Royal Enfield has launched Himalayan, a motorcycle purpose-built for touring the Himalayas, which is also its first ground-up vehicle after Eicher Motors took over the iconic British brand.

The vehicle is priced at ₹1.56 lakh (ex-showroom) and ₹1.79 lakh (on-road) in Mumbai.

“This is the first ground-up vehicle in India, and we took four years to completely develop this machine. The idea was to build a motorcycle truly for Indian adventure, and this motorcycle comes with a new style and design,” said Eicher Motors Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Siddhartha Lal.

“Our single biggest insight in all these years of riding has been that the best motorcycle for the Himalayas is not one that tries to dominate its landscape, but one that is able to go with its flow,” he added.

The vehicle is powered by a new and evolved overhead camshaft engine platform that forms the base for its new long stroke LS 410 engine.

The all-new engine can go 10,000 km between oil changes, while the vehicle comes fitted with a 15-litre fuel tank, a simple instrument cluster, 800 mm seat height and 220 mm road clearance.

The bookings for the vehicle, which is in two colour options (granite and snow), will open on Thursday. Royal Enfield Himalayan will be available in Bengaluru for ₹1.84 lakh, Kolkata for ₹1.82 lakh, Chennai for ₹1.76 lakh, Hyderabad for ₹1.77 lakh, Pune for ₹1.70 lakh and Navi Mumbai for ₹1.71 lakh (all on-road prices).

New dealerships The company, which is adding about two-three dealerships a week, intends to add another 100-120 outlets this year.

Royal Enfield also has no plans to venture into higher categories of more than 800cc, as with a “self-imposed” restriction the company would continue to be present in medium light segment (250-750cc), Lal added.

The company is also looking at ramping up production capacity to nine lakh by calendar year 2018, from 4.65 lakh in 2015.

rajesh.kurup@thehindu.co.in

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