3 Things I’ve Learned From 3 Months of Royal Enfield ‘Ownership’

Keen to get a feel for one of Royal Enfield’s most popular motorcycles, the Himalayan 450 is a bike I couldn’t wait to get my hands on and it has not disappointed so far.

I’ve ridden the bike for close to 1000 miles in the UK and in that time I’ve covered all types of roads and used it in all kinds of weather conditions to get a feel for how this bike performs. Long story short, it’s done a superb job in every area but there are some clear areas where I’ve been particularly impressed.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far

It’s just as much fun on the road as it is off

When you look at the Himalayan 450, off-roading is where you think this bike would particularly shine, and while it does, the fun element on the road has not been lost on me and that’s in large part because of its extremely chuckable, easy-to-ride and confidence-inspiring nature.

I’m a rider who loves the mountains and there’s plenty of them around the UK to get my teeth into. I did just that very early on to see what the bike was capable of and it responded very well.

The knobbly Continental Twinduro tyres might suggest it’s better served for off-roading, big puddles and overcoming hefty sized rocks at slow speeds, and yes that’s also true, but don’t be fooled, you can have just as much fun with this bike in the twisties.

No matter the types of roads I’ve taken the Himalayan 450 across, the bike has proven to be very efficient, which is largely down to its large 17-litre fuel tank. The 450 gets around 50mpg on average and on a full fuel tank has a range of just under 300 miles, even when riding on open roads and motorways.

Stable, but quite heavy

The rideability of the bike is something I expected to be strong but it's been better than advertised and it does all the small things well. Considering its small stature from an engine point of view, which comprises a liquid-cooled single-cylinder unit that produces 39.4bhp at 8,000rpm and 29.5Ib ft of torque at 5,500rpm, there’s plenty of grunt to get you off the mark quickly, both from a standing start or when up and running.

The bike, though, is anything but small in terms of its appearance and also the weight, which for short riders could be a slight problem. It’s not the lightest bike to move around, but once you’re up and running it’s as agile as you would want from a small-capacity adventure bike. Easily chuckable when leaning into tight bends, it also feels very comfortable during quick direction changes.

When travelling on the motorway for long periods of time, and in every condition imaginable including high winds, the bike didn’t let me down thanks to its very stable presence. I thought very windy conditions would pose a problem and cause the bike to move around underneath me, but no, it has been a complete non-issue.

Is it worth the price so far?

In short, yes! I’ve been riding the Kaza Brown coloured Himalayan 450 which is the cheapest of the five options at £5,750, while the highest priced is the Kamel White variant which comes in at £6,250 with everything else in between.

Grip if you’re looking to fling the Himmy 450 around mountain passes might become an issue if you’re a very fast rider, but its knobbly tyres provide more than enough stability for us mere mortals. Its dual 43mm upside-down fork suspension set-up at the front and linkage monoshock at the rear makes the bike very trustworthy across all types of road conditions.

Like any Royal Enfield I’ve ridden before, the gearing is quite long which is fine, but especially at slow speeds you want to make sure you’re in the right one otherwise it can often lead to some uncomfortable chugging from the single-cylinder.

For the amount of bike you’re getting, its strong capabilities and, touch wood, reliability so far so far, I would advise in favour of choosing this bike if you’re looking to find a do-it-all small-capacity adventure bike. That said, the four-inch dash is not the boujie-est that you will come across and could do with a little more glam.

It’s also worth noting that for shorter riders, manoeuvrability might not be the easiest although the seat height is adjustable, both up and down. Its standard 825mm set-up can be reduced to 805mm or brought up to 845mm.

The bike will be staying with us at Visordown into the new year where we will continue riding and adding miles to the bike before a full six-month review on the Himalayan 450 will be released around the end of March.