Hi Pete, when you say 'chain concentric with the swing arm', do you mean the gearbox sprocket is concentric with the swingarm pivot, giving constant chain tension? Great feature if so.
2024 Himalayan 450
- Thread starter Arsey
- Start date
Waldspirale2
Registered user
A bit surprised about the deposit thing. Here in Germany they are happy to offer a conditional sale based on a test ride first. No cash down. If I don't like it after a 100km test then we just tear up the contract. I am 5th on the list for a JPS black/gold special (sadly this year only with tubed tyres), and he had 18 waiting last time we spoke in Feb. Maybe with the very early start to spring here (18C yesterday) some will start defecting to other alternatives - but the Trumpet X400 sold out until June at least everywhere.
Most dealers are asking around £250. I can see their point as they might be left with a bike on their hands. £1k? You'd have to know the dealer!
I understood that there were issues re the black / gold and TL rims too. The dealer yesterday suggested otherwise but then again ...
Yes. Apologies. I should have taken a pic!
Starting to land in the dealers for Test rides, just had a message from 'Smalley Cross' which is my nearest near Notts saying the demo is ready. 
Starting to land in the dealers for Test rides, just had a message from 'Smalley Cross' which is my nearest near Notts saying the demo is ready.
They being airdropped by helicopter?
The Aussies seem to like it.
Had a quick test ride today on tarmac, nice bike and feels really small/low compared to my Tiger. It's an awesome package and rides well giving the rider confidence. As has been reported elsewhere its a bit buzzy, and the pillion pegs seemed a bit higher than ideal, but overall a fab bike by RE.
No doubt the pillion peg position, is in consideration of the saree wearers. Up and out of the way.
Starting to land in the dealers for Test rides, just had a message from 'Smalley Cross' which is my nearest near Notts saying the demo is ready.
Bacon’s, the very good Enfield / Kawasaki dealership I visited yesterday, expected theirs to arrive this week. A two month delay on the original target of February, but I guess it makes no practical difference.
As the dealer said, the price hike of the new bike (and very different to the old model) lifts it more into the mid-price bracket and away from the ‘budget’ (or even ‘bargain’) price of the 411.
The Aussies seem to like it.
Indeed.
I’ll be the first to admit that I thought that Royal Enfield had made a mistake by adding the ‘complexity’ of water cooling to the very basic 411 and simply gone for ‘more power’, the usual mantra of the day. I can now see that I was maybe wrong. Does it make the 411 a ‘bad bike’? No, of course not; good bikes do not suddenly become bad overnight or through their lifetime.
It’ll be interesting to see how my test ride goes.
Full report here please, Richard. I'm hoping to try one next weekend and will do likewise.
I'm hoping to try one next weekend and will do likewise.
Full report here please, Richard.
Will do.
I sat on a 411 Himalayas and found it incredibly small / cramped . Is the new one any more roomy . Thinking of doing an Everest trip on one next year but think it would be uncomfortable if it’s no bigger / roomier ?
That looks really well in black and yellow. I'm sure they will sell a shed load of them, particularly with the tubless wheel option.
Be interesting to compare it to the cheaper CFmoto 450 option which seems to weigh much the same but has a twin cylinder engine.
Waldspirale2
Registered user
A brief review of the Hima 452 mk2 after 50km/1 hour test ride near Frankfurt.
FINISH. The finish at least in black/gold 'JPS special' colours is stunning. The photos don't do the lustre and shine justice.
Some savings on metal parts etc is also obvious but mostly overshadowed by the design, quality paintwork and overall finish.
The switchgear is basic bordering on inadequate. The indicator switch was already broken (the bike had 50km!). Every 2/3 attempt it would not move left or right until depressed to cancel at least twice. The TFT display button is also very fragile – doubt it will last more than a few months. Feels wobbly and with little feedback. Hit and miss as to how many times you have to press it to get anything to happen.
ERGONOMICS: for me at 170cm or 5’7” the low seat height of 825mm is perfect. I actually did the whole test ride with the seat set at 845mm and it was basically fine for on road. The seat actually has 4 positions as both front and rear spars can be set in two positions. If you find the seat slopes too much forward or backward this might provide other options. Didn’t have time to test this.
Pegs are nicely positioned for seated and standing riding stance. The seat itself is very comfortable, at least up to an hour that I did. Compliant but firm and very well shaped.
The bars are ideally located with a nice reach and spread for both highway and offroad standing. The grips are a bit hard and transfer quite a bit of buzz to the hands at 5000-7000 rpm.
