Himalayan 650 will use RE’s 648cc twin-cylinder motor but gets premium componentry like USD fork, TFT display.
Of all the upcoming Royal Enfield models that are being worked upon, the Himalayan 650 is one of the most interesting ones. A sensibly priced adventure tourer with a twin-cylinder engine has long been asked for by enthusiasts and it seems their prayers will soon be answered. We have laid eyes on the first images of the Royal Enfield Himalayan 650 and there’s a lot to unpack here.
- Front wheel likely smaller than a 21-inch unit
- First Indian motorcycle to use dual front disc brakes
- TFT display appears similar to Himalayan 450
Royal Enfield Himalayan 650: what can be seen?
Clearly visible in these spy images is the air/oil-cooled, 648cc, twin-cylinder motor from Royal Enfield at the heart of an ADV tourer motorcycle. What is different compared to the other RE 650cc bikes that are on sale today is the presence of an upswept two-into-one exhaust. This will make the Himalayan 650 the second motorcycle in the RE 650 range to use a two-into-one exhaust after the soon-to-be-launched Interceptor Bear 650. We don’t expect output figures to stray too much from the 47hp/52Nm of the other 650cc Royal Enfields, although mapping and gearing will likely change.
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What is a very novel feature on the Royal Enfield Himalayan 650 is that it uses dual front disc brakes – making it the first Indian motorcycle ever to use this setup. We can also discern the presence of a USD fork, with what appear to be damping adjusters on the fork tops. This is still a very early prototype machine so the company could still be zeroing in on a damping setting for the fork. It remains to be seen if the production-spec Himalayan 650 comes with an adjustable fork or not.
Just like the Himalayan 450, the Himalayan 650 gets the Tripper TFT display as well as indicators with the taillight integrated into them. The split seat setup as well as rear grab handle is also similar to the smaller Himalayan. The tank rails as well as the fuel tank on the Himalayan 650 also bear some resemblance to the Himalayan 450 but are likely to be new units.
What is not similar to the Himalayan 450 is the front wheel. It is hard to guage what exact size the wheel is but it doesn’t seem to be a 21 inch unit at the front. Where the Himalayan 450 is a capable off-roader, Royal Enfield will have likely geared the 650 towards more road usage, given the heft involved due to the twin-cylinder engine. Most road-biased ADVs on the market today come with 19/17-inch wheel setups so it is likely that the Himalayan 650 will also stick with that configuration.
Since Royal Enfield has a lot of other models waiting in the wings and since this bike has only been spotted for the first time, its launch is still quite some time away.
