Royal Enfield Himalayanists

My forks are scored on my cheapo Vstrom and I’m weighing up the pros and cons of paying £500 to get it fixed vs part ex-ing it for something new.

I’ve quite enjoyed the extra power over the old Meteor, but not the fuel costs so much as a commuter. My local dealer is pumping out the old ones at £4000 which seems like a bargain, are they still useful? Or should I hang on fix the Vstrom and get something different in 2025?

Or is there anything else good, cheap (£5k or less) and reliable for a year round commuter?

I wouldn’t still buy a new old Himalayan.
There are so many part used ones about now for not much over 2k and often pretty low mileage.
Seems like a great choice for a commuter.

There seems to be quite a few sets of VStrom forks about if you search.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176308589796?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=DLCzIwWjTva&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=OlG1u98HQpO&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

My Strom is the 1000, are the forks interchangeable? Looks like most people are asking about going the other way. Used forks would probably the best answer tbh, it’s getting difficult to get someone to take my money to sort these at the moment. Guessing everyone is trying to get bikes on the road now.

Absolutely glorious riding and exploring at this time of year.
Summer gloves, mesh body armour and a riding tee.
Can’t get enough of it. 🙂

Whatcote

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296491075351

I might regret this but I’ve seen something else I want and need to free up the space and the cash. I’m not desperate to sell it but the ‘other thing’ would be very nice.

Had an unexpected opportunity for a spin on the new 450 Himalayan today.

Much quicker off the mark than the 411, but I felt really lacking in character in how it rides AND looks.
That tank is just as eye-wateringly ugly in the flesh as I’d thought in photos.

Very much felt like you were sat ON the bike, rather than IN the bike like the 411.

Not sure what it would be like off road but it lacks the lovely low down chug of the 411.

Seat height is noticeably higher which I think makes it likely to instill less confidence off road for a shorter rider trying to get a foot down.

I didn’t get to ride it off road unfortunately as I was stuck in an endless series of Midlands traffic lights and suburbs.

I’m sure as with most things, you’d get used to how it rides but as a direct comparison to the 411, not for me.

Just a heads up for those looking for things to add to puncture kits. Ordered one of these last week and it turned up yesterday.

Did an MTB tyre up to 30 psi in <5 mins this morning and the battery indicator didn’t change. Not had time to test on a motorbike tyre yet. Seems solid https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005855215638.html?spm=a2g0o.order_detail.order_detail_item.3.3114f19ccBvG2u.

Should be good for airbeds and the like for camping trips too.

It’s about the size and weight of a laptop power pack, usb-c quick charging.

It was on a ridculous deal when I bought it so I got it for <£10 delivered but I think it’s still reasonable value at £16.

Yeah I’ve got a similar one.
Works well but I don’t think I’ll carry it on the bike.
Getting to be carrying way too much kit!

It does most stuff but maxes out at 50psi and my van rears are 54 if I recall.

If you open a new account you can get it for £2 plus a bit of postage.

When I sell my guzzi I’ll be looking at a Himalayan for trundling about on and it looks an easy carry.

I’ll test it on a flat tyre on the Guzzi at the weekend and see how it copes.

Shirley carrying a pump with an on-board rechargeable battery is a bit pointless when you could just plug a 12V pump into the vehicle’s electrical system? :-/

I’m sure it has its uses, but I’m struggling to thing of one where you don’t have another power source or a mini-pump would suffice.

I’ve not seen a 12v one packaged as small as this one, I would say it’s probably less than 2/3 of the size of the atypical ones like this

Fair point, well made. 🙂 I got around this by removing the casing from a cheap 12V pump (it’s amazing how much is for show/wasted space!) and carrying it in a little pouch for protection. On reflection, the cable and plug probably take up as much space as the battery in the self-contained unit…

Great weekend up to my ancestral homelands of the Wirral visiting fam.
Camping near Chester.

Dee Day today.
I took the scenic route back loosely following the River Dee from Chester down to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Llangollen.

Did some diversions and caught some really good green lanes around Llangollen. A bit maybe at the harder end than I’d have liked on my own with a fully loaded bike but all good.

Liverpool yonder

Formby from New Brighton

New Brighton

Top of One Giant Leap downhill tracks above Llangollen. It’s a really steep hill so I bet the tracks are pretty rad 👌

I don’t want a bike. The idea does nothing for me.

