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Introduction

I first bought a Himalayan for a trip to South America in early 2020. I’d been looking for a cheap, smallish and simple bike that I could reach the ground from with my feet while sitting on it. It soon became apparent that such bikes were rare, and before long I narrowed the search down to one bike, the Royal Enfield Himalayan. A few weeks later I went to London to buy a second hand Himalayan from a Polish plumber. On the way back to Manchester, I suffered what turned out to be the only puncture I ever had on this bike. The chain was shot too, and the bike had a few scratches, but I’d got it for a very good price, so I wasn’t complaining. The bike had 7000 miles when I bought it, and finished my most recent trip (which unfortunately turned out to be this particular motorcycle’s last adventure) with approximately 24 000 miles on it- the clock said 19000, but much of my South American trip was done with the odometer broken. I added a few bits and shipped the bike to Buenos Aires, and set off on my first (and longest) offroad  motorcycle adventure for more than 30 years. For the previous 6 years I’d been riding a Harley.

I decided to combine this review with a list of spares etc I took on the recent trip I did to Morocco with Adrian Rose, a recent convert to adventure motorcycling who still refuses to be called a biker and who has a serious Lycra fetish (he’s a keen cyclist and I took the piss out of him as much as he did me for being a ‘biker’). I’ve also included here a few of my thoughts on adventure motorcycling in general- if you’re only interested in the bike, you can skip the last bit.

Background

My recent trip to Morocco was my second long trip on the Himalayan. The first trip was to South America in early 2020, when I covered about 6500 miles in Argentina and Chile over two months, about 1500 of those miles on dirt. I wrote a review of the bike after the trip, though shortly after that I had to replace the cylinder head, barrel and piston as the threads had pulled out of the cylinder head bolts while in Argentina. This was a known issue on early Himalayans. The cylinder head was also slightly warped, probably the result of thrashing the bike for up to 10 hours a day in temperatures up to 40 degrees in central Argentina, and the valve guides were burnt. I had a few oil seeps, but the bike kept going. Towards the end of my trip, the bolt holding the gear lever on fell out, resulting in a bodged repair by a lorry mechanic on the side of the road. This repair worked for the rest of the trip, and in fact I didn’t change it until two months after I got back to the UK. I blame myself for the gear linkage falling off- although I regularly checked the bike for loose bolts on the trip, finding several that needed tightening, I’d not checked the gear lever.

About 18 months ago I fitted a Tec cam, which changed the bike’s performance far more dramatically than I expected. I then fitted a 16 tooth front sprocket to enable faster cruising speeds on tarmac. My logic in doing this was to use the extra power to speed the bike up a bit, and I was very happy with the result-The Himalayan was my primary means of transport, and I rode to work on motorways. However, I’d not taken the bike offroad except for a few green lanes since fitting the 16t sprocket. Morocco would show whether this was going to work offroad. I changed the headstock bearings, which were shot, and the bearings on the shock linkages.  As a precaution, I also changed the wheel bearings a week before setting off to Morocco, though the old ones were actually still in pretty good condition. I also bought a booster plug from Roalde Ralfe, which cured the occasional stalling issue while warming up the engine. Adrian, who I met just 3 weeks before the trip, bought a second hand Himalayan with 600 miles on the clock from Bolton Motorcycles. He also fitted a Tec cam and 16t sprocket before our trip. When we set off, my bike had 14000 miles on the clock, although true mileage was closer to 19000- the odometer had packed up fairly early on during my South American trip.

Modifications

Tec cam-As already mentioned, both our bikes had the Tec cam fitted. I fitted mine myself, accompanied by much swearing as is usual when I’m working on motorcycles. I have a tendency to lose tools that were in my hand just moments earlier. I couldn’t fit the locking pin Tec provided, even after putting it in the freezer, so I used the one from the original cam. I understand that their cam now comes with the pin fitted. In my mind, fitting a cam is an essential upgrade to the Himalayan- it increases torque and power, this extra power especially noticeable at the higher end of the rev range. Along with the cam, we both also had DNA air filters fitted.

Lextek exhaust– I fitted this after my South American trip. It shaves 2.2kg off the bikes weight, is smaller and thus less likely to burn your soft luggage, and I think it sounds good too. Adrian’s bike still had the stock exhaust.

