A bit more adventure than I was looking for today. I set off for La Poma and the Abra del Acay pass at about 8am. The forecast wasn’t good but the weather looked ok. There had obviously been a fair bit of rain: the 10km stretch of tarmac before the turn off to Ruta 40 had large patches of mud that had been washed across the road. The road to the pass was ok, though still wet from the rain the day before. I could see that two vehicles had passed before me. The road wound upwards, some hairpins being a bit tricky due to ruts, where water had evidently been flowing across the road. The views were pretty spectacular, but, once again, the stupid side-stand design on the Himalayan precluded the idea of stopping very often for photographs.
About halfway up the pass the road turned to mud. Slippery, greasy and with virtually no grip. I toyed with the idea of turning round but it would not have been possible. It was first gear all the way to the top, feet down, bike squirming all over the place. I was aware that dropping the bike in mud on a steep slope would not be fun. I came across the two vehicles whose tracks I had seen earlier, both of them stuck. I couldn’t stop to help, there was no way I could have parked the bike. Occasional dryer bits gave me false optimism. It was too muddy to stop anywhere for pictures, and I was getting concerned about the wheels caking up with mud. About halfway up, I passed two cyclists, pushing their bikes. I gave them a wave, amazed again at the hardcore nature of cycling this part of Ruta 40. These cyclists have my utmost respect.
Eventually I reached the top, took the obligatory snap and noticed that the weather was turning. I was getting another altitude headache, hardly surprising at 4995m I guess, so stuffed another wad of coca leaves in my mouth before continuing. It looked like another storm was brewing. This place seems to make it’s own weather. The temperature had dropped to 5 degrees, and I seemed to be close the snow line. Ahead looked clear though. I started down the other side, the road in slightly better condition, though still with large stretches of mud.
Top of Abra del Acay
I guess I was most of the way down the pass when I came across a landslide, the road completely covered in a 30 degree slope of mud. Behind me, up the pass, the cute little cumulus cloud that had been there when I set off was now a full-blown thunderstorm. I did a quick evaluation: going back up was not an attractive option, I had a tent, about 3 days food and a water filter. If the worst came to the worst, I could find a sheltered spot and pitch the tent. I walked across the landslide, about 200 metres across. The other side looked ok. I unloaded the bike, rode it across, then came back for the luggage. I had just picked up the panniers when two 4×4’s turned up. The first was driven by Manuel, with his passenger Nasaren (not sure if that is spelled correctly) I asked them if they could take my luggage across, and they said they would take it all the way to La Poma if I wanted. Excellent! The tail rack on the bike (after market) had snapped in one place on my abortive attempt the day before, so a bit of respite would do it no harm. I still don’t know why it snapped as there was little weight on it.
A few km further on the road disappeared. It had been totally washed away in two places. Manuel thought a river crossing further on might be a problem too. No option but to go back over the pass . Shit. So I set off back over the pass in front. It was as bad as the way up from the other side, and got much worse when it started hailing heavily. The road was now a total morass. Probably the most taxing bit of riding I have ever done. I had the heated grips on, but was still getting cold hands. Rain ran down my neck,
Eventually I reached the bottom again and waited for Manuel and Nasaren. They took a while as they had picked up two German cyclists I had seen earlier.
Landslide
End of the road
Manuel
There was no option now but to go to La Poma via Salta, along RN51, which turned out to be one of the most spectacular roads I have ever been on. New tarmac, with the occasional dirt culvert thrown in to keep you in your toes. After airing up the tyres and switching the ABS back, on I settled into enjoying the sweeping curves, bizarre rock formations, giant cactus and weird colours, from red to yellow to brownish green. Then my throttle stopped working. The heated grip had come unstuck, and inspection and disassembly by the roadside showed the throttle tube was jamned in the housing. I fiddled about with it, squirted some chain lube in, and it seemed ok. So I reassembled it and set off again. It worked fine for about 50km, then jammed at idle again. This time I removed the heated grip and left it off. I could feel it sticking occasionally, but by pushing it into the housing, I could free it up. Just before Salta, my phone decided to update it’s software. Then I found I didn’t have a signal, so couldn’t get Google Maps working again. It was getting hot, 32 degrees, and very humid. A big change from freezing my ass off a few hours earlier. I asked two guys on a scooter for directions, and eventually arrived in the outskirts of Salta. I pulled into a gas station to cool down and get Google Maps working again, then found a hostel on iOverlander before setting off into the city.
