Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Review: Big Adventure, Small Money

Adventure motorcycling has quietly become an expensive habit, with flagship machines now costing as much as a small car and weighing nearly as much too. The Himalayan 450 is Royal Enfield’s cheerful rebuttal. Here is a genuinely capable adventure bike, built to tackle the world’s roughest roads, that costs less than the accessory catalogue of some of its rivals — and it is all the more likeable for it.

This is not the crude, underpowered Himalayan of old, either. The 450 is a comprehensive reinvention, built around an all-new engine and chassis, and it transforms the bike from a charming budget curio into a serious, modern proposition. For new adventurers and hard-up dreamers alike, it changes the conversation entirely.

The Sherpa engine: modest but eager

The new liquid-cooled 452 cc single, named Sherpa, is the making of this bike. Producing a genuine 40 hp and 40 Nm, it is willing, flexible and far more refined than the old air-cooled lump it replaces. It pulls cleanly from low revs — ideal for picking a line up a rocky climb — and revs out with real enthusiasm when you want to make progress on a flowing back road.

This is not a fast motorcycle in outright terms, cracking 100 km/h in a leisurely 6.9 seconds and topping out around 150 km/h. There is some vibration high in the rev range, and sustained motorway cruising is not its forte. But for the winding, unhurried, exploratory riding this bike was built for, the Sherpa has exactly the right character and just enough power.