The Japanese have been making adventure bikes for decades and haven't yet been able to make one with decent suspension and handling. Now we have two sub $10000 dollar bikes from India and China with fantastic suspension and handling packages. It's about time someone other than the europeans offerred us what we have been begging for. Great riding and review mate 👍👍
Hmm... difference being Indias bikes are built for purpose, actual real world condition usage, have character and heritage and are not built just to saturate markets. They're made from culture and by passionate bikers. They tend to care less about tech and appearance. Chinese bikes are essentially back engineered copy paste jobs with literally millions thrown at marketing. They know the way to the white person's wallet is through tech and appearance. As is the case with their cars and their women. Please don't put us in the same bucket!
It’s great when you narrate what you are doing, like hard brakes, gear selection, throttle position. It makes me feel more like I’m there with you. No idea how you don’t have more subs, your content is awesome.
THIS is how to do a helmet cam off-road review. The skill + insightful narration really make it for me. As an owner it's really helpful to know what the performance ceiling of the bike is --- and you've shown it to be MUCH higher than my actual skill level, haha. Thanks for this! Hell of a rider.
i've watched a lot of Himalayan 450 reviews, and I've seen guys do stuff that it was never designed for, but this takes the cake. I've never seen so much hard enduro on a Himmi 450 review. You're dang near a lunatic! But wow, what a performance from you and the bike both.
I remember when he used to ride similar trails on his '22 KLR! Talk about crazy. Good crazy, but crazy. He eventually had to give up his KLR, after he about killed it, it just couldn't keep up. This is a tremendous promo for the Himmy.
Ha. That was great. I love the riding, the commentary, and pushing the bikes through their paces. “If something’s gonna break, I’m gonna break it.” Love it. Keep ‘em comin mate.
I have had mine for a month now and put a bit under 3000 kms on it. Great review Curtis, think you summed it up pretty well. I am replacing the tyres, mirrors, foot levers, bash plate and adding barkbusters (nice the CFMoto comes with those) and the rally bars. Waiting on everything on order. All up I think with accessories and tyres will be about $1600 I have added to the initial price. Not that much considering I paid $650 for a new set of boots the other day. I was really worried about the weight and it only becomes an issue for me when I need to turn it around somewhere tight on a slope. Other than that really surprised how little I notice the weight. I have dropped the bike about 5 times now and those bars protect it really well. I am 75kg and 58 years old and I can pick it up, but yes it is heavy. I use Bret Tkacs favourite method…really good for me. No marks from dropping it so far other than on the protection bars…..and I have had bent foot levers. Cheap bike I can throw around without having to worry about it that is okay on the highway......and to address the flaws I can buy parts to upgrade once I destroy them. BTW tools under the seat to tighten the mirrors (yes they are crap) and have improvised with them to bend those levers back a bit more gently than using a foot/leg :) Gotta say really nice of any of these brands to let you “test” their products. BTW liked your review of the D606....think I will give those a try on the back.
Always good to hear from an owner. Sounds like yours will have a great set up when it's done. A d606 would go nicely on the rear. What tyres did you go with?
@@onthebackwheel I went with Pirelli Scorpions. Same ones the MAD guys put on the Himi loaner they have. I have not put them on yet, I have a long ride out to Chillagoe this weekend that suits the stock tyres and it is still dry here in FNQ. Next week or so once the rain arrives I will swap them over. Just want to get as much out of the stock ones as I can since I paid for them :)
Proper test, something 90% of people would never do on this bike. I appreciate the dynamic commentary as you are riding hard or technical sections, it makes it more entertaining and informative.
Hi, I’ve been watching a whole heap of videos of people riding Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 riding around India, and if they can ride through India, you can ride anywhere in the world they ride, through snow ice, washed out roads, etc etc if I had two legs unfortunately I’ve only got the left one due to a truck accident and I lost my right leg above the knee. I would definitely be going out and buying one of these bikes. They have just enough power to get you out of trouble and maybe into trouble LOL Cliff from Logan City, Queensland, Australia 🇦🇺 I’m on the big island 🏝️
Watch TH-camr moto giant. He lost his right lower leg in a motorcycle accident. He is riding again on a Tenere and shows the mods he is doing. He's just about to install a rear brake lever on the handle bar. He has also documented his crash!!!
brake and gearlever are meant to be bent so you can bent them back, harder steal just snaps of with those ruts, the abs with rear of also less restricts the front abs so the front gets offroad abs mode. great video, i bought mine last week, just waiting for the paperwork to arive :)
Great review. You ride harder (much) than I do but you are probably 40 years younger. Very pleased with my Himmy, and it is inspirational to see what you could ditch this one. I would be riding that track in my XT 250, which is almost 60 kgs.lighter. Brake and gear levers are pretty flimsy but as you mentioned, this was pretty extreme riding for an adventure bike, and arguably, being bendable, they put less stress on the brake and gear shafts when you do bend them and are easy to bend back. These RE’s are designed to be fixed on the side of the road in India or Uzbekistan! Well done - really enjoyed the review. Alan - Tasmania.
