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| Royal Enfield Himalayan photo from Indian Autos Blog. |
Named, probably, the Himalayan.
Adventure bikes, The Wall Street Journal reports, are now "one of the motorcycle market's hottest segments." The article doesn't mention the upcoming Royal Enfield, but it does describe BMW, Ducati, Honda and Triumph adventure bikes.
To me, they're similar in appearance, and similarly unpleasant looking, although no doubt capable.
In the case of the Royal Enfield Himalayan, its reportedly modern engine and suspension and improved luggage capacity will make getting to out-of-the-way corners of the world easier.
How have I lived all these years without a standard compass on the dashboard? Well, I live in Florida. But you know what I mean.
It's worth noting that "ordinary" Royal Enfield motorcycles had been getting to those out-of-the-way places as it was.
No one is building any higher mountains for improved Royal Enfields to conquer.
Nevertheless, a dedicated adventure motorcycle of its own is a marketing opportunity for Royal Enfield. The Himalayan will be more advanced in many ways than its classic models.
The Himalayan gives Royal Enfield a route out of continuing to largely make retro motorcycles that not only look like antiques but share some antique characteristics with the push-rod motorcycles of the past.
Still, these vintage-like machines are the reason I like Royal Enfields and I'm certainly not alone.
Like all the existing adventure motorcycles highligthed by The Journal, spy shots show the appearance of the Royal Enfield Himalayan to feature sharp edges and visible everything.
At least the Royal Enfield Himalayan doesn't look as bad as, say, the Triumph Tiger Explorer XC shown in The Journal.
On the Triumph some parts seem intentionally out sized and out of place. The overall look is of a Transformer creature after its transformation.
It is muscular looking, I will give it that. I just want to say to the Triumph, "put your shirt on."
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