My lord and savior is, obviously, the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450. The small-displacement adventure motorcycle absolutely wowed me last year, and I haven't stopped thinking about it ever since that day, as I crossed multiple rivers, stomped through thigh-deep mud puddles, and railed through pristine canyons as if they were nothing.
Yet, despite its all-new everything, including its new 450 engine, the Himalayan still represents the past in its visage. It's still a gasoline-powered motorcycle. A good one, perhaps even the best in my mind, but it's a technological remnant, and Royal Enfield is looking toward the future, and that future is electric.
A few years back, the company showed off an electric Himalayan design dubbed the "Him-E," which is both a variation of the motorcycle's nickname and just an A+ dad joke that I can't believe got past the board, but we haven't heard anything since. That is, until a prototype was recently spied looking very much production-ready.
Spotted by the good folks over at RushLane, the Him-E looks absolutely ready to storm a dealership near you any day now. Unlike other production prototypes I've seen, there's no cladding, weird badging, off-market parts, or wires sticking out of its confines going to laptops or sensors. It just looks like a motorcycle that you or I could hop on and climb some mountains with.
From the photos, the Him-E has Ohlins shocks front and back, a machine-aluminum swingarm, knobby off-road tires, high handlebars, a rally-style front fairing and windscreen, disc brakes, a beefy-looking crash bar, and this beautifully machined battery case. It also just sorta looks like today's Himalayan that I may or may not have a poster of above my bed...
There's also this neat cushion thing that sits above the seat where the gas tank would be on a regular motorcycle that I can't quite figure out what it's for.
What's interesting is how far along this prototype looks, too, as Royal Enfield recently inked a deal with a few different suppliers, including Qualcomm, for the brand's upcoming Flying Flea electric motorcycle. But that was only a few months ago, so this is likely not a strain of that deal given its state of production readiness we see here.
Obviously, we don't know how much this motorcycle will cost, nor how much range Royal Enfield has eeked out of the tiny adventure bike, nor anything else. But given how close to ready it looks, I suspect we'll see it sooner rather than later. My only question, however, is "Will it be just as good as the gas Himalayan I love so much?" Only time will tell.