So now I am in Salta, in a strange hostel with no exterior windows. I have arranged a welder for 10am tomorrow (he wouldn’t do it this evening due to a thunderstorm), dropped off some laundry, and in the morning will completely disassemble the throttle and find out what’s wrong with it. Meanwhile, I have effectively lost two days, as I expected to be at the end of the dirt on the northern part of RN40, at Cafayate, tomorrow. I will re-evaluate in the morning. For now, another beer, and bed.
So here finally is my review of the bike and equipment I used on my recent trip to Argentina and Chile.
For those unfamiliar with the RE Himalayan, it is an Indian made bike aimed squarely at the adventure market. At just over £4000 new, it is very cheap for what it is. It first came out in 2016. The frame was designed by Harris Engineering, who are now owned by Royal Enfield. It has a 411cc, single cylinder, long stroke engine, producing 24.5HP. Being designed for off-road as well as on road use, it sports a 21 inch front wheel and 17 inch rear. Seat height is 800mm, significantly lower than most adventure bikes. It has a 15 litre fuel tank, and comes with ABS as standard. Kerb weigh is 185kg, and suspension travel is 200mm on the front, and 180mm on the rear.
I’ll get straight to the point. There are those that will tell you that the Royal Enfield Himalayan is not an adventure bike, that’s it too slow, too unreliable, too badly made, to stand up to the rigours of true adventure motorcycling. Many people on online forums have been very scathing of the Himalayan. Few of them actually have ridden one. A number of people told me it wouldn’t last, that it would fall to bits or break down, that I should get a “proper” adventure bike. Having just covered just over 10000km on one, with over 2000km of that being off-road, I disagree. There are a few issues, but, for me anyway, the benefits of the Himalayan far outweigh any disadvantages. It is cheap, simple, rugged and capable, and is also one of the few (maybe the only?) adventure bikes on the market not clad in plastic. The seat height is lower than most, and it’s comfortable. It;s fuel efficient, easy to work on, and looks great in my opinion.
I bought the bike second had, with just over 7000 miles on the clock. The guy I bought it from had had a stroke, and wanted to sell it before gong back home to Poland. The bike had evidently been dropped at least once, judging by a few scratches and a broken spotlight. It was also apparent that the previous owner had lubed the chain, but never cleaned it.
Here I will go into a bit more detail about the bike and mods. Most of the mods were very cheap, and all bar one lasted the trip. I have been asked by a few people how much the accessories etc cost, so, where applicable, I have included the price I paid for them. You don’t need to spend a fortune kitting a bike out for a long trip.
Ready for the road
The Bike
After buying the bike, I fitted a few extras, which I will include in this review. To start with though, here are my top 5 negatives and positives about the bike.
I will start with the negatives.
1- The side-stand. This is number 1 on my list for a reason. It is too long, and the foot too small. I really regret not getting it shortened and a bigger foot put on it. Stupid thing is, I found a fantastic welder in Salta who could have done it, but I forgot about it. Duh. It was a very annoying issue, as I couldn’t always stop where I wanted to take pictures, and had to be careful every time I parked in dirt or on ground that wasn’t level. It’s getting shortened asap.
2-Cylinder head bolts- I had to replace two cylinder head bolts during the trip. It’s a known issue with the bike. The threads came loose in the holes. Fitting longer bolts worked, though I still had a minor oil leak. One of the bolts has since come loose again. For anyone buying a Himalayan, I would suggest changing these bolts before you get a problem. I thought mine had been done, but evidently not.