16 tooth front sprocket– this enabled relaxed cruising on long stretches at 65mph with the revs below 5000rpm. Overall pulling power and acceleration imo remains about the same as a stock bike with the standard sprocket, though second gear sometimes feels a bit tall, especially in sand.

INNOVV Power Hub –Spotlights, heated grips and USB port are wired through this. It switches off all ancillaries 10 seconds after the ignition is switched off, and delays power to them for 10 seconds after the ignition is switched on.

Oxford Adventure heated grips– Again, these were fitted before my first trip. To me they are essential, and I ended up having them on more often than not on the trip. In the first two weeks, the temperature didn’t get above 10 degrees, and we ended up riding in temperatures down to -5 Centigrade, on three occasions riding in snow. Adrian didn’t fit heated grips, but then he’s used to riding mountain bikes in crap weather and thinks wearing Lycra is cool.

Spotlights- Bought from eBay. They’re very bright

Dual USB port – I paid less than 10 pounds of eBay for this in 2019. It has two ports, a voltage meter and temperature gauge. It was still working when the bike got written off a few weeks ago.

ABS Switch– I also fitted this before my South American trip. It wasn’t used as much in  Morocco, but I was still glad I’d fitted it. Adrian didn’t bother fitting one, and didn’t have any issues.

Givi engine guards- I’d fitted these before my trip to South America. I like these guards as they have a bar that connects both sides of the guards using a bar through the frame. I suspect these have saved the engine casings from damage several times when dropping the bike on rocks.

Handguards– Again, these were on the bike since before my first trip. They were bought from CooperB. In spite of having no metal in them, they’ve withstood many drops without getting damaged. They can also easily be increased in size for winter riding using two cut down 2 litre Tesco plastic milk bottles and a couple of cable ties. They finally met their end when I got hit by a car a few weeks ago, but the entire bike was a write-off so I don’t fault them for that- only a small chunk of one handguard broke off.

Heel Guard– This was also bought from CooperB. It protects the rear brake master cylinder, and is in my mind an essential upgrade, especially if you ride offroad.

Front mudguard raisers– Bought from CooperB. Another essential mod if you’re riding offroad. These raise the front mudguard so that mud doesn’t jam up the wheel when riding in the sticky stuff.

Fuel cans– I had the two 3 litre cans I’d used in South America fitted. They turned out to be unnecessary for the trip to Morocco. One of them disappeared on a rough track somewhere in the desert. I’d not noticed it falling off, as I was standing on the pegs most of the day.

Tyres– Once again, I opted for Mitas E-07’s, which served me so well in South America. Adrian fitted the same tyres just before we left at my insistence- his bike was fitted with road-biased tyres when he bought the bike. The Mitas tyres are very good on most surfaces, but they’re not great in  thick mud or heavy sand, especially when the bike is loaded. They are, however, surprisingly good on wet tarmac. Once again, no punctures on the entire trip, on either bike. These tyres are very strong, which does however make removing them quite difficult. However, on this trip they wore out far faster than expected, much quicker than on my South American trip. After the 5000 miles we covered, both rear tyres were worn out and the front tyres probably had about another 1000 miles in them. I put this extra wear down to the long ride through Portugal on the way down on a never-ending series of twisties and the many rough rocky roads we rode on in Morocco. Adrian won’t go anywhere unless the road has lots of squiggles on the map. If I was going to the desert again, I would probably fit knobblies, either Mitas E09’s or Motoz RallZ. There is a company that regularly ships stuff from the UK to Morocco, so I’d send they knobblies down there and ride home on them afterwards. For any trip not involving heavy sand, I’d stick with the Mitas E07’s.

Luggage

Panniers

I used the same Lomo panniers that served me so well in South America. These panniers really are great value for money. My only criticism of them is that their stiffness is very dependent on temperature- on a hot day, they become quite soft, but when the temperature is around zero, they become stiff and can be difficult to roll closed, especially if the panniers are full. I would imagine this is common to all roll-closure soft panniers.

Tank Bag-In South America I’d used a Lomo tankbag, but I found it too big, and a bit of faff to get my camera out of due to the roll-closure. For Morocco, I bought an Enduristan Sandstorm 4H tankbag from Sportsbikeshop. Although fitting the front strap was a bit difficult and it’s too long, I really like this bag. It is completely waterproof, surviving a whole day’s riding in torrential rain without letting in a single drop of water. For me, this is essential, as I had two cameras and a couple of lenses with me. It also has a handy pouch velcroed to the inside for keeping your documents, and a removable map pocket fitted to the top of the bag with velcro. Although the bag is quite large, it didn’t ever get in my way. I’ll be modifying the front straps before my next trip though.

