If you liked the Royal Enfield Himalayan but thought it was a tad bit under-powered, the Indian bike maker will soon have that sorted. In a recent interview, Royal Enfield CEO Siddhartha Lal said that the company is working on a bigger displacement Himalayan, based on customer feedback. The adventure tourer was launched last year and while it has been appreciated for its off-roading capabilities, there was always the feeling that the motorcycle could do with an additional 8-10 bhp of power.
In an interview to Motorcycle Magazine, Siddhartha Lal said, "We have selected which models we will be making bigger and more powerful versions of that we have today, and the Himalayan is one of those. But because our Indian customer says so, not anyone overseas."
The Himalayan is well equipped off-road, but lacks the cruising grunt
Lal specified that while the demand for a higher capacity motorcycles is more evident in international markets, it will be working only on products that meet the Indian requirements first. Presently, India accounts for 96 per cent of Royal Enfield's total sales volumes and the bike maker will only be able to achieve the economies of scale if it can produce the right volumes of a single product. Not just the Himalayan, Lal confirmed RE's other bikes too will get larger displacement variations.
The Royal Enfield CEO also acknowledged that it's beneficial to have higher capacity bikes for export markets. "I recognise of course that this [higher capacity motorcycles] is a benefit for export sales, and as we get close to meeting demand in India for our products, then we must start to lift our sales overseas. In the next five-year horizon, we intend Royal Enfield should be number one in global sales in the middleweight segment," Lal said.
Royal Enfield has been aggressive about its operations in India as well as overseas, and has been working on a whole new set of products. The Himalayan is part of the company's new wave of motorcycles and really put forth the brand in a completely new segment.
RE hasn't specified the displacement of the bigger engine
While details on a larger capacity Himalayan is not known, it is possible that the big motor will be an iteration of the newly-developed Long Stroke (LS) engine that currently powers the adventure tourer. Could RE introduce a parallel-twin engine on the Himalayan? That is possible and also reduce development costs. The motorcycle presently uses a 411 cc single-cylinder unit, now with fuel injection, churns out 24.5 bhp and 32 Nm of torque. While the power figures may be enough for those upgrading from smaller capacity bikes, the Himalayan is a little bland for more experienced riders.
Of course, the 500 cc segment accounts for only 10 per cent of Royal Enfield's total sales and the larger capacity Himalayan won't be a volumes puller. Instead, it will be a more lucrative option targeted at the more experienced set of riders. We do not expect the bigger Himalayan to arrive anytime soon though. The company is working on its new parallel-twin engined cafe racer, and will arrive later this year.
Source: Motorcycle Magazine