3-Things tend to come loose. Easily avoided by regularly checking all, and I mean all, the bolts. I missed out the gear shift on my last check, and it fell off, losing the bolt and bush from the shifter. It was fixed beside the road by a car mechanic with stuff he had in his boot.
4- Top end cruising speed. The Himalayan is not fast. If you want to cover huge mileage, either get a GS, or be patient. Cruising speed is 95-100kph.
5- I can’t think of anything else.
Now the positives
1-The bike is really comfortable. I had no problem riding the bike all day, on or off road. Standing on the pegs was also comfortable, but I suspect someone taller than me ( I am 5’7) would benefit from risers
2-It is easy to handle off-road. I hadn’t ridden off road for 30 years, and had no issues with the bike in gravel, sand, rocks or ruts. The suspension soaks up bumps very well, and very rarely bottomed out. The lack of engine power and smooth torque curve possibly also helps in this department. The 21 inch front wheel is the right size for off-road, but the bike handles very well on tarmac too. Power delivery is smooth. Some people have complained that the front brake is not powerful enough, but I found it perfectly adequate. It does require a strong squeeze to get maximum braking, but I found this helped off-road, making it less likely to lock the front wheel up when I had the ABS switched off (I modded the bike to make ABS swiitchable)
3-It is very strong. Apart from the cylinder head bolts, nothing broke on the trip, apart from the rear rack, which was after-market.
4-It’s light enough to pick up on your own. At 185kg, it’s no lightweight, but the low centre of gravity helps when you you have to pick the bike up. One of my requirements for this trip, as I was travelling solo, was having a bike I could pick up.
5- It is very reliable. It’s easy to work on, and simple enough that whatever you can’t fix yourself, a competent bike mechanic should be able to work out. It’s easier to find a mechanic than a technician when you are in the middle of nowhere. The only issue I couldn’t fix,or get fixed, on the trip was the speedo cable, which stopped working quite early on.
6-It is fuel efficient. I was averaging about 65mpg on the trip
Before leaving, I did a few mods, and fitted luggage and extra fuel capacity. All of them bar one turned out to be a good idea. Here’s a list, broken down into the bike itself, luggage, and electrical components.
Bike Mods
Loobman chain oiler – disintegrated the first time I rode on dirt. Cheap, and useless imo.
Tyres-Mitas E-07. The tyres lasted the whole trip, just over 10 000km, which actually surprised me. They probably aren’t legal now. These tyres worked well in everything except mud, but I doubt anything short of massive knobblies would. They handle tarmac well, including wet roads. I didn’t get any vibration from the tyres on tarmac. Off-road, they are very good in sand, gravel, rocky terrain, though in mud they tend to get clagged up. I will be replacing them with the same tyres.
Front fender raisers – £16.60 from Cooperb. They stopped mud jamming the wheel on a couple of occasions. Essential imo , but it would be easy enough to make them yourself.
Sprockets and chain- I used a Talon rear sprocket and heavy duty DID X-ring chain. £144 for the chain and both sprockets, ordered direct from Hitchcocks. I also bought 2 spare split links for £4.50 each. Halfway through the trip I ditched my spare rear sprocket. It was obvious the chain and sprockets were going to survive the trip. 10000 km later, the chain hasn’t stretched at all, and the sprockets look good for another 5000 km at least. I did lube the chain every day, and cleaned it regularly with an old toothbrush. It only needed adjusting 3 times on the whole trip.
Givi engine guards – probably not essential, but, if fitting an engine guard, probably the best on the market, with 3 points of attachment, including a rod through the frame. £129.97, from Italy via eBay.
R&G Shock tube protector- Keeps dirt and mud off the rear shock. The guy who serviced my bike in Argentina thought it the best mod on the bike. £29.98 from Cooperb.