Top bag- A 40 litre dry bag that Lomo kindly donated for my South American trip. This bag has been used on both my adventures, at a dozen or so bike rallies and is the bag I use to put my bike gear in when I go to work. I’m amazed that it is still completely waterproof and hasn’t worn through anywhere. Amazing value for money if you’re looking for a simple, hard-wearing and completely waterproof bag.

Rok Straps- These are quite simply the best luggage straps ever invented. Easy to fit, easy to tighten, durable and simple, I’ll never buy anything else. Two of them kept my top bag secure on the roughest terrain, and they are also very handy for lifting the rear wheel when you’re putting it back on- simply put one over the rear seat and through the rim, then tighten it to lift the wheel.

Spares

Tubes etc– We took one front and one rear tube, a puncture repair kit and I had a Motopressor pump, the same one I used in South America. Once again, it got a bit of crud in it and I had to strip it down and clean it. I won’t be taking this pump again. Adrian had a small bicycle pump, and he could reinflate his tyres after leaving a sandy section as quick as I could get my pump out, connect it and inflate the tyres. I’ll be buying one for my next trip. I also packed a set of three tyre levers. I find it much easier removing tyres with three levers than two. We didn’t have any punctures on the entire trip, which is quite amazing considering the rocky tracks we were often riding on.

Clutch– The only spare part used on the entire trip apart from the oil filter. A spare clutch doesn’t weigh much, so I’ll probably take one on my next trip too.

Cables– I had a spare clutch cable plus a kit for making up new throttle or clutch cables.

Fuses

JB Weld- In my opinion an absolute essential on any long trip. For those unfamiliar with this product, it is a 2 part metal epoxy that can be used to fix metal. It can be sanded or filed after it’s dried. I also carry a piece of steel mesh to use with it on any major repairs. I’ve seen a big block V8 with a hole in the crankcase that was repaired with JB Weld and steel mesh, and it had been repaired over a year earlier and was still going strong. JB Weld will also glue anything together- in South America I repaired a hole in my air mattress with it, and the repair is still holding nearly 3 years later. Adrian also used it on our recent trip to repair the selfie stick he used to mount his GoPro on the bike.

Duct tape– This got used several times. Don’t leave home without it.

Cable ties– always handy to have some of these in different sizes. My number plate light ended up being held on by one.

Brake and clutch levers– I had them anyway, so chucked them in with the spares. They weigh next to nothing, but it was probably pointless taking them.

Oil Filter– we both changed our oil while in Morocco

Oil– I took one litre, used 100ml or so.

Air Filter– We both had DNA filters fitted, so I took a small can of filter oil. For cleaning filters, I found a great tip online about using stain remover mixed with soda water. We couldn’t find stain remover, so used body wash mixed with soda water instead. It worked really well.

Tools

Before a trip, I take all the tools off the bike before doing a full service. I then put all the tools I use servicing it to one side. Then I check the tightness of all the fasteners, bolts etc, and add those tools to the pile. I don’t take a ratchet for the sockets, I had one pack up on me once, so I just take a bar. The screwdriver in the tools provided with the bike is a bit crap so I added a screwdriver with a selection of bits. I also take a small mole wrench and Knipex pliers. Knipex pliers are far easier to use than an adjustable wrench and less likely to strip a nut. They tend to be my most used tool. Don’t forget to check you’ve got the wheel spanners and extension in the bike’s own toolkit. All my tools fit in a roll inside the tube mounted to the left pannier rail.

Mechanical issues-.We had two issues on the trip, both on my bike.

My front wheel was a bit buckled before we left, and I’d not managed to get it straightened as I’d had difficulty finding anyone to do it in time. On a particularly rough track in Portugal, I hit a rock and the wheel got bent even more. We found a mechanic in a village who straightened it on the bike by eye, and did an amazing job. It took him less than ten minutes. The boss of the garage wouldn’t accept payment.

The other issue was burning out my clutch in the desert. I was being careful not to ride the clutch, but I guess the 20 000 miles on the bike and all the offroad I’d done in South America had probably not helped. I’d brought a spare clutch with me, and paid a mechanic to fit it in a village in the desert. He’d never worked on a Himalayan before, but after fixing the bike told me he could have fixed it even if I hadn’t had new clutch plates.

