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BHPian rishi.roger recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Recevied a call on 28th Nov, from the KayTee Automobiles RE Dealership in Mahipalpur, Delhi asking to visit the dealership as they unveiled the Himalayan 450 for display.
They had Hanle Black on display. In person, it looked massive mostly because of the huge tank that almost reminded me of the Africa Twin. That tank is definitely one of the most noticeable features of this bike.
The other thing that caught my immediate attention was when I took the bike off the center stand and sat on it. I am 5ft 7in tall with a very average inseam. For reference, I currently have a Dominar with a saddle height of 800mm and I can’t completely flat foot with regular shoes. On Dominar, I find it a struggle to manoeuvre the bike backwards when stuck in traffic or even forward when the motor isn’t switched on, paddling isn’t easy for me.
Due to Himalayan’s weight and size in person, I was under the impression that it wouldn’t be any easier and I should perhaps not consider it.
Also, the lower seat option wasn’t available plus the dealership had the saddle height set to the higher option, which is ~845mm. This was very intimidating for me, however, a gentleman at the dealership asked me to try it nevertheless. He even helped move the bike from center stand so that I could try it.
I couldn’t believe that with an 845mm seat height, I could touch both my feet on the ground with some amount of tip-toe on both sides but it wasn’t too much. In addition, I felt the handlebars were also comparatively lighter than the Dominar (Dominar is a front-heavy bike).
Himalayan felt way lighter than Dominar when it came to paddling back and forth as well as even when steady.
On paper, the Dominar is just a bit heavier/lighter than the Himalayan so I wasn’t expecting a lot of difference but in the real world, I felt the Himalayan was a lot less intimidating than the Dominar (the way you feel the weight of the bike at standstill/physically moving around). I’d love to see how this translates to stability b/w both the bikes out on highways.
The stock seats for both rider and pillion were good, on par with Dominar. The rider seat felt very close to being firm, IMO. This should help with covering long distances easily. At 5,7″ – I also found the posture to be almost perfect for both bad roads as well as long distances. I’d however definitely not want to corner on this bike (might change later when I get a chance to actually try and see if it feels confident).
The motor didn’t feel like your typical RE thumper. Although there were vibrations present across the range those were more of a “slight buzz” that did not seem to increase as you rev harder. It’s like a constant buzz that’s present in the body – but the handlebar, seat and footrest seem isolated from it to a large extent (likely some really good dampening by RE). I certainly can’t compare it to a Jap, but for a RE (and considering the fact that it’s a large size single cylinder) – it’s well done, IMO. I feel that with some amount of settling down after the first few services and engine oil changes – it could become smoother.
The sales rep at the showroom said, they’re likely going to receive 3-5 units in the first lot and there would be either one or two lots at best in Dec. The price will only apply at the time of delivery and not booking. Also, most pre-bookings are for Hanle Black and Kamet White. (Few are thinking this changed for bookings made after the price reveal, but I really doubt it if one looks at this beauty in Black – looks stunning!).
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