Windscreen extension : cheap Chinese one off eBay, at £13.95. It looks like a copy of a much more expensive Givi one. Everyone, me included, expected it to contribute to the complete destruction of my already damaged windscreen, but the screen survived the trip. It also worked very well, a big improvement over just the stock windscreen. It’s still in great condition.
Handguards : plastic ones from Cooperb via eBay, £35.99. I was worried about there being no metal in these, but they worked fine, including in an off at about 40kph, and several time dropping the bike. I see no reason to change them.
Heel guard – for off-road riding, I consider this essential. It would be very easy to damage the rear brake master cylinder without it. £29.99 from Cooperb.
Luggage etc
I decided to use soft luggage. There are pros and cons to the soft/hard luggage question, but I am not going to go into them here, save to say that I am pretty sure that in one of my offs, I would have ended up with a broken leg if I had hard panniers on the bike
Lomo Panniers – Bought direct from Lomo. £136.95 for the two panniers, a magnetic tank-bag, waterproof phone case, waterproof leg bag, and a first aid kit. Panniers on their own are less than £50. The panniers and tank-bag proved to be totally waterproof, and indestructible. They are large, basic, very cheap, and do the job. What more do you need? I certainly will use them again. In addition, I had a Lomo 40litre drybag, donated by Lomo. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have got the magnetic tank bag : it tended to move around when standing on the pegs on bad roads, and has scratched the paint on the tank.
Tool tube-I bought this from eBay, for £11, and secured it to the left pannier rails. Inside, I had a tool roll with sockets, pliers, scissors, a couple of spanners, and Knipex plier/wrench, which turned out to be my most used tool.
Tool tube
Fuel cans – cheap 3 litre cans from China, bought off eBay. £47.98 for the pair. The mounting kit cost £29.99 from Hitchcocks ( now £39.99) The cans survived two crashes and several times dropping the bike. You can spend 4 times as much on Rotapaks, but why?
Tailbag- This was actually the magnetic tank-bag I use on my Harley. It was useful to hold electrical tape, tie-wraps, rubber bands, spare fuses and other bits and pieces.
Front crash bar bag-This held my waterproofs, a multi-tool, and a head torch. Free, from my loft. It was a re-purposed old camera bag I had lying about.
Electrical
INNNOV Power Hub2 : £59.95 from Amazon. I ran the spotlights, heated grips and dual USB port through this. I fitted it in the small box under the seat. It survived torrential rain, crashes, river crossings, really bad roads. However, it became a bit intermittent immediately after getting the bike serviced, halfway through the trip. I guess a loose wire, but I never found it. Investigations continue. I am going to rewire everything anyway, to tidy up the wires a bit more. The power hub meant I didn’t have to worry about leaving any of the ancillaries on, and meant only single wires to the battery, from the hub.
Dual USB hub : cheapo from China, £8.67. It survived all the conditions mentioned above. It also displays voltage, so I would immediately notice any charging problems. The temperature gauge was much more accurate than the one built into the bike.
USB Hub
Heated grips : Oxford Adventure. £48.99 from eBay. They work great, though on the trip I had to remove one to clean out a bit of plastic that had found its way into the throttle housing. My fault, probably happened when I fitted them.
Heated Grips
Spotlights : Chinese, off eBay. They were wired incorrectly when I bought them, but I got refunded the cost of getting them rewired. Very bright, seem indestructible.
ABS switch- I wired this to the main ABS fuse. £2.67 for the switch, from eBay. I’m very glad I did this mod, though it would be great if I could wire it up to just the rear wheel ABS.
ABS switch
Spares
Most of my spares were in the let hand pannier, which when driving on the right is the side nearest traffic. Spares I might need on the road, like tyre irons, were in the right hand pannier.
In addition to tyre irons I had
Motopressor pump-at £34, a complete waste of money. It broke on third use, and I ended up buying a cheap foot pump for about £6 which lasted the rest of the trip. .
