Hahahaha… I was just finishing it off.
Back from my test ride of the new 450.
1. This is a very different bike to the current 411. So different in fact that Royal Enfield could have given it a different name entirely and kept the earlier model going.
2. The (very bulky) side stand leans the bike at something like 45 degrees or more. Just be sure that the edge of the road does not camber away or I think there is a pretty good chance the bike will topple over. The bike’s light weight means that it’s not at all difficult to lift the bike off its side stand. No doubt Hitchcock will be offering an adjustable stand or maybe an ice hockey puck to bring the bike more upright.
3. The finish on the bike looks and feels pretty good. The switches all work well, though time will tell how strong the little joystick controller thing for the instrument display will be. I have no reason to doubt that it will be OK (the bike I rode only had six miles on the clock) but you never know.
4. The instrument display is good. There are two display styles; of the two I much preferred the so called, ‘gold line’ though it might have been called ‘analogue’ perhaps? The other (I’ll call it ‘digital’) I found too ‘busy’. One neat feature is that the screen turns black if the ambient light dims. I rode the bike on a very overcast day, where passing beneath a canopy of tress on a country road was sufficient to dim the screen to black automatically. It is possible to switch the screen to ‘black’ permanently, if that’s yiur thing.
5. The riding modes are easy to switch between. To be honest I couldn’t tell a lot of difference between ‘dynamic’ and ‘economic’ (or whatever they are called) but I just rode the bike in ‘dynamic’ for the bulk of the ride. I don’t think it’s possible to switch between modes on the move but, possibly, this was user error on my part.
6. I didn’t get an opportunity to try the ‘tripper’ navigation thing, though reports suggest it might offer nothing more than very basic A to B routing.
7. There is some buzziness vibrations but nothing overwhelming, the mirrors remaining all but clear at all speeds.
8. The bike pulls strongly from standstill in first, second and third gears. The sixth gear feels a bit like an overdrive. There is section of the A12 dual carriageway where road works have brought about a 40 mph speed restriction. The bike did not like staying in 6th gear at all and was much happier in fourth.
9. I used the bike on a full range of roads. A thing from the M25 motorway, the dual carriageway A12, through a very busy Brentwood with lots of filtering, some fast A and B roads, right down to some single track stuff. It coped with them all, admirably.
10. The bike handles really well. I could take my hands off the bars for quite long distances and it would track a straight course, no problem at all. Similarly, just resting my right hand on the throttle (just enough to give it some gas) then pulling / pushing just on the left bar, in a real counter steer test, found the bike changing direction fast but smoothly.
11. I get the impression that Royal Enfield have made a conscious effort to make the 450 more ‘road focused’ than the 411. The ride by wire throttle is very smooth and should, in later models, help to maybe introduce more modes, cruise control and the like.
12. When arriving at some traffic lights in say third gear to standstill, I did notice that was difficult to just tap the gear lever down to say, first. The only way I could find to do it was to press down on the gear change lever, engage the next gear down and then let the lever return back up slightly, before dropping into the next gear down.
13. The footrests and handlebar position ratio I found fine. I always ride with the balls of my feet on the footrests, which was comfortable to do. Standing up on the footrests (‘Adventure biker’ style to enter Tesco’s car park) was easy. In short, the bike was completely comfortable to ride, the small screen doing a good job. I like a bit of naked bike wind blast and was not conscious of any undue buffeting. One odd thing though, was when I put my feet down at rest. My inner shin coincided with the end of the footrests, which was marginally annoying. I very quickly though learned that it was possible to place my feet in front of the footrests. Once though my left leg’s trouser did catch the gear change lever, when lifting my leg up, bringing about an uncalled for gear change,
14. I didn’t get to try the main beam or lights in general, simply as I only rode the bike in the light. Just looking at it, the new LED headlight looks bright enough for most needs,
15. The brakes, front and rear are a real step-up from the 411. The back in particular is very good for slow speed manoevering.
16. The bike goes very easily onto its centre stand and, given its light weight overall, is very easy to push around at rest.
17. The 411’s fuel tank is a slabby, coffin shaped thing, The 450’s has been given a big reshape, with a bulbous ‘Adventure’ style front, narrowing down markedly to the rear. It works well, stylistically and ergonomically.
18. The unobtrusive addition of a USB-C socket, is a nice touch. I guess this is because the Tripper navigation relies on a phone.
You might by now have maybe got the impression that I really liked it? You’d not be wrong. I think that if yiu likecsnd enjoy a bike in the cold and damp / wet, you’ll definitely like it in the warm and dry. I was the first to call out that Royal Enfield had made a mistake, complicating the simplicity of the 411. I was wrong. Is it a better bike? Well, yes, it is…. If you see it as a completely different model, rather than just an uplift or face lift if the original Himalayan.
What might I change?
A. The side stand. I am 6’ with a 31” inside leg. I think the lean angle is too extreme and unnecessary.
B. I didn’t muck around with the seat height adjustment, I was happy enough with it on its highest level, wearing conventional Daytona ‘road focussed’ boots.
C. Heated grips, yes. Today was not at all warm and it rained. My hands, in three-season gloves were getting pretty cold after two hours of riding.
D. Fit a carrier for a GPS device.
E. Fit a simple chain oiler.
F. A power feed for heated clothing.
G. Tubeless rims. I am not frightened by inner tubes, though the convenience of plugging a puncture is not to be dismissed. That said, how many punctures does a bod reasonably expect to have in the course of a year, riding on-road?
H. If I was to go off-roading more seriously or with say an 80-20 bias towards off-road, rather than on, I think I’d stick with a 411. It just seems more suited to it, somehow. Off-road gods may well say that this is bollocks. Hey-ho, if so.
Here are some snaps I took. The lean angle is hard to take a picture of. The instrument snaps, I simply did to show the light and dark screens and all the information stuff. Does anyone ever look at all this stuff?







The black lines is the screen ‘refreshing’ itself, caught by the camera. Or summat like that.