Ahh crazy man Curtis, real world testing to destruction. Like with all bikes, there is always things to change. I'm very surprised you booting bend back the gear lever twice without breaking them off! Naturally, I would be definitely asking when you test ride the CFmoto 450MT, can you test it on the same tracks (if you remember them) that would definitely be a similar comparison with similar track conditions. The Himi did well & the engine seemed to have that tractor capability as i asked. Cheers Champion 🏆
That's a very well put video for the RE 450 Himalayan review! Every bit was there, the dirt, tight and technical, rocks, doulbe and single tracks.. Very well put.. wish I have had this video before and that would have helped tremendously, as they do not give customers here in India (homeland of RE) to test it to its limits..shame that, but they lost a potential buyer. I'm currently enjoying the 250 Vstrom nevertheless..
One more thing I noticed is that even in the Zuk, the pedal controls are pretty flimsy, just enough to take the hard fall, but soft enough to be pulled back on the trail, instead of snapping off completely. I think that is thoughful feature, not just cheap steel.
One of the only guys that actually offroads. I was thinking i should do a channel where i actially offroad these beasties but you are doing it so i dont have to haha great work!
That is a real freaky off-road test. I just put deposits on two of them for may wife and I (going from our two up Super Tenere 1200), and try to validate my choice by looking at all these TH-cam videos. Yours is trully over the top. If you achieved all that tough riding with stock tires we will be more then OK to handle our round the world trip safely on Dunlop's Trailmax Mission.....
Yep, the break & gear leavers need attention. I lifted my gear up a notch, and adjusted the rear break "actuation" point down. The Bash plate/Engine guards do provide some protection, but that whopping break foot peddle has to go. Looking for some folding action to bolt or weld in. I think there is a folding "Enduro" gear leaver. Otherwise, your assessment is as how I have found it to be. Though you go harder than I am game to go. I am growing more pleased with my choice. 👍 PS: most of us older guys are never going to hit it as hard as you can, Great ride Again👍
@@onthebackwheel Only 2600ks, planing another 2-3k ride soon before it gets too hot. Perhaps south NSW, ACT & Vic, might be a bit too much. Or head west, Lightning Ridge & chew up these 70/30 tyres a bit. Love to see some night skies.
Good to see it out in some tough stuff. You can turn the ABS of and on without turning the bike off. I handles sooo much better with off road tyres. Don't understand pulling fuses as you need ABS for the road.
G'day mate, I see you put a decent set of hoops on yours, very jealous! The fuses were just to see what happened since the front can't be disabled. I've been having issues with changing modes when it's running, I have to cycle the power then it works. A few others have reported the same so might be an early glitch
Good job on the video. I found myself wondering if RE offers road/trailside assistance on their press bikes. It would definitely suck to completely lose your foot levers in the back country.
I rarely ride that hard but occasionally find myself in those situations. Good to see how it goes when it goes wrong. I am liking this bike more and more.
Wow. Thats the test ive been waiting for. I currently punt a 411 Himy through simillar terrain and since installing YSS suspension front and rear it does amazingly well but ground clearance and lack of grunt to lift the front wheel over obstacles are its biggest downfall. I pulled the fuse on the ABS after my very first offroad and apart from the warning light on the dash its not an issue. I can see a 450 in my shed in the very near future as long as i can get a reasonable trade.
Wow that was epic didnt imagine the Himmi was up to that much abuse sorry purposeful riding, but pleased it survived and performed! Ive had mine for 1000kms so far dont plan aon anything quite so extreme but good to know if i turn off onto the wrong track i should be ok to survive most bush tracks. Love the bike great review cheers from NZ.
The bike is absolutely transformed with knobby tyres so fit some if you can as it’s a shame seeing it tackling hard off road on the road tyres. Loving your review of the bike as I bought one and love it. I’ve owned many adventure bikes and the Himmy is the best. Just a great all rounder and lots of fun.
Great video on this heavy weight 450 , when standing up can you see the dash ie speed and gear indicator , for standing on gravel roads ect . Noticed you had to put a foot down when turning around, shorter riders need to be aware the camber may not allow them to in certain situations . In my opinion one of the bike companies should hire you as a bike tester , awesome riding and discussion of any bike .
Great video man. Solid testing, and excellent explanations. It would be great if the bike was lighter. But as you say. For 9 grand. This is a very competent bike that allows many more people to get out and explore. I'm sure some more off road tyres would negate the need for removal of front abs in most situations. Then just a matter of protecting those levers. And away you go.
Hey Curtis, great review. I ride a 200kg bike on the farm tracks and anything that bends has been replaced. Tyres, it would be good if manufacturers put good meat on in the first place. I run Shinkos, cheeper than Motoz that are hard to get.
Great review and Congratulations on 20k subscribers, 100k is just around the corner. Why haven't you reviewed the Transalp? I would love to see your comparo to the 800DE. IMHO the Talp is garbage. As for the Himalayan, it wouldn't last 5k miles the way you ride. Let's see if the MT450 does any better. I'm sure it will. To be fair, I would choose the Himalayan over the Talp.