Two tubes (17 and 21 inch)
Spare clutch’
Spare clutch cable
2 oil filters
Spare brake and clutch levers
Throttle/clutch cable repair kit
Fuses
Spare headlight bulb
O-rings
Of these, only an oil filter got used. I never got a puncture.
Extras I didn’t bother with:
Steel bash plate : I considered fitting a stronger bash plate, but the stock one is fine, it stood up to a lot of abuse.
Headlight grill : To me it appears to be mainly cosmetic.
Mirrors- I see lots of complaints about the mirrors, but, especially compared to my Harley, they were perfectly adequate.
What would I change?
I am very tempted by the 462cc conversion. Main reason is to change the gearing and get a higher cruising speed. Alloy rims are also tempting, to lose a bit of weight. However, they are very expensive. I might also get a Lextek exhaust; weight saving again, and it’s pretty cheap. Apart from these, I actually don’t think I would change anything. Larger pegs and different handlebars are available, and I had a look at a different rear shock, but I see no reason to change any of them. I had no problems with the pegs, bars or suspension.
Camping gear
I’m not going to go into lots of detail here, but here’s a list of the stuff I used and liked
Tent-Vango Banshee 200- I have used this tent on several previous motorcycle trips.It actually belongs to my step-son, though I think he has given up on the idea of getting it back! It;s easy to put up and take down, large enough to keep your gear with you in the tent, and has stood up to a lot of bad weather. It’s also quite light and packs up small.
Sleeping bag-Snugpack Softie expanding 3 season bag. It’s bulky (it took up most of a pannier), but it’s very warm and comfortable. You need a bit of luxury.
Sleeping mat-Thermarest Neoair Xlite- I have had this a few years, it’s been used on many rallies and bike trips. It got a puncture on this trip, but I managed to repair it. It’s comfortable, and insulates you from cold ground.
Chair-Cheap copy of a Helinox chair, bought off eBay. I consider it essential to have a comfortable chair when camping.
Stove- Chinese copy (Outry) of Fire Maple Spark gas stove. This stove is brilliant, and folds up very small. At £13.99 from eBay, it’s also much cheaper than similar, better known brands.
Wood burning stove- Lixada portable wood burning stove. This folds up flat, and you can cook using twigs or fir cones. I used it as much as the gas stove. It works very well, with the added bonus that you have a little fire to sit next to. At around £14, it’s a brilliant bit of kit
My cookware was just a cheap pan and saucepan from Decathlon.
I also had a Waterdog backpack with a 2 litre bladder, bought in Argentina to replace my lost Camelbak. I wouldn’t entertain the idea of doing a trip like this without a means to drink water on the go. Relying on stops to drink water on a long trip is a sure way to get seriously dehydrated.
Summary
For me, the Himalayan is an excellent adventure bike, and I personally don’t see the need to think about any other bike. Royal Enfield’s Himalayan is simple, rugged, and it does the job, on or off road. It’s also cheap enough that, if the worst comes to the worst, abandoning it somewhere is not the financial disaster that losing a more expensive bike would be. It also doesn’t attract the same level of unwanted attention you can get on a GS, Africa Twin or other highly specced expensive adventure bike when travelling in areas where people don’t have the disposable income we in the West have. To me, it also looks great. I hate plastic.
I hope some of you find this review informative. Of course, it’s all just my opinions and observations, and some people may want a bike with traction control, rider modes and lots of other gizmos.
If anyone wants any more info on any of the products mentioned, feel free to drop me an email. I have no affiliation with any companies, apart from Lomo, who gave me a free drybag. I bought the panniers and tank bag. I do thoroughly recommend Lomo products though. They are a British company, producing quality products much cheaper than their competition.
I would also like to once again thank Bolton Motorcycles for their support, and the free service they provided before my trip.
Ride safe.
