Royal Enfield have aced it again. The internet is abuzz with the good looks, nimble manners and all round worthiness of the new Royal Enfield Scram 411. Inspired by a few reviews- I went in for a test ride and was pleasantly surprised. It’s a fun bike with a peppy, retuned engine, great body balance, very agile dynamics (was filtering easily in peak hour traffic, thanks to that smaller front wheel) and confidence inspiring on-road manners. Have compiled some feeds from my favourite YouTube Channels below, where the motorcyclists are coming back grinning from ear to ear! 😊
A few weeks ago, I finally managed to lay hands on the last item required for build ideas I had for the Himalayan. 23500 kms and 3 years, 8 months in the making, I’m very happy with the way it has turned out. Almost everything added to the bike is a genuine Royal Enfield accessory. No cheap aftermarket bits and bobs here.
Himalayan, circa 2020Himalayan, circa 2020Retro-tourer, circa 2020.
In my last post Essential Upgrades, I had talked about replacing the worn out stock seat with a Touring Seat. The Touring Seat took me more than 6 months to locate and buy. For some weird reason, Royal Enfield does not have online sales for bike accessories. And this one is a best seller that almost every dealership runs quickly out of.
For more than a year, I ran the bike without any kind of wind protection. I was glad to get rid of the fiddly stock visor which had a serious buffeting issue at high speeds. However, I still felt the need for a smaller cowl or fly screen to complete the look of the bike.
Made a quick sketch to see how a flyscreen would look.
A quick sketch on my iPad convinced me that a flyscreen might just do it. Got myself an Interceptor 650 flyscreen the next day. Had to convince my mates at Highlander, my friendly neighbourhood Moto workshop, to file and shape the mounting bracket. But other than that, it was an easy fit.
Short Flyscreen from the Interceptor 650. A high intensity LED bulb from NightEye replaces the stock bulb in the headlight.
Here’s a summary of additions to the bike at 20000kms.
Upgraded the handle-bar to the Braced Handlebar Kit (Part no. 1990206). The handlebar weighs 20% less than the stock bar, is beautifully finished, and Made in Taiwan. From Royal Enfield Brand Showroom, BTM Layout, Bangalore.
Installed Bar-End Finisher Kits (Part No.1990220) for the same handlebar. From Royal Enfield Brand Showroom, BTM Layout, Bangalore.
BMC Lifetime Filter for the Himalayan- Sourced from Big Bear Customs, St. Marks Road, Bangalore.
Brake Reservoir protector from the Continental GT (535). (Available at most Service Centres)
Metzeler Tourance Next tyres- 90/90-21 to the front, 150/70- 17 to the rear. (Orion Motors, Koramangala)
Short Flyscreen from the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, (Royal Enfield Brand Showroom, BTM Layout)
Royal Enfield Aluminium Panniers with mounts (Royal Enfield Brand Showroom, BTM Layout)
Royal Enfield Touring Seat for the Himalayan (Royal Enfield Brand Showroom, BTM Layout)
To know about other bits of DIY which shaped the bike, and my overall ownership experience, you can catch up here. If you are a Himalayan owner and have done some fiddling yourself, do drop me a line. 😊
The bike setup feels perfect for lazy ganders through backroads like this. 😊
“When in Bangalore”, I heard a wise man say, “pick a direction and ride. You’ll get somewhere nice!”.
The year gone by has been hectic for me, to say the least. Work was demanding, and so were some family commitments. I also did many road trips to Pondicherry, Coonoor, Coorg, Madurai and Kodaikanal, on four wheels. The upside was that I spent a lot of time with family and enjoyed driving my 5 year old Renault Duster, to these beautiful destinations. The downside was that I could not really go for a long ride on my Himalayan. What I did do, however, was discover more of the hinterland outside Bangalore and found some neat little spots.
