DriveIT | The Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Ride Review

Today I'm playing hooky at work because this is my last day with the Himalayan and I just don't want to let go. The new Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 is an impressive machine compared to the old 411. This machine is a revelation and after riding it for the past week on the roads and the highway, well, here are my thoughts. I love this new seat. It's comfy, connected and feels completely natural. The seat height is accessible, I'm 5-7 and I never struggle to get my foot down properly. The ride quality is outstanding. The long travel suspension is beautifully sprung and damned. This helps crush everything in its path without upsetting the rider. In fact, I rode sitting down through most of the badly broken sections courtesy of the motorcycle stress suspension refraining from kicking me in the back, the controls, clutch, throttle, gear shift, brakes and even moving the Hyderabad feel light. I did not experience any fatigue while riding, even in now the brakes. Oh the brakes. The bike has a great set of brakes. They're responsive at the slightest touch and are well calibrated. Now this is the MVP here for me. The new digital instrumentation is just too good. Now I hate putting my phone on the handlebar, mostly because I have broken a couple of phones when the phone clamp failed. Reading the maps via phone mirroring on the pod just simplifies things. Android users can do even more with music and phone calls and not just the functionality. It looks good too, a step for RE towards modernization. The engines performance is strong and enjoyable, especially in the mid and top range. The power and top delivery are also very friendly but in the lower range. I felt the performance to be slightly underwhelming, but once you cross a 3000 RPM mark this motorcycle just pulls. Now the bad part, the engine might have strong mid and top range performance, but vibrations are still part of the package. I mean, it's not bad enough to ruin your riding experience, but enough to leave you with buzzing hands after the long ride. Then feel a tad cumbersome at crawling speeds when riding in car traffic given its top heavy nature and one can feel the heat from the engine and slow moving traffic. So skip the short and the chinos when you're about the 4:50. As an upgrade to the Himalayan 411, the new 450 is sensational. It is quicker, more refined, more comfortable, better engineered and great fun to ride. It also takes away plenty of shortcomings of the older bike. The bike just asks to be ridden and will make you call to leave the bumper to Bumper City traffic and take to the Open Rd. And that is why in my book the royal entry Himalayan is a winner. Now my phone keeps ringing and I think it is time to go back to the city, although this bike wants to just keep riding.