Photo: Oberdan Bezzi
Royal Enfield's Himalayan adventure bike may be one of the coolest things that happened in the long history of the Indian house, but seeing a rendering showing it in a Dakar-ish rally-raid guise is funny. That is because of the ill-fated decision to leave the scene showing parts falling off the bike in the final cut of the first official video.
Even though Royal Enfield pulled their Himalayan video off YouTube trying to do some damage control, things cannot be undone. The Himalayan will most likely be remembered for years as the adventure bike that broke one of the footpegs in the very launch video.
Obviously, putting THAT bike and the Dakar Rally in the same sentence is almost evil. A motorcycle manufacturer that hopes to even reach the finish line of the Dakar has to go great lengths to make its bike tough as nails, and that's perhaps an understatement.
We've seen motorcycles from the biggest and the best teams defeated by the grueling South American cross-country rally, down with all sorts of problems, from engines that fail to broken parts and frames.
The Dakar is not at all picky, it has a strong tendency to eliminate whoever makes mistakes and brings knives to the gun fight. Some of the riders who cross the finish line are also lucky to have avoided tight situations. Watch the video in the link at 03:45 to see what a fast Dakar crash looks like.
So, that's why seeing Oberdan Bezzi's Royal Enfield Himalayan Rally Raid rendering put a broad smile on our face. Anyway, if Royal Enfield could make a Dakar-grade bike, they'd be truly praiseworthy. But this would most likely involve a much stronger chassis, including kickass forks and swingarm, top-drawer suspensions, and all the parts being as tough and enduring as they get.
Judging by what we saw in the first videos, the Himalayan is nowhere near any mass production enduro bike, and this means that the road that lies ahead is too long to describe, at least in the stage the bike is now. Follow this link if you missed the Himalayan broken footpeg story.
Obviously, putting THAT bike and the Dakar Rally in the same sentence is almost evil. A motorcycle manufacturer that hopes to even reach the finish line of the Dakar has to go great lengths to make its bike tough as nails, and that's perhaps an understatement.
We've seen motorcycles from the biggest and the best teams defeated by the grueling South American cross-country rally, down with all sorts of problems, from engines that fail to broken parts and frames.
"Where greater men have fallen"
Even more, sometimes, riders also happen to crash these bikes violently on the unwelcoming terrain, most of the times at high speed. Some of the toughest machines don't last such ordeals, and only a few of the racers are lucky enough to escape without injuries and their bikes to make it to the next bivouac and be repaired.The Dakar is not at all picky, it has a strong tendency to eliminate whoever makes mistakes and brings knives to the gun fight. Some of the riders who cross the finish line are also lucky to have avoided tight situations. Watch the video in the link at 03:45 to see what a fast Dakar crash looks like.
So, that's why seeing Oberdan Bezzi's Royal Enfield Himalayan Rally Raid rendering put a broad smile on our face. Anyway, if Royal Enfield could make a Dakar-grade bike, they'd be truly praiseworthy. But this would most likely involve a much stronger chassis, including kickass forks and swingarm, top-drawer suspensions, and all the parts being as tough and enduring as they get.
Judging by what we saw in the first videos, the Himalayan is nowhere near any mass production enduro bike, and this means that the road that lies ahead is too long to describe, at least in the stage the bike is now. Follow this link if you missed the Himalayan broken footpeg story.
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