Himalayan 452

[ChrisW]

Inspired by….?

My exact words when I saw it. And, having had a look at the options, by far the best colourway.

[Bustaspoke]

Nathanthepostman does bike tours & rental out of north Devon,he's done loads on the aircooled 411 & bought the new Himalayan the other week.He led a tour around the WAW last week,riding his new 452.Interesting review & summary

[Whysub]

After some thought I'm going to get a test ride on a 411 Himalayan and if it's a goer look for a cheaper used one.

Should be some bargain 411's about now that the 452's are being delivered to their owners.

My 411 has be great, although I've not done many muddy lanes on it (rain here has been in short supply), just gravel tracks. I stuck some TKC80 tyres on it, which in hindsight is overkill for just gravel and tarmac.

Will be sad to hand it over mine when I collect my 452, hopefully soon. Its been no problem mechanically, barring the rubbish original battery that lasted under 6 months. Build quality is good, although the fork gaitors have been destroyed by the sun, as its parked outside. Paint has not been affected.

[Whysub]

Picked up my 452 on Friday, and nearly completed 500kms.

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No point in comparing it to the 411 really, as they are completely different bikes. The only thing they have in common is that they are both built by Royal Enfield, and both are single cylinder engines.

The engine is loosening up, not exceeded 4000 rpm yet, except to 4500 rpm on a few long downhills, when the engine wasn't really under any load.

Brakes are good in that I don't notice them. Suspension is very well damped front and rear good and it is great on the bumpy lanes I have to ride on to get home.

Fit and finish of the ancillaries are good, such as the switch gear (even the toggle switch), mirrors, and levers, and the paintwork and plastics seem to be as good as anything on my Triumph or Honda. The finish of the gold rims appears to be every bit as good as the Excel rims I had on my supermoto

Not so sure of the rear lights. The indicators are also the side and brake lights, with no central rear light. And the sidestand leans the bike way over, but I'm getting used to that.

I'll see if my opinion is the same in 2,000 kms.

[ChrisW]

Picked up my 452 on Friday

Congrats, enjoy - my brief spin on one suggests they're pretty good.

[cvilla]

@Whysub have you made it to 2,000kms yet...just wondering about an update review, much off-road, albeit it does not look too muddy where you are (might be;) Any feedback appreciated, I'll still dreaming about blue-sky!

[A_morti]

Over here on Malta they want 7200€ OTR for the 452.
The Honda nx500 can be bought for 7600€ plus OTR charges.

Especially considering their road tax bands are the same and most insurers also base rates on capacity still,
I can't see that 500€ difference being enough, for a lot of people.

[Whysub]

@Whysub have you made it to 2,000kms yet...just wondering about an update review, much off-road, albeit it does not look too muddy where you are (might be;) Any feedback appreciated, I'll still dreaming about blue-sky!

Up to 7000 kms now, recently did a 3500 km ride through Spain and Portugal. All back roads and included riding the "Spanish Stelvio" between Tabernas and Tijola, where the 452 was fantastic on the bends. I did wonder if someone will do a 17 inch front wheel conversion to allow fitting of sticky tyres?

Average mpg was 82 mpg, comfort is good (did 730 kms on the last day riding from Bragança to home). I estimate I've done about 1200 kms off road-that is, on hard packed earth or gravel. Not much rainfall here.

Yesterday it suffered its first problem-the front brake light switch seems to have stopped working. Rang the dealer who said to drop it in and they will fix or replace it, under warranty.

So far very happy with it, much better than I thought it would be, especially doing long rides.

See Fuzzy Biker on YouTube, as he had covered 17,000 miles on his in eleven weeks.

[Bustaspoke]

One of my mates bought a 452 a couple of months ago,it was his 4th bike this year I gave it until Christmas but he's already chopped it in for Triumph Scrambler! As the weathers duff for the next few months Iv'e given him until Easter with the Scrambler...