But I see photos of my Kashmiri friend riding his and I really really want a RE Himalayan. Like REALLY want one. And going to Kashmir – it seems beyond wonderful. Possibly even nicer on the back of a Himalayan.

The 2024 version – is it much better? The original version was everywhere when I was in Ladakh last year – the hire places had them by the hundreds.

The 2024 version – is it much better?

Not better. Different.
I had a test ride on one last week as I mentioned up the page.

I’ll be keeping my 411.

They said we were crazy. They said it couldn’t be done. They said…

Ok, they didn’t say any of that but, on 10th of July 2024, 7 intrepid riders from Grims Himalayan Group set out to ride 1000km or about 635 miles over 4 days, on as many legal green lanes as possible from Chepstow and the confluence of the Wye and Severn valleys to Jedburgh in the Scottish borders.

The riding days were long, mostly 9-12 hours and the bikes were heavy, loaded up with camping gear, some of us more delicate types even choosing to pack folding chairs.

The ride was tirelessly planned, researched, put together and adjusted on the fly by Mr Roalfe from Grims Himalayan Group. It was a great route and had just the right mix of difficulty for everyone on the trip with some utterly sublime scenery along the way.

We had plenty of thrills, lost count of the spills and every single Royal Enfield Himalayan 411 on that trip just stood up to the abuse remarkably well, the most serious ‘mechanical’ being a new sprocket carrier bearing required which was sorted quickly by a fantastic old school bike mechanic in Buxton.

I actually managed to attain the title for first crash of the trip, and I managed several more. I was not alone however.
Best comedy moment was a river crossing near the end where two riders fully lay down in the river.
It was difficult with big hidden boulders underwater.
Myself and another person elected to get wet boots and walk our bikes across after that!

Looking forward to the next Himalayan adventure!

The route 1000k ish

Jedward!

That looks like an awesome trip

Ah, the forum has made all the photos I’ve added previously invisible.
How wonderful.

I’ve just joined the ranks with possibly the roughest Himalayan in the country 🙂

Engine bars and panniers and rear racks are already off as it wouldn;t fit in the shed with them on and I can’t see me ever using them.

Oh and it turns out you can fit one in a wheelchair adapted Alhambra 🙂

Nice one smokey_jo 🙂

Nice spin on mine earlier.

Rear end tidied up a bit and rear racks now off. Been out for a couple of hours tracking down all of the random vibrations, think I’m down to the headlight rim as the last one to sort now.

Genuinely astonished at how easy to ride it is, makes you go hunting for the narrowest, nadgery, bumpy little lanes where it excels.

How on earth though did they manage to source such a poor front brake when the rear is so good?

It needs some off road tyres before I take it off road but even hitting patches of gravel, potholes and farm muck doesn’t phase it !

Got carried away and took a little air on a hump back bridge and it just soaked it up without blinking.

I don’t know if I would be as pleased with it if I’d paid £2.5k, which seems to be what all the ones in eBay are fetching, but for £800 it’s brilliant.

£800?! What a bargain!

I think you’ll be forever searching for little vibrations and rattles. I have a new one on mine lately that I think may be from around the headlight but I kind of can’t be bothered to look.

It’s such a great bike for exploring all the tiny little lanes and places you wouldn’t normally go down and really is nice to ride off road as long as you remember what it is.

I keep finding myself trying to manual it through troughs, forgetting I’m not on a MTB 🙂

Looks great without the racks on there.

It’s worth changing the silencer if you can. The original weighs an unbelievable amount compared to the Lextek I’ve fitted now. Sounds lovely too.

It had been up for sale on the Enfield forums for quite a while but being near Penrith probably put people off. It’s s got corrosion to the engine cases and fork lowers and every single nut and bolt will need wd40 if they ever need undoing.

I’m determined for this not to turn into a money pit with me upgrading it, it’s done 25k miles of Cumbrian winters already so it’s had a hard life and I’m not sure a few kg off the bike would make much difference when I’m carrying at least a dozen too many myself. Tyres will be first then it will be replacing things as they break I think.

Perfect for exploring Cotswolds tracks

Quite a deep ford this at Kineton. Difficult exit step about two bricks high too, unseen underwater. Nearly got me 🙂