Another day and another spy picture of the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 has surfaced on the interweb. The pictures reveal the Himalayan 450’s brand new switchgear, digital display and more.
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Gets new rotary style kill switch
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New liquid-cooled engine visible
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Launch expected to take place soon
This particular test mule is covered with plastic cardboards around the bodywork and the windscreen instead of the black camo on previous test mules, which suggests that this might be the production-spec Himalayan 450 undergoing final, real-world validation tests. But, as much as Royal Enfield has tried to hide the body panels, a few details are clearly visible.
Beginning from the front end, one can see the LED headlight that’s similar to what you see on the Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650. The 21-inch wire-spoke wheel is shod with a tube-type tyre that appears to be made by CEAT.
Move to the side and the Royal Enfield’s new liquid-cooled engine is visible. The blacked-out cylinder and casings appear to be well-finished and this is something that we’ve come to expect of recent Royal Enfields, going by the leaps in quality that the company has made. Under the engine, one can also see the metal bash plate that’ll be essential while making those water crossings in Ladakh. The rest of the bits, like the seats and grab rail, look similar to the ones spotted on previous Himalayan 450.
The spy pictures also give us a closer look at the new switchgear which isn’t present on any current Royal Enfield on sale. Interestingly there’s a small button below the rotary kill switch and it is hard to decipher what it does. It may be a switch to either access the menu on the circular display or change modes (possibly deactivate rear ABS). Speaking of the display, it appears to be a large unit and is expected to integrate Bluetooth connectivity with turn-by-turn navigation.
The Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 has been undergoing tests for a while now and the launch is expected to take place at some time this year.
You can read more about the Himalayan 450 here and listen to the exhaust note here.