The side stand is simply too short, parked it has a lean angle of 20-30 degrees, and this makes the 196 kg weight very noticeable and intimidating for shorter riders – as you put it over onto the side stand you feel like you are going to drop the bike on the ground. This is completely unnecessary and puts a huge stress on the side stand as the lean is so extreme. In reality ‘walking’ the bike around while parking it feels light and manageable – at least compared to my 230 kg Moto Guzzi! Once moving it feels like it’s 20 kg lighter than reality.
My mate who is 185cm test rode it after me and also commented on the perfect ergonomics so it seems RE have got this spot on.
HANDLING: for a 21” front with a very long 1510mm wheelbase the bike feels light and nimble both in town and on long sweepers. The suspension, even without any front adjustment is compliant and well damped (no chance to test off road but some ‘Landstrasse’ were potholed and rutted), both front and rear. Again RE have hit a sweet spot. My buddy who is 25 kg heavier (so 80-110 kg range) also found it exceptional – especially compared to the rock hard Hima 411 he arrived on!
ENGINE: last but not least, the new Sherpa motor. Surprisingly smooth and willing to rev – unintentionally exceeded the running in limit frequently – partly due to near unnoticeable gear changes – a super light slipper clutch and very light gear lever action. The motor is vibey and buzzy, but at least compared to my V-twin Guzzi, not an issue at all – perhaps after hours on highway it would be intrusive. I tested the X400 two weeks ago and that is very smooth to the point of being boring, but the Sherpa is better in every other respect. Way more torque from 2500 rpm, much smoother delivery, more character and way better fuel injection mapping. The Triumph was truly unrideable in town at 30 kmh limit zones – first was in red zone and in second it was lurching and spluttering. The Hima was perfectly behaved at anything above 2000 rpm and could pull away in 3rd without complaint. A dream to ride in town by comparison with the Speed/Scrambler.
CONCLUSIONS: This is really not a Himalayan Mark II in any sense. The engine is completely different, a modern over-bored high revving single, compared to a lazy long stroke 411. Everything about it is upgraded, better and completely different. The old 411 Hima could live on as a different bike in a different price range. The new Hima is just a very approachable and appealing motorbike, and as a mid-size ADV there is no other option if you are under 180cm tall!
This is really perhaps the ultimate ‘do it all’ bike – it will be my scooter/mofa replacement for shopping and dropping kids at school, it will be my first choice for touring and blasting around the Black Forest local twisties. Unlike the Triumph 400’s this is not just for posing around Cafes!
It really is a masterpiece for 6.000 Euros. There are certainly better bikes out there for each specific usage, adventure, off-road, twisty blaster, cruiser, commuter, but none will do all of these at anything like this price. I am sure it will sell incredibly well. The dealer mentioned that so far every test ride had resulted in a sale!
FINISH. The finish at least in black/gold 'JPS special' colours is stunning. The photos don't do the lustre and shine justice.
Some savings on metal parts etc is also obvious but mostly overshadowed by the design, quality paintwork and overall finish.
The switchgear is basic bordering on inadequate. The indicator switch was already broken (the bike had 50km!). Every 2/3 attempt it would not move left or right until depressed to cancel at least twice. The TFT display button is also very fragile – doubt it will last more than a few months. Feels wobbly and with little feedback. Hit and miss as to how many times you have to press it to get anything to happen.
ERGONOMICS: for me at 170cm or 5’7” the low seat height of 825mm is perfect. I actually did the whole test ride with the seat set at 845mm and it was basically fine for on road. The seat actually has 4 positions as both front and rear spars can be set in two positions. If you find the seat slopes too much forward or backward this might provide other options. Didn’t have time to test this.
Pegs are nicely positioned for seated and standing riding stance. The seat itself is very comfortable, at least up to an hour that I did. Compliant but firm and very well shaped.
The bars are ideally located with a nice reach and spread for both highway and offroad standing. The grips are a bit hard and transfer quite a bit of buzz to the hands at 5000-7000 rpm.
The side stand is simply too short, parked it has a lean angle of 20-30 degrees, and this makes the 196 kg weight very noticeable and intimidating for shorter riders – as you put it over onto the side stand you feel like you are going to drop the bike on the ground. This is completely unnecessary and puts a huge stress on the side stand as the lean is so extreme. In reality ‘walking’ the bike around while parking it feels light and manageable – at least compared to my 230 kg Moto Guzzi! Once moving it feels like it’s 20 kg lighter than reality.