Ganalu Waterfalls, Mandya
The sheer beauty and accessibility of these falls (you can get quite close to the water) is an awesome experience. Still off the mainstream tourist map, this place is a hidden gem. The falls are just 100kms from South Bangalore and great for a day’s ride.
Landscape enroute to the falls.
The last 5 kms is through lovely scubland.
Ganalu Falls viewed on approach.
This quaint canal is about 5 minutes away from the falls…
…with a spectacular little bridge to park your moto.
Loved this spot!
While the falls were breathtaking, I found this lovely canal enroute even more enticing. It was the perfect spot to just park the bike and revel in the gentle flow of water, watch reeds waving in the wind and listen to birdsong.
Route options from the Mysore and Kanakpura higways.
Muninagara Dam
This place is a little tricky to get to but extremely rewarding, once you have found it. Its barely 50kms from Bangalore and less than an hour away on a good day. You can access this one off Kanakpura Road. Google Maps tends to mislead on the final approach, as there’s a couple of waterbodies close by-and we were led to believe that these were the dam. So we asked the locals and they pointed us in the right direction.
Waterbody en-route to Muningara dam
Muningara dam- pumping station bridge
The reservoir forms one edge of the Bannerghatta Wildlife Reserve and on a good day, you are likely to sight wildlife. An electric fence separates the village fields and runs along the bank highline to keep predators at bay. A great spot to spend moments in idyll and admire nature at its finest. The good thing about this place is that its not accessible by car. If you aren’t on a Himalayan, you probably cant access it by bike either. 🙂 So its very heartening to see the place only frequented by village folks who have kept it clean and beautiful.
The hills on the far side belong to the Bannerghatta Wildlife Reserve
Great spot to to soak in views and observe wildlife
The electric fence behind the bikes is a deterrent for wildlife entering the village area
Route options to Muninagara Dam
Dandiganahalli Dam, Chikabalapura
If you own a Himalayan (or any other similar bike for that matter) and want to a ride to a place where you can generally thrash about, then this one is for you. While the Dandiganahalli Dam is a lovely destination by itself, its this dry lakebed enroute that caught our fancy. We had a ball scrambling and drifting on this lakebed, which was part slush, part grass, part gravel. Check footage here- Scramble by the lake!
The dam is best visited early morning, when the sun is just lighting up the waters and you have the whole place to yourself. There’s a fair bit of ‘beach’ area by the water where one can set up a small tent or have a picnic.
One can get to far end of the lakebed, on the bike, between these shallow bodies of water
Lakebed enroute to the dam
Dandiganahalli Dam
Nandi Hills Circuit, Nandi Hills
If you live in Bangalore and are into motorcycles, its a no brainer, you would have ridden to Nandi Hills. I used to do that quite often, about 5 years ago. Lately though, with the place receiving a whole lot more attention, with a whole lot more people living in Bangalore, going up and coming down can become an annoying affair- traffic snarls are common at the start of the climb and towards the narrow entry gates. On weekends and public holidays, this place is best avoided. A few months ago, we decided to chance it and see how the hills were faring. Once we turned off the airport highway, it was evident, we had not picked a good day. On a whim we continued past the turnoff to the climb and ended up doing a 20km loop around the base of Nandi Hills. This turned out to be a very nice road indeed. So next time you are in these neck of the woods and dont want to battle the sunrise crowd, head on round the hills- you might like it more.
On Nice Road, did a dry run with the bikes ahead of our ride to Coorg. Testing the Go Pro Hero 3. Circa2013. Soundtrack: Asleep at the Wheel/ The Cinematics
If sources are to believed, my Royal Enfield Himalayan has had a production run of less than a year. Production started in April 2016 and ended in Feb 2017. The second production cycle started after June 2017, with the machines hitting showrooms in September. But these machines had an EFI unit, with minor cosmetic updates. They also sported better components and are reported to have none of the issues which plagued carburreted machines like mine, produced before Feb 2017.
