A few days ago, we reported that CS Santosh made his return to international rallying with Royal Enfield at the Spanish Cuenca rally. Santosh was piloting a rally bike based on the Himalayan 450 and we now have the first images of this bike.
- Engine likely to have received some changes
- Different suspension, tyres and brakes compared to road bike
- Looks purpose-built but this is still early days
The Himalayan Rally bike you see here is in the very early stages of development and this is the very first time it has been used in competition. From the images, it's clear that the bike has proper long-travel suspension as well as rally-spec tyres.
The engine appears stock from the outside, including the OEM radiator guard – the only visible change being a full-system Akrapovic exhaust. However, it is quite likely that there are significant internal engine upgrades and this rally bike is likely to be producing well over 50hp.
Visually, the Himalayan rally bike looks like a stripped-down version of the stock motorcycle with RE’s rally kit. The cage around the fuel tank has been removed and there’s a rally tower at the front to hold things like the road book and other rally essentials.
The look of this motorcycle is another hint at the fact that this project is only in its infancy and we expect to see a more complete version at its next appearance in the coming months.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