Overall impressions

I loved the Himalayan anyway, and nothing from this trip has changed my mind. I’m quite short, with a 29 inch inside leg, so I find most adventure bikes too tall. I’m not an expert offroad, and prefer to be able to reach the ground- I can have both feet flat on the ground on the Himalayan. I also find the bike very comfortable for long distance riding, albeit it’s slower than the larger adventure bikes. Handling is excellent, both on and off road. Off road, it reminds me of an old Land Rover; it’s not as fast as the competition, but it will go absolutely anywhere. It’s an easy bike to work on and simple to maintain. Any roadside mechanic would be able to work on it. Overall, it’s been a very reliable bike. 

Conclusions and lessons learned

The Himalayan is a very capable motorcycle. It’s cheap, comfortable, handles very well and will go anywhere. As already mentioned, it’s been very reliable- The only time I’ve got stuck somewhere was on this recent trip when the clutch went. This could have happened on any bike. However, I was a bit surprised to find on returning from Morocco that the headstock bearings had gone again. The steering had started stiffening up towards the end of the trip, and sure enough the bearings needed replacing again. The upper bearing looked like new, but the lower bearing was rusted and starting to break up. I believe that someone sells upgraded bearing seals, so if anyone reading this knows where I can get some, please leave a note in the comments. I’ve ridden the Himalayan year round in the UK for three years, as well as the two longer trips I’ve done since buying the bike. It’s great in traffic as well as on dirt- the high seating position is ideal when you’re weaving through lines of traffic. I don’t mind getting salt on it as much as I do my Harley; I’ve always treated it with ACF 50 in the winter and rinse it off regularly with a hosepipe. The only rust I’ve found has been on the pannier rails.

The bike handles really well and has no vices that I’ve found. Adrian had never ridden offroad before, and hadn’t ridden a motorcycle for 30 years before this trip, but he had no issues on any of the terrain we rode on except initially in sand. His extensive mountain biking experience obviously helped, and also explained why initially he struggled a bit in sand- I don’t think mountain bikers venture into sand too often. However, I came off several times too. It’s part and parcel of adventure riding. Adrian was riding as fast as me on rough trails almost immediately. The bike inspires confidence, not that Adrian needed it- he’s a Grade A nutter who doesn’t know the meaning of can’t.

Some people complain about the brakes on the Himalayan, but my other bike is a Harley. The front brake needs a good squeeze sometimes, but the brakes are perfectly adequate.The Himalayan is easy to work on, parts are cheap, and it’s low enough that shorter riders can reach the ground with being on tiptoes. If the worst came to the worst and you had to abandon the bike somewhere, you’d not be out of pocket anywhere near as much as with more expensive bikes. You’re less worried about scratching it or getting it filthy. My bike has ended up with scratched paint, a badly dented bash plate, cable ties holding stuff on, but who cares? The Himalayan doesn’t have lots of electronics that can go wrong and is simple enough that any competent bike mechanic will instantly know how to pull it to bits. The bike also doesn’t attract the wrong sort of attention- I’ve been asked several times what it is, and how old it is, but no-one has ever asked me how much it cost. When travelling, personally I prefer to be on a bike that doesn’t advertise my relative (to the locals) wealth. 

My only criticism of the Himalayan, apart from the issue with the headstock bearings, is that it is a bit heavy. At 182kg,  I wish it was 20kg lighter, but it’s still easy enough to lift on your own if you use the right technique. It’s lighter than a Tenere or Africa Twin, and not as top-heavy due to it’s lower stance. Some people moan about it’s lack of top speed, but if you’re travelling at 75mph on a motorway, are you really on an adventure? For a trip to Morocco riding through Spain from Santander, you’ll probably lose 4 hours on the time it would take on a larger capacity adventure bike. I can live with that. We took back-roads, though I appreciate that not everyone has the time available for that luxury.