Himalayan, Circa 2018
So, as I hit 10000 Kms in the running, and the EFI machines started showing up on the streets, I had a realisation. I was now part of a rare breed of Royal Enfield motorcyclists. We owned an adventure tourer which had been a market probing experiment for the vehicle manufacturer. Our numbers are in a few thousands, at the most, and we are scattered across the nation.
Looking back over one and a half years of ownership, here’s an executive summary of service updates, hates and likes.
Service Updates
The magneto coil- conked off after about a year and 5 months of ownership- replaced last month.
Oil cooler unit-upgraded with mesh at the 2nd Free Service
Carburettor changed after a year of use
Engine head assembly changed at the 2nd Free Service
Rocker arm replaced at first free service
Handlebar bent- replaced (at cost) at the 2nd Free Service
Carrier broken- replaced at the 2nd Free Service
Clutch assembly- I’m not quite sure what happened here but after the 2nd Service, it was butter smooth- I reckon it was replaced with the modified clutch assembly
I must add here that with the exception of the handlebar, all other updates were done free of cost. Would laud the mechs at my friendly neighbourhood RE service centre, for their prompt response on every occasion.
Hate
The first giveaway are the tyres. They are a brilliant fit for the bike and can take a whole lot of punishment. But, with almost all of my riding being tarmac focused, the rear tyre’s tread has worn out at 10500km. And that’s just half the life of an average motorcycle tyre.
I hate RE’s promises. The promos for the motorcycle feature the bike being ridden with many accessories- which the company claims, have been tested in harshest terrain. There are saddle bags and panniers, a handlebar cross bar, better integrated rear mount, fuel and water tanks and a completely different exhaust. Now none of these are easily available in any showroom in the city. I can live with foregoing most of the list, but the free-flow exhaust is a must have item. Anyone who has ridden the bike with the featured exhaust will tell you that the bike was designed with this exhaust in mind. My search continues…
Don’t know how many Himalayan owners will agree with me here, but it seems the cushioning on the seat also has a lifespan of about 10k. A couple of hours of spirited riding makes it impossible to continue sitting on the bike.
Lack of Power, no ABS. There’s no two ways about this- The bike just needs more power. I have replaced the stock filter with a BMC lifetime filter, and the performance is smoother, but there’s only so much you can do. ABS is sorely missed as well.
Tubeless Tyres. I understand that spoke rims take punishment better. And they prove to do so, on my Himalayan. But I’m also, almost always carrying a spare tube for that 21” front and 17” rear tyre- both uncommon sizes, not available readily.
Love
It’s easy to love a lot of features on this bike, and in many ways it’s incredible value for money.
Touring friendliness: if you want a budget adventure tourer, love distance and don’t miss tarmac scorching performance, then this is the bike for you. It’s great for days spent in the saddle, and has room enough for all manner of luggage arrangements.
User friendliness: Pretty durned easy to ride, commute and tour on. Good for everyday riding.
Off-road: Arguably the bike’s best behaviour is when it’s ridden off road. It’s a hoot to ride on dirt trails. And standing on pegs on this bike for miles on end is my idea of Sunday fun.
No thump does not mean lack of grunt. The engine note, has character, and combined with a free revving motor, has a distinct sound, which I have come to love.
And finally, I feel, this is a bike to keep. It’s built to last, is technologically simple and will guarantee miles if you take care of it. Sometime in the near future, when a larger machine has taken pride of place, I will roll out my customised Himalayan for an afternoon ramble up the hill, and then finish off in the evening with some tinkering, some TLC and a well earned lager. 🙂
They are drop dead gorgeous. Just watched the launch at EICMA. The Interceptor (California Cool, in the words of CEO Siddharth Lal) and the Continental GT 650 promise to herald a new age of ‘easy and accessible, pure motorcycling fun’. Let’s see what the future holds… for now, I’m rubbing my hands in glee and me eyes are jest feastin’ on them beauties… har har!
yonder blue mountain... 