Recently a photo of Royal Enfield’s first electric bike made its way into social media. Now we have an official document outlining RE’s plans to develop a proper ADV bike. This is not the recently spotted parallel-twin-powered Royal Enfield scrambler. It will be a true-blue adventure bike.
The adventure bike, which is expected to be launched as the Himalayan 650, is listed as a derivative model of the lead model (the Interceptor 650). It will undergo significant reworking to ensure it serves its intended purpose.
The wire-spoke wheels on this ADV are in off-road sizes. The front rim is larger in diameter than the rear. The ADV stance is tall and upright, with a scooped-out rider’s seat and a tall handlebar.
This Design brief suggests that the rider’s triangle appears to be quite roomy. And the large windscreen should provide a significant amount of wind protection.
A rear luggage rack, an upswept high-mounted exhaust exit, and a sump guard are other ADV features. The adventure bike also appears to have more ground clearance than the Interceptor and Continental GT 650. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect more suspension travel on this bike.
It’ll be interesting to see how heavy this adventure bike will be. The Interceptor is already around 200kg, and the Super Meteor 650 is north of 240kg. The Royal Enfield Himalayan 650 will almost weigh more than the Interceptor because it is built to take a beating.
This is good news for Royal Enfield fans who have long wished for a Himalayan 650. While it is unclear how far away this bike is or what it will be called and whether it will be part of the Himalayan family or have its own name.
The good news is that it appears the people’s wishes will be granted. And the 650 family tree outlines plans for a slew of new models based on the twin-cylinder platform. We are not only talking about the Shotgun and the Scrambler.
Source: ACI
