Royal Enfield dealerships across India that IAB
spoke to have commenced bookings for the Royal Enfield Himalayan ABS variant
for INR 5,000. The ABS version is already on sale in Royal Enfield’s global
markets.
Yesterday, at the launch of the Royal Enfield
Classic 350 Signals edition, Rudratej Singh (Rudy), President - Royal Enfield
confirmed that the Himalayan and other RE 500 cc motorcycles would receive ABS
variants in September. Rudy said that the entire Royal Enfield line-up would be
updated with dual-channel ABS by the end of this year, much earlier than the
government set deadline of 1 April 2019.
Similar to the Classic 350 Signals edition, the
Himalayan will get a dual-channel ABS unit from Bosch. Royal Enfield dealerships
in Mumbai are quoting an on-road price of around INR 2.15 lakh. The stock Royal
Enfield Himalayan costs INR 1.95 lakh (on the road in Mumbai).
Deliveries are likely to begin next week. It remains
to be seen if Royal Enfield offers switchable ABS unit (Enduro mode) on the
Himalayan, to lock the rear wheel during off-road riding. Note that RE is yet
to announce the ABS variant's price.
In September 2017, Royal Enfield launched the
BS4-compliant Himalayan with fuel injection. It employs a 411 cc, single-cylinder,
oil-cooled motor with fuel injection that is capable of churning out 24.5 bhp
of maximum power at 6500 rpm while generating 32 Nm of peak torque at 4250 rpm.
The engine is mated to a 5-speed gearbox.
The Himalayan ABS variant will likely be available
in the same three colour variants of Snow White, Granite Black, and Sleet.
Suspension hardware includes 41 mm telescopic front forks and a linkage-type
rear mono-shock. Braking force comes from a 300 mm front disc and a 240 mm rear
rotor with ByBre-sourced callipers. The Himalayan competes in the
same segment as the BMW G 310 GS and the Kawasaki Versys-X 300.
