It’s widely known that Royal Enfield is readying quite a few models based on a few different engine configurations. One of them is the liquid-cooled, 450cc roadster that's going to share its engine with the Himalayan 450. Earlier spy shots showed that this bike was still in the early stage of its development. But this time around, the bike seems like it has more in common with a production-spec bike than an early test mule.
- Powered by a liquid-cooled, 450cc, single-cylinder engine
- Features neo-retro roadster styling
Royal Enfield 450cc roadster details
When this bike was spied overseas last time around, it was missing a lot of its bodywork and was sans an instrument console. This time, the bike features a round display (likely to be the same or at least similar to the one seen on the Himalayan 450). It also gets fork gaiters, similar to the Hunter 350, which should help in adding some visual mass to the front end. The overall design language is very neo-retro and is more in the wheelhouse of the Bajaj/Triumph bike than the edgy KTMs.
While the bike spotted here doesn’t feature any provisions to mount luggage, we had previously seen that it can be fitted with pannier mounts and a top box rack. In all likelihood, there will be a long list of accessories that Royal Enfield will offer with the bike, whenever it goes on sale.
The engine on the RE 450cc roadster is expected to be the same as the upcoming Himalayan 450, but will most likely be tuned, and perhaps even geared, differently than the adventure bike to suit this application. Considering the large number of new Royal Enfield models waiting in the wings, we expect the launch of the 450cc roadster to be quite some time away. Expect pricing to be in the Rs 2.5 lakh-3 lakh ballpark, considering that this bike will rival the likes of the KTM 390 Duke and the upcoming Bajaj/Triumph bike.
Would you pick the RE 450cc roadster over a KTM 390 Duke or the Bajaj/Triumph bike? Let us know in the comments section below.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
