DRugerH
Well travelled
- Location
- South East Wisconsin
Good morning all. I pre-ordered a 2021 Royal Enfield Himalayan a few weeks ago. Now, I have never seen one of these bikes in person, let alone sat on one, or ridden one. When I pre-ordered the bike, I was taking a leap of faith that I would like it based on reviews and YouTube videos of the bike. I am 6'2", so I was concerned that the bike was going to be too small for me, so I've worried about whether or not I made a good decision on the pre-order. However, RE said it was a refundable deposit, so I thought it was a good chance to take.
Well, yesterday, the dealership where I secured the bike had a Royal Enfield Demo Day. I cleared my Saturday morning and made my way up there. I got there just before they opened, but the sign up for a ride was already going on. I was the forth person in line to sign up. I asked if I could ride a Himalayan, for which they had two. I was given the go-ahead and I went to the bikes.
When I saw my very first Himalayan, I got a little excited, especially since one of the demos was the same color scheme (Rock Read) that I preordered, so I proceeded to the bike. However, my heart sank a little. Those bikes are so much smaller than I expected. I knew the seat height was going to be low, but I didn't think it had such a short wheelbase. Well, as soon as I started to look at the bike, the salesman that I arranged the pre-order with came out and we started to talk. I mentioned that I had brought my pre-order and deposit receipt with me just in case the bike didn't work out. He asked me to give the bike a try, take the ride, and let him know what I thought when I came back.
So, I sat on the bike, and, yeah, the bike felt pretty low. The seat was really soft, and felt like it sank down a couple of inches. I put one foot on the peg to make sure my knee didn't hit the tank crash bar, and I was about 1" away. That made me feel a bit better. The instrumentation looked really small, smaller than I expected. The mirrors seemed a little flimsy, but I know that had been mentioned in videos, so I already figured I'd replace them anyhow, IF I purchased the bike. Also, the seating position felt about the same as it did on my 1981 Honda GL500, which I sold 40-miles after restoring the bike as it made my hips and back hurt after just a couple of miles of riding. Not good, and my heart kept sinking.
Well, it was ride time. After a briefing on riding, where we're going, etc., I started up the bike, and got into formation. As we took off, and I was trying to get used to the bike, I was starting to notice the quarks. For example, I know when the bike wanted to shift as there would be a weird vibration whine coming from the instrument panel. So, once I heard that, shift. The throttle had a lot of travel in it. When I went to shift, I had to twist forward farther than I am used to. I got used to that pretty quickly. On the first right turn, I sort of felt like I was going to dump the bike as dual-sports tend to be top heavy. So, with this in mind, I took the turn a little wide, but then felt the bike firmly planted on the ground, with the center of gravity being much lower than I expected. As the ride went on, I started really enjoying the bike. I started to forget about the weird "I want to shift" vibration, I started to forget about the goofy throttle, I started to forget about the squishiness of the seat. I just really enjoyed a nice, relaxing ride. AND, most importantly, no aches or pains!
Well, we got back to the dealership. I parked the bike, turned it off, took off the helmet and just smiled. I felt good about the purchase. The salesman walked out to see if I needed my $500 deposit back, and I told him to keep it. I WILL take delivery of the bike when it arrives. We kept on talking for a few minutes after this when I realized I still hadn't dismounted the bike. I was truly feeling like the bike was right for me. Yes, it was small, it was quirky, it wasn't the fastest thing on two wheels, but it was extremely enjoyable.
Also, the folks from Royal Enfield were really cool. They let me ride an Intercepter 650 as well since it was still early and not many folks had shown up for the demos, and I got to talk to one of the reps who was really cool. So, I guess you all are stuck with me as I am most definitely a Royal Enfiled pre-owner
Thanks for reading,
Dan
Well, yesterday, the dealership where I secured the bike had a Royal Enfield Demo Day. I cleared my Saturday morning and made my way up there. I got there just before they opened, but the sign up for a ride was already going on. I was the forth person in line to sign up. I asked if I could ride a Himalayan, for which they had two. I was given the go-ahead and I went to the bikes.
When I saw my very first Himalayan, I got a little excited, especially since one of the demos was the same color scheme (Rock Read) that I preordered, so I proceeded to the bike. However, my heart sank a little. Those bikes are so much smaller than I expected. I knew the seat height was going to be low, but I didn't think it had such a short wheelbase. Well, as soon as I started to look at the bike, the salesman that I arranged the pre-order with came out and we started to talk. I mentioned that I had brought my pre-order and deposit receipt with me just in case the bike didn't work out. He asked me to give the bike a try, take the ride, and let him know what I thought when I came back.
So, I sat on the bike, and, yeah, the bike felt pretty low. The seat was really soft, and felt like it sank down a couple of inches. I put one foot on the peg to make sure my knee didn't hit the tank crash bar, and I was about 1" away. That made me feel a bit better. The instrumentation looked really small, smaller than I expected. The mirrors seemed a little flimsy, but I know that had been mentioned in videos, so I already figured I'd replace them anyhow, IF I purchased the bike. Also, the seating position felt about the same as it did on my 1981 Honda GL500, which I sold 40-miles after restoring the bike as it made my hips and back hurt after just a couple of miles of riding. Not good, and my heart kept sinking.
Well, it was ride time. After a briefing on riding, where we're going, etc., I started up the bike, and got into formation. As we took off, and I was trying to get used to the bike, I was starting to notice the quarks. For example, I know when the bike wanted to shift as there would be a weird vibration whine coming from the instrument panel. So, once I heard that, shift. The throttle had a lot of travel in it. When I went to shift, I had to twist forward farther than I am used to. I got used to that pretty quickly. On the first right turn, I sort of felt like I was going to dump the bike as dual-sports tend to be top heavy. So, with this in mind, I took the turn a little wide, but then felt the bike firmly planted on the ground, with the center of gravity being much lower than I expected. As the ride went on, I started really enjoying the bike. I started to forget about the weird "I want to shift" vibration, I started to forget about the goofy throttle, I started to forget about the squishiness of the seat. I just really enjoyed a nice, relaxing ride. AND, most importantly, no aches or pains!
Well, we got back to the dealership. I parked the bike, turned it off, took off the helmet and just smiled. I felt good about the purchase. The salesman walked out to see if I needed my $500 deposit back, and I told him to keep it. I WILL take delivery of the bike when it arrives. We kept on talking for a few minutes after this when I realized I still hadn't dismounted the bike. I was truly feeling like the bike was right for me. Yes, it was small, it was quirky, it wasn't the fastest thing on two wheels, but it was extremely enjoyable.
Also, the folks from Royal Enfield were really cool. They let me ride an Intercepter 650 as well since it was still early and not many folks had shown up for the demos, and I got to talk to one of the reps who was really cool. So, I guess you all are stuck with me as I am most definitely a Royal Enfiled pre-owner
Thanks for reading,
Dan