My mate who is 185cm test rode it after me and also commented on the perfect ergonomics so it seems RE have got this spot on.
HANDLING: for a 21” front with a very long 1510mm wheelbase the bike feels light and nimble both in town and on long sweepers. The suspension, even without any front adjustment is compliant and well damped (no chance to test off road but some ‘Landstrasse’ were potholed and rutted), both front and rear. Again RE have hit a sweet spot. My buddy who is 25 kg heavier (so 80-110 kg range) also found it exceptional – especially compared to the rock hard Hima 411 he arrived on!
ENGINE: last but not least, the new Sherpa motor. Surprisingly smooth and willing to rev – unintentionally exceeded the running in limit frequently – partly due to near unnoticeable gear changes – a super light slipper clutch and very light gear lever action. The motor is vibey and buzzy, but at least compared to my V-twin Guzzi, not an issue at all – perhaps after hours on highway it would be intrusive. I tested the X400 two weeks ago and that is very smooth to the point of being boring, but the Sherpa is better in every other respect. Way more torque from 2500 rpm, much smoother delivery, more character and way better fuel injection mapping. The Triumph was truly unrideable in town at 30 kmh limit zones – first was in red zone and in second it was lurching and spluttering. The Hima was perfectly behaved at anything above 2000 rpm and could pull away in 3rd without complaint. A dream to ride in town by comparison with the Speed/Scrambler.
CONCLUSIONS: This is really not a Himalayan Mark II in any sense. The engine is completely different, a modern over-bored high revving single, compared to a lazy long stroke 411. Everything about it is upgraded, better and completely different. The old 411 Hima could live on as a different bike in a different price range. The new Hima is just a very approachable and appealing motorbike, and as a mid-size ADV there is no other option if you are under 180cm tall!
This is really perhaps the ultimate ‘do it all’ bike – it will be my scooter/mofa replacement for shopping and dropping kids at school, it will be my first choice for touring and blasting around the Black Forest local twisties. Unlike the Triumph 400’s this is not just for posing around Cafes!
It really is a masterpiece for 6.000 Euros. There are certainly better bikes out there for each specific usage, adventure, off-road, twisty blaster, cruiser, commuter, but none will do all of these at anything like this price. I am sure it will sell incredibly well. The dealer mentioned that so far every test ride had resulted in a sale!
Thank you for the interesting review.
I fitted an adjustable side stand to my 411 Himalayan. No doubt the 450 would benefit from the same.
Whilst I am still waiting for a test ride, I agree that the 450 is a very different bike to the 411 and the two could probably (bar production run and parts challenges) live together. I guess they’ll put the same engine into the Scram at some point, perhaps?
The price of the 450 does bring it more into direct competition with other manufacturers, in the mid-price range. As much as anything else, I suspect some buyers might be driven by “I will not trust anything made in India” or by some nationalistic approach, “I will buy the Triumph, as it’s British”. But it’s a free choice market, so do whatever you like; they can’t tax you for it.
As soon as I have had my test ride (hopefully longer than an hour) I’ll post up my thoughts, for what they are worth.
I fitted an adjustable side stand to my 411 Himalayan. No doubt the 450 would benefit from the same.
Whilst I am still waiting for a test ride, I agree that the 450 is a very different bike to the 411 and the two could probably (bar production run and parts challenges) live together. I guess they’ll put the same engine into the Scram at some point, perhaps?
The price of the 450 does bring it more into direct competition with other manufacturers, in the mid-price range. As much as anything else, I suspect some buyers might be driven by “I will not trust anything made in India” or by some nationalistic approach, “I will buy the Triumph, as it’s British”. But it’s a free choice market, so do whatever you like; they can’t tax you for it.
As soon as I have had my test ride (hopefully longer than an hour) I’ll post up my thoughts, for what they are worth.
Whilst seating position, the seat itself, footrest placement (and whether you ride with the ball of the foot on the footrest or the instep), ergonomics, handlebar shape and angle, wind buffeting and vibrations, are all personal things. I am six foot, with a 31” inside leg. I find the 411 bike ‘All day comfortable’. You’ll have to try the 450 for yourself, I guess.
A member of a Himalayan group that I ride out with on lanes in Derbyshire and the Peak district took one out today and managed to do some lanes although nothing too nadgery and he loved it ! He rides a Himmy 411 incredibly well off-road (ex motocrosser I believe). He did mention that it got airborne quite easily 
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