Leap of Faith or Fate? Buying Himalayan

Himalayan just out of showroom

I bought a Royal Enfield Himalayan a few days back. Previously I was riding a Honda Shine. It was a 125cc commuter bike. I used it extensively for short tours and it did not let me down. I even liked it so much that I did modified it to some extent for touring purpose. Even I had plans to take it to Ladakh this August. This plan is now dead because of Corona virus. So buying Himalayan was a big jump for me.

My reliable Honda Shine

When 2.5 years back I bought Shine and found that I was liking to tour on motorcycle, I started to look for a proper bike in which I could tour comfortably. Budget was limited. So a few models came up in my mind. Yamaha FZ25, Royal Enfield Himalayan, KTM Duke 250. FZ25 was a proven machine. It has decent power, very comfortable seating and very attractive pricing. But it has the least amount of power and it was getting old. As now my plan was to buy a bike for long term use, I kept this option for the last. If I could not decide on any bike, I would buy it blindly.

FZ25

Himalayan had won my heart at the time of its launch in 2016. But the BS3 version had too many problems. It was the least reliable bike of them. But its design, offroad capability, road presence all were attracting me towards it. But there were horror stories all over the internet of how Himalayan broke into two and many other things. So I was forced to look for other bikes. Also its braking was poor, it was carburated and didnt have ABS. All these were mandatory in my views.

KTM Duke 250

From my college days I liked the brand KTM very much. KTM was synonym of rally for me. The performance of KTM machines in Dakar rally had spelled magic on me. Though Duke was not a offroad or touring bike series, I liked it over the RC series. And Duke 250 was the max I could afford. It was flawless machine. Power, reliability, precision everything was perfect. Beautifully designed parts all over the bike was competing for attention. But of them all the rear swing arm stole my heart. May be that was the most beautiful part of the whole bike. But I do not like the high action riding style related to Duke. Then KTM announced the 390 Adventure would be released in Dec 2019.

KTM 390 Adventure

I stopped all my speculations and waited eagerly for that beast. In pen and paper it was the perfect machine to buy. Beautifully designed body work, with duke 390’s engine which is best in performance in that class, premium features like switchable ABS, traction control etc, very less weight, made this motorcycle worth waiting for. When it was launched it created sensation. Youtube was flooded with its videos. But as the price was announced, it broke my heart. It was way over my budget.

Himalayan Rock Red

In the meantime in early 2020 Himalayan BS6 was launched with all new colors. And slowly but steadily good news were pouring in. The engine is most refined. It has switchable ABS. Though Royal Enfield has not confirmed, braking has improved significantly. Oh! Also the Rock Red color stole my heart again. My mind was still not so sure. Only one question was revolving around my mind, can I really rely on this bike for long term? Then there was examples like Noraly AKA Itchy Boots who had bought a BS3 Himalayan from India and ridden it around the world without zero repair knowledge and zero problems.

Himalayan with FZ25

As few months passed, relatively long term review of 390 Adventure were coming in. A few of them I didnt really like. When ever you slow down you have to downshift to lowest gears otherwise it will stall. Another problem is that in offroad situations you have to maintain the rpm very high to get power. It may be doable for experts but I will certainly have very much problem. And there was a undercurrent of thought which goes in favor of Himalayan.

Himalayan Snow White

It was actually the 1st generation BS3 models which were very poorly made. They broke, stalled, died and created a horror legacy which exists even today. BS3 version production was stopped, corrected and then started production again. In BS4 even more problem were solved. BS4 didnt failed so much. And now BS6 seems to be the best of the lot. It has its own share of problems too. Many owners have complained about electrical failure while on run. But they were mostly solved after first service.

Leap of Faith

There was a scene in the movie, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ where Bruce Wayne had to jump an inhuman length to escape the prison without the safety rope. I had to take one too. It was a leap of faith. Sometimes you have to listen to your heart. In my case heart always takes over my mind. In 2016 the motorcycle I wanted to own was the Snow White Himalayan. Finally in 2020 what I bought after all these mental battle is the Snow White Himalayan.

Himalayan at Sunset