Our biggest mistake was taking camping gear. That’s down to me. Yeah, I know, some people told me not to bother before I left and I didn’t listen to them. You were right. We only camped for one night on the entire trip. Most of the time it was too cold, wet or windy to contemplate putting up a tent. I’ve spent a lot of time in Morocco in the past, my kids are half Moroccan, but I hadn’t been there for nearly 20 years. The country has changed, and for the better. The police don’t stop you for bribes any more. There’s plenty of cheap auberges and riads available, and competition means that the quality and prices are generally very good. They all love you putting reviews on Google Maps, so it’s very easy to find accommodation. Only one place was full on the entire trip. So why am I mentioning camping gear in a review about the bike? Because the extra weight of the camping gear proved to be an Achilles heel for the Himalayan, on 50/50 tyres, in sand. We ended up paying someone to take our luggage three hundred km through the desert, but the additional bonus with that was that they knew all the detours round particularly bad patches of sand etc. We would have really struggled with fully loaded bikes, especially without knobblies. If I was going out into the Sahara again (and I may be going again next year), I’d get a guide on his 50cc Chinese Docker motorcycle to accompany me, and I definitely wouldn’t be taking any camping gear. I’d also fit knobblies, even though with the bikes unloaded getting though the sand was much easier.

Postscript

Two weeks after getting back from Morocco, I was hit by a car pulling out of a side street in Bolton. I’d stopped before the impact, but the guy obviously never even saw me, as he was still accelerating when he hit me. To add insult to injury, while moving his car after the accident, he ran over the front wheel. Luckily I wasn’t injured apart from sprained thumbs and bruised and sore wrists. The bike was a write-off. I bought it back from the insurance and Bolton Motorcycles kindly removed some of the bits before sending it to a scrapyard who paid the same amount I’d paid the insurance. I’m gutted that a bike that I’ve done so much on, that took me through Argentina, Chile, Portugal, Morocco and Spain, as well as serving as my main transport for three and a half years is now a write-off, though as it was classified as category N, it may end up on the road again. I don’t have the time or the space to fix it myself. I had a quick think about what to get next. It didn’t take long. I’ve just bought another Himalayan from Alan, an old friend of mine. It’s the same colour as my old bike but with only 4000 miles on the clock, and its never been ridden offroad. It’s got the Hitchcock’s 462cc conversion on it, and Alan is fitting a Tec cam to it for me. Hopefully I’ll pick it up in a week or so. I can’t wait.

Often the hardest part about planning a trip is making the decision to go, and then committing to it. The rest is easy. We planned most of the route on the hoof- actually, Adrian planned most of it. He turned out to have quite a talent for finding remote roads full of snow, gravel or mud along with some incredible scenery. We never got to my original planned destination, a hole in the ground near the Mauritanian border, but I wasn’t really expecting to anyway. A destination is just a point to aim at to get you going as far as I am concerned. We weren’t keen on riding 1300km over flat terrain from what proved to be our furthest point south and west to get to it. I never reached my original destination in Argentina either, instead veering off into Chile to ride the Carreterra Austral to O’Higgins.

A few friends have asked me why I risk going on such long and potentially hazardous trips. What if something goes wrong? What if the bike gets damaged or breaks down and you can’t fix it? What if you have an accident? I think my accident in Bolton after covering nearly 12000 miles on foreign roads without incident proves the error in that thinking. One biker friend of mine recently told me that he’d never have the confidence to do a trip like the two I’ve done on my Himalayan. Why not, I asked him? I’m a 62 year old guy who’d not ridden offroad for 30 years before I went to South America at the age of 59. Adrian is a 60 year old guy with nerve damage that makes it difficult for him to get on the bike, and he’d never ridden offroad at all before we went to Morocco. Yet we had an amazing trip, on all types of roads. There’s nothing special about us, we’re not expert riders, we’re just two old farts who decided to do something extraordinary. And the trip was extraordinary- we saw so much amazing scenery, rode so many incredible roads and had such a good time that we’re both already thinking about where to go next. Adrian is looking at Sweden and Canada, I’m looking at South East Asia and maybe Morocco again. For the next two years I’m restricted to winter trips only, due to work.

I hope one day I get to do another trip with Adrian; he turned out to be the best riding companion I could have hoped for. Before I met him, I was planning on going to Morocco solo, as I did to South America. Now I’m glad Adrian turned up at my boat one day in December, to my utter horror clad completely in Lycra, to ask me about the Himalayan. He’d been put in touch with me by Bolton Motorcycles after he’d wandered in to look at bikes to pass some time, and his eye had been caught by the Himalayan.

Finally, if any of you have been dreaming about a long trip but have some reservations, just remember this- whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’ll end up proving yourself correct.

I am currently writing a book about the trip, which should be out later this year.