Kiwi Rider December 2023 Vol.1 | Page 66

the new project . RE knew it didn ’ t want to deliver a dud , so the team researched the hell out of what people wanted from a small-mid capacity adventure bike . As part of this , they approached real adventure riders , from explorers such as their own antarctic heroes - Santhosh Vijay Kumar and Dean Coxson – the lads who rode the previous generation to the South Pole , to global travellers including Noraly Schoenmaker ( AKA YouTube sensation Itchy Boots ) and most importantly , current Himalayan owners to find out exactly what they wanted from a new small-capacity adventure bike . The result is a bike that outshines its
competition in a number of ways , yet still holds true to its roots . Evolution was the goal , but revolution was the result , as it ’ s fair to say the new Himalayan 450 crushed the design brief in 9 / 10 boxes . Lighting has moved to a full LED setup with the headlight being shared with the Super Meteor 650 . In fact , the headlight was initially developed for the new Himalayan , but the Super Meteor got to market first while Royal Enfield continued to test and refine the new Himalayan . While the bikes we rode in India had the mandatory front licence plates below the headlight , global versions of the bike will see the headlight mounted lower to the front fender . In an interesting move , the rear brake light has been integrated into the rear indicators - another first for the brand and one we normally only see on premium American cruisers . According to the RE team , this was to help improve the bike ’ s rear suspension travel along with looking cool as hell .
ALL-NEW MODERN DESIGN What ’ s new ? Well , everything . While the visual design is reminiscent of the Himalayan 411 , the new 450 has been a ground-up redesign with not a single part carried over from its predecessor . There are some cool new features worked into the design , from
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