Royal Enfield Himalayan 650 on Way

Royal Enfield’s 650cc twin-cylinder range has undoubtedly elevated the brand into a new league and attracted a whole array of customers who’d never have considered the company’s smaller single-cylinder bikes. The next addition promises to be even more appealing as the company is putting the finishing touches on a Himalayan 650 adventure bike that’s been spotted undergoing final tests before its official unveiling.

The addition of a Himalayan 650 to the RE range doesn’t come as a huge surprise. It’s been in the proposed “Twins Platform Family Tree” since at least 2022, when that strategy was presented to potential investors; the production model closely matches the blurred silhouette that was included in that document, suggesting development was already well underway even back then. However, it marks a substantial departure for the Royal Enfield twin-cylinder lineup as it’s the first bike in the range that doesn’t have overtly retro styling or engineering.

Sure, the 47 hp parallel-twin engine is still rooted in tradition: air/oil-cooled and sculpted to suit the throwback models that it debuted in. But it’s really a modern motor on the inside and the Himalayan 650 is a 21st-century machine, not something that tries to evoke a style from the 1960s like most of the bikes sharing the same powerplant.

For a start, it has a completely new chassis. At the moment, Enfield essentially uses two frame designs for its twins, the roadster-style chassis of the Continental GT, INT650, and the new Bear 650 scrambler, and the cruiser-style design shared by the Super Meteor 650, Shotgun 650, and Classic 650. Both are twin-shock throwbacks with structures intended to suit the retro style of the bikes built around them. In contrast, the Himalayan 650 has a chassis that’s more akin to the Himalayan 450′s modern design. Yes, it’s still made of steel tubes, but there’s a monoshock rear end and a long-travel upside-down fork at the front.

The styling might carry over the large, circular headlight that’s a motif across the Royal Enfield lineup, but its shape is inspired by Dakar rally machines, with a near-vertical screen and fairing sides that meld into a broad fuel tank behind. A rectangular TFT instrument panel means there’s no attempt at retro from the rider’s point of view, either.

The prototypes spied on test have used a 19-inch front wheel wrapped in a close-fitting hugger, making for a road-oriented bias. It’s paired to a 17-inch rear, but both wheels are wire spoked, giving at least the impression of off-road ability even if the bike is really intended mainly for paved surfaces.

Although we believe the Himalayan twin will use the same 650cc capacity as the rest of the twin-cylinder range, there’s growing speculation that a larger version of the engine—750cc or even as much as 850cc—is under development for other bikes further in the future. Among these is a cafe racer based on the Continental GT. It has recently been spotted on test in India with a bullet-style nose cowl that—like the Himalayan 650—matches a silhouette of a proposed model from Royal Enfield’s 2022 presentation. Although it’s Continental-based, the cafe racer prototypes have the side panels from the Bear 650, complete with roundel-style number boards, and twin front discs rather than the single disc of the Continental. The bikes spotted testing have also been festooned with datalogging wiring attached to sensors on the engine and exhaust, indicating a substantial mechanical change within and leading to speculation of a capacity increase and additional power and performance.

That, in turn, could make the planned cafe racer a steppingstone toward the next evolution of Royal Enfield’s twin-cylinder range, with existing models going on to be updated with the same mechanical upgrades that it introduces. Enfield’s 2022 document also indicated that a smaller cafe racer is intended to be launched in the near future, based on the liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine of the Guerrilla 450 and Himalayan 450, as well as a “450 Rally” adventure bike and a scrambler-style model using the same motor.