvious mechanical defects. The paint could be tougher
and some of the screws have started to rust, but the bike has not yet
snapped in half.
Originally the Himalayan was purpose-built for the Indian market, at a time
when Royal Enfield was started to put its serious hat on. The BS3 model was
released in 2016. The original version had carburettors rather than fuel
injection, because Royal Enfield believed that carburettors would be easier
to fix in rural India if something went wrong.
I've never driven in India. I've never even been to India. It's a difficult
holiday destination - a country with the size and diversity of a continent.
A lot of people in India speak English, but they have made the language
their own, with "prepone" and "do the needful". I would need to spend months
exploring the place, but where would I go? I have however seen videos of
people riding motorbikes in India, such as this clip of a chap riding in New
Delhi:
In the words of Rudyard Kipling, if you can ride a motorcycle through Delhi,
my son, you will leave the cinema walking tall and women will desire you.
I'm not sure if Rudyard Kipling said those exact words, but that's basically
what he meant.
The point is that roads in India tend to be challenging and speeds are slow,
so the Himalayan makes perfect sense in its natural environment. It's big
and tall, with a commanding view. The 411cc long-stroke engine generates a
decent amount of torque at low revs. It's air-cooled, and after ten minutes
of driving I can feel my legs getting warm, which is a pleasant sensation
because it means that the bike has warmed up.
The oil cooler is hidden behind this guard, which I think was installed
by the previous owner.
With only 24bhp it struggles to go much faster than 75mph, but that's not an
issue on the overcrowded streets of Delhi or on poor-quality rural roads in
southern England. One issue however is rainproofing. Access to the
Himalayan's battery terminals is through the saddles:
A lesser bike would have a rainproof cover over the electrics, but the
Himalayan is better than that. As you can see the only thing stopping water
dripping in from the rear, and dripping down into the electronics, is a foam
block that's visible just next to the little green terminal. This block
isn't even fixed in place, so I make sure to put a cover on the bike when it
rains. Note how the paint on the fuel tank has been discoloured from water
pooling around the front edge of the saddle. Towards the front of the bike a
couple of cables have rubbed some paint off the front of the fuel tank, and
as mentioned the metal blocks that hold the panniers in place have rubbed
the paint off the pannier mounts.
There are a couple of mods that owners like to do. I've replaced the battery
with a brand-new Motobatt MBTX9U from
these fellows here
NB I have no commercial relation with them and I don't make money from that link,
it's just that I bought it from them and they delivered it and it worked.
The original Royal
Enfield battery was four years old and didn't keep a high charge any more.
One issue with this generation of Himalayan is a mysterious parasitic power
draw that apparently flattens the battery if the bike is left standing for a
few weeks, which is awkward if you park the bike outside.
Also pictured above are the two relays towards the bottom-right of the battery. They're filled with a white,
water-repelling substance, lots of it. I've replaced one of the relays with a
Bosch 0332201107, using a mixture of electrical contact cleaner and
dielectric grease. But not the other relay, because it seems to be jammed
solid, and it's awkward to reach.
The other upgrade I've performed is the spark plug, which I replaced with
an
NGK CR8EIX iridium spark plug. I had to unscrew the two screws
holding the fuel tank in place (pictured above) and prop the tank up
slightly to leave enough space for the plug, although thankfully I didn't
have to take the tank off.
The original plug had seen better days:
Why did I do all of this? Partially because I've never changed a spark plug,
a battery, or a relay before, and I wanted to find out how. But mainly
because my bike has an odd quirk. I have to start it twice. The first time
it roars into life... and then dies. The second time, it roars into life and
then idles, although it's a very low idle, and I have to let it warm up.
This is apparently a common issue with this generation of bike. The fuel
injection system is primitive, and it's set up to burn lean in order to pass
European emissions laws, and the large, air-cooled engine takes a while to
get up to operating temperature.
Did any of these additions change anything? The battery definitely makes the
bike start harder. The spark plug and relay made no difference, but they
didn't hurt either. Another popular mod involves opening up the dashboard
and popping in a moisture-absorbing sachet, because the instruments tend to
fog up slightly.
Unusually the BS4 Himalayan has a choke:
It's the control with the long white arrow underneath it. It's not actually
a choke, it just increases the idling RPM to 2000rpm or so. Frustratingly
it's spring-loaded, so I have to sit on the bike holding the switch towards
me for a minute before driving off. The post-BS4 models did away with this
and presumably just modified the engine management firmware to idle the bike
faster after starting up.
History
The original, carburetted BS3 model was launched in India in 2016. In 2018
Enfield upgraded the emissions system to meet BS4 / Euro 4 standards and
launched the bike internationally. They also swapped the carburettors for
fuel injection and added ABS. Here's what the dashboard of my BS4 model
looks like:
The original, BS3 model only had five lights on the dashboard (turn, turn,
neutral, battery, and high beam). The BS4 model has ABS and engine
management warning lights as well. The LCD in the bottom-right is a compass.
Is it accurate? I have no idea. I haven't formally tested it. I'm generally
too busy looking at the road.
In late 2020 Enfield upgraded the bike again, to meet India's new BS6
emissions standards, which are similar to Euro 5. Visually the upgrade
included some subtle changes to the exhaust system, fuel tank geometry, and
front crash bars. For 2021 Enfield added a dial to the dashboard for the
company's Tripper navigation system, which pairs with a mobile phone.
