Royal Enfield boss has confirmed that the issues which troubled the erstwhile Himalayan have been addressed with the BS4 version.
After the Continental GT, the Royal Enfield Himalayan was another off-beat product from the brand which was aimed at a niche market segment. However, the purpose-built adventure tourer received a lot of flak as it was plagued with numerous quality issues and within a short period, its reliability became a questionable aspect. Post a rapid decline in sales and upcoming emission norms, the company had to pull the plug earlier this year. Few months down the line, the launch of the Himalayan BS4 was considered as a step in the positive direction.
When asked about quality issues in an interview, CEO Siddharth Lal commented “Of course, we had early issues and failures on the Himalayan. Every single problem is being directly addressed with the customers. The new BS4 product is absolutely fine, there are zero issues now.” Further, he said, “We are now confident, that we can design, we can make good stuff, we can service them, we can do all of that.”
The former version of the Himalayan was one of its kind but the surrounding issues were too hard to ignore. From comparatively minor issues like rusting, paint chipping and electrical failures to pathetic failures related to gearbox, transmission and cylinder head, owners faced a bad time with their Himalayans. Since there are no negative reports from Himalayan BS4 owners yet, we can safely assume that Royal Enfield has taken steps to iron out issues with the Himalayan but it’s too soon to say.
The Royal Enfield Himalayan BS4 is powered by a LS410 411cc fuel-injected engine which develops 24.5 HP of power and 32 Nm of torque. Mated to a 5-speed manual transmission, the Himalayan gets a 19-inch front wheel, tall visor, raised front fender and a minimalist adventure-tourer design. The motorcycle retails for Rs. 1.7 lakhs (ex-showroom, Mumbai) and is the most affordable purpose-built adventure motorcycle in the country with no direct competition.
Royal Enfield Himalayan BS4
– Company CEO confirms that Himalayan BS4 is devoid of issues that plagued the earlier version
– The Himalayan was relaunched in BS4 avatar this August
– Powered by LS410 engine developing 24.5 HP of power
Source – ETAuto.com