I left the El Cactus hostel in Susques just after 9 am.I said goodbye to 3 very friendly Brazilian bikers who were heading to Chile and Peru, then went for breakfast. The weather was looking a bit dodgy on the forecasts; thunderstorms expected pretty much the whole way. Ruta 40 is pretty much impassable in rain on the northern dirt bit. I was hoping to get to La Poma which reputedly has a fantastic municipal camp site which is also free. The weather looked ok so I decided to head for San Antonio de les Cobres and take it from there. The road was ripio (corrgated) most of the way. I hadn’t seen stuff as bad since Botswana 30 years ago. If you can get some speed up it’s not too bad. But there was a stretch of about 20km across a huge bowl in the mountains that was obviously uphill. It would take me about a mile to get up to a speed where the corrugations suddenly seem to smooth out, which was around 2300rpm in 4th, top speed on this section. Problem was, about every quarter mile there was a stream crossing the road, which meant slowing down again.
Watching the little fluffy clouds becoming big fluffy clouds, I didn’t stop much, though I did manage to fly the drone again. Eventually crossing the plain the road wound through some ravines, at one point becoming a narrow winding track on a cliff, with a huge drop-off to the right. Then I came across a strange sight, a huge curved railway bridge about 200 feet above the road. It is the Viaducto de La Polvorilla, the highest railway bridge in the world at 4182m above sea level. It is also the last stop of the Tren les Nubes, which makes it seem pretty pointless: couldn’t they have just stopped a bit sooner? The locals evidently don’t mind wrecking their cars as I passed numerous little cars rattling their way up the hillside. Two stopped me and asked how far it was.
Viaducto de La Polvorilla
At San Antonio de los Cobres I could see some storms buiding. I decided to see if the road avoided them knowing I could probably outtrun a storm back to town if I couldn’t continue. I followed Google Maps on to a bit of Ruta 40 which looked unused. After about 10km it joined a tar road. a new bit that I have subsequently found out has in fact been incorporated into Ruta 40. After about another 10km it turned off onto gravel. It was corrugated, not as badly as the previous stretch but I could get up a good speed heading towards some mountains and the Abra de Acay pass, at 4895m reputedly the highest pass on a national road in the world. Its certainly very high. There were two storms. The road seemed to be heading between them so I continued. Even when I reached the base of the pass it looked clear. But I guess sbout halfway up I came round a steep climbing hairpin in first gear, to be confronted by a wall of black! The gap was closing up. I turned round and scuttled back to Cobres. I didnt stop for about 10 km from the base of the pass, then I saw a bicycle heading towards me so I stopped and waited for him. He was French, about 59 I guess. When I pointed at the storms, he just shrugged his shoulders and said he was used to it. Wow. He also told me there were no hotel rooms available in Cobres, so evidently he had been thinking of treating himself to one.
Mad cyclist heading towards the storm over Abra del Acay Iglesia de San Antonio de los Cobres
The first hotel had no rooms. Second hotel had one room but it was a triple, I took it anyway. There is now a German couple hanging around hoping a reserved customer doesn’t turn up.
I took a walk after a shower. It was really hot. Its like you can feel you are closer to the sun. All the shops were closed.
There’s beautiful church here. I sat inside for a while enjoying the cool calm. When I came out a shop had opened. Using Google Translate I asked Lorenzo. the shopkeeper to let me buy the ingredients for a sandwich, and asked him to assemble it for me. He produced a huge butty and a sub. He asked me where I was from. The reply that I was English didn’t go down well. Turns out Lorenzo fought in the Falklands (Malvinas). Whoops. I said I hated war and that calmed him down a bit. He shook my hand when I left and wished me a safe journey.
I think I am Scottish now.
Lorenzo the Malvinas veteran
So tomorrow I will have a look at the weather and hopefully get to La Poma and points beyond. And I am glad today just turned out to be an acclimatisation trip.
It’s just started raining here.