This happened rapidly after the move to BS6, but there are apparently BS6
bikes with BS4 components.
The Himalayan was formally discontinued in November 2023, making way for a
completely new replacement, the Himalayan 450, but in practice BS6
Himalayans remained on sale brand new for several months afterwards, as
dealers sold off their stock. By all accounts the later the Himalayan the
better the build quality.
In 2022 Royal Enfield also launched the Scram 411, which is
essentially a BS6 Himalayan with a revised front end. The Himalayan has a
17" wheel at the back and a 21" wheel at the front, whereas the Scram has a
19" front wheel and a simpler dashboard. They are otherwise the same. The
Scram is slightly lighter, and it can be modified into a mini-Himalayan -
this owner has added a front screen:
The Scram's visual trademarks are the two panels that straddle each side of
the fuel tank. They have ROYAL ENFIELD written on them. As far as I can tell
they're just pieces of metal intended to cover up some screw holes. As of
late 2024 the Scram 411 remains in production.
Performance
What's the Himalayan like to drive? Here's a video of me, driving the
Himalayan in a circuit around Fovant, in Wiltshire:
I have very limited experience of riding motorcycles. I completed my CBT on
a 50cc and then a 125cc automatic scooter. Then I spent six months riding
around on a Peugeot Tweet 125cc automatic scooter, then six months on a
Yamaha YS125 geared bike, and then a couple of weeks of absolute terror
riding around cones on some kind of 650cc Kawasaki, with which I passed my
test. But most of my riding has been on a Yamaha YS125, which I covered in
a previous post.
The YS125 only has 10bhp, but it's small and light. In contrast my Himalayan
has 24bhp, more than twice as much power, but it's a lot heavier - 199kg vs
120kg - so before testing it out I wondered if it would be more or less the
same.
And in a way it is, but with an extra 20mph. Performance-wise the bike has a
narrow rev range, centred around 4000rpm. That's when it sounds happiest and also produces the most
torque. 2000rpm is borderline stalling and anything above 5000rpm sounds
scary. Subjectively, the bike feels as if it wants to travel between 20mph
and 50mph. Below 20mph I feel as if I'm just turning petrol into noise - it
doesn't accelerate from a stop very well - and above 50mph I feel as if I
have to push it. Just slightly at 60mph, but it feels as if it really wants to be going at 50mph. I suspect it would top
out at around 70-75mph, perhaps more comfortably without the panniers.
On my bike at least 30mph is 3000rpm in third, 60mph is either 5000rpm in
fourth, or 4000rpm in fifth. There's an odd gap between the two of first and the bottom of second, so in a 20mph zone I have to choose between roaring in first or chugging in second. But it will drive in first without lurching, perhaps because it's so heavy.
The engine sounds like a bucket of bolts, and it benefits enormously from
warming up. If I don't warm it up properly it has an alarming habit of
cutting out just as I start to apply throttle in first, apparently a common
issue with the BS4 bikes because they run lean. In contrast my YS125 started on the button and
didn't miss a beat in the 1500-or-so-miles I owned it. The YS125 would
probably beat the Himalayan from 0-20mph, but it hits a brick wall at 50mph
and struggles to go any faster. On the other hand acceleration in the
Himalayan from 30mph to 50mph - as you might experience when leaving a
village - is surprisingly peppy. That's where the bike seems to come into
its own.
One big advantage of a heavy bike is that the Himalayan feels stable at
A-road speeds. My YS125 tended to wobble in the wind. It tramlined when
confronted with ruts in the road, and riding at 50-60mph was terrifying.
However the Himalayan cuts through wind and glides over bumps and potholes
without breaking stride, and as depicted in the video above riding at 50-60mph
was actually quite fun.
Handling-wise it's surprisingly nimble. The turning circle is nothing to
write home about, and moving the bike into a parking spot by hand is a pain - although there are plenty of grab handles - but I have no problem steering
it around town. Getting on the bike when it has the panniers fitted is a
fine art that involves some tricky leg gymnastics.
And it looks great, there is that. Mine has a Lake Blue paint scene
that was introduced in 2020. Can I think of anything else? It costs around
£10 to fill the tank from mostly empty to mostly full. Fuel economy is
apparently around 80mpg, and the tank is apparently 15 litres, so that's
coincidentally a range of around eighty Persian parasangs. Road tax
is £84 on account of the 400cc+ engine, vs £55 for a 300cc Honda CRF300L or
£25 for a 125cc. The panniers have tie-down rails, and when both are fitted
they provide a large flat surface that encompasses the real seat. I mention this in case you need to transport a small television or a microwave oven or something. It could conceivably be done.
Overall the OG Himalayan is big, slow, ponderous, but stable on crap
roads. It loves to travel between 20-50mph, but it will cruise at 60mph
without complaint. As an off-road bike my hunch is that you'll grow tired of
having to pick its 199kg weight up from the mud, and as an in-town commuter it's very big, and as
mentioned there are all kinds of fiddly reliability issues - my suggestion
is that you buy the latest BS6 model you can find - and objectively the
Honda CRF300L is faster, more powerful, and better on dirt, but the
Himalayan looks great and have a certain amount of cachet, so there is that.