You're finding exactly the same issues I've found with mine, and I'll end up replacing a number of things. Changed the screen so far to a bigger one due to buffeting. - mirrors get in the way and keep coming loose. - tyres are okay ish but front wipes very easy - abs setting sometimes doesn't let you change it, so needs a restart. - rear brake (and gear) lever bend easy - suspension and ride height pretty good (for cheap) - chugs, and i found stalls easy unless you have lots of throttle. - its 20-30kg too heavy and is a pig to lift on any sort of incline. Id be interested to hear your opinion on a good tyre match for it, that's offroad biased. Currently deciding between several like ax41s, motoz rallz/dv, k60 rangers etc. reviews/ comments are all over the place. Side note, the front crash bars are quite soft too. Mine bent nearly touching the tank from a slow speed drop onto a grass verge. All that said, its been handling most of what ive thrown at it so far and has been great. No regrets.
Interesting you're having the same issue with the abs settings. So far I've found the Pirelli rally race and Motoz Rallz rear to be my favourite all-round combo. The motoz DV front is pretty good too. People are having good luck with the new Mitas XT+ now too
Was a great video i have gone for the Guerrilla 450 might look at the Himalayan when my suzuki v Strom 800 RE CHEERS be interesting to see you review the Guerrilla 450
I think that steel alloy is made to be more malleable, otherwise it might just break. This is an ADV, so most people won't put it through this much trouble. That bent lever won't happen as often in normal ADV scenarios. And when it does happen, you can bend it right back.
Sounds pretty good. You were comparing it to a dirty bike or dual sport rather than the KLR Gen 3. It sucks about the break and gear leaver but for the price it has an easy fix.
Rode an IT 200L back in the day , on pretty much the terrain you test rode in , plus steeper rocky 4wd tracks , never bent a gear lever or brake lever over thousands of dirt kms , in fact the Yamaha didn’t cost a cent over 2yrs . Approx 110kg wet , 2 stroke weapon $2000 back in 84/85. Yes it had a 925mm seat height but short legged me had no issues because it was lightweight and you could lean it on your knee😮
Funny so did i But im not sure what your getting at. Chalk and cheese. You wouldnt want to ride the IT hundreds of Kms on bitumen to get to some adventure destination and still be able to tackle some pretty tough terrain loaded up with camping gear.
@ was on a tangent in relation to seat height and weight , where I rode the IT 200, sometimes was 50km from the nearest telephone or road , but if I dropped bike despite it being tall, the lightweight allowed it to be picked up easily , even if it landed on your leg , I now ride a Transalp , and do sweet nothing off road , because of weight , but bike is great on the back roads .
We knew our guy Curtis would give the Himalayan a proper workout! Every other review says the Himalayan has to be revved out, you made it CHUG. Wonderful tracks.👍
Wow, you put it through pretty harsh terrain for an entry level adventure bike. Held up pretty good and it speaks volumes to go for this stuff with an almost 200 kg heavy bike. The bendy leavers... somewhere the entry level price comes from.
Any chance you could make how to ride videos? You’re a great rider. Would love to learn from you. Like how do you go down a twisty dirt gravel road at such a good pace without hitting a tree? 😅 I see your rear tires are sliding all over the place, but your front goes wherever you point it at.
My favorite Tuber is back. No just because he does sketchy stuff on a Vstrom 800 DE. It is because I do sketchy stuff on my Vstrom 800 DE and I can empathize with the struggle . LOL. Can you do some basic how to ride off road? You deal with Sand and ruts, up here its nothing but blast rock *sharp jaggy rocks made from blasting roads in the mountains for logging trees* I hate rocks with a passion. How do you like your Boots I got the Dakars and love them to bits, my ankles are messed up and these boots are fantastic.
Great stuff Curtis, now go get your hands on a Cfmoto 450 MT, do the same route and see how it fares. Royal Enfield announced the Bear finally. I can't wait to see a thrashing with that as well.
Having ridden both, I bought a Himi. Ergos and engine - the CF revs its tits off at 85KPH and higher, and the ergos for me was cramped next to Himi. The Himi feels like my old DR.
@@onthebackwheelcopy that. I love your reviews and content.No bullshit,all aussie. You ride like me,so your review and choice of track is great for the Himi.You are the only one I have seen pop a wheel stand one one. So I am so looking forward to the mt450 torture test from you.Probably will be my definitive choice after seeing you. I would love to buy a ktm890 but cost is prohibitive..You absolutely threw me when you bought a Suzuki V-strom.So of course I have now researched more on them. Anyway luv ya work. Keep it up. I have subscribed and have notifications on..Ohh what about t-shirts n shit?
@davidjehan1579 thanks mate, appreciate it. Yeah got to pull my finger out and put them all up. It's on the to do list. You might get some cheap KTMs yet with how they are travelling
Thanks - sounds like what I'm looking for. Mostly pavement riding with the occasional dirt road thrown in. I doubt that I'd ever be doing single track. As to the weight - my Tiger Explorer comes in close to 290 kilos (loaded) and all of the weight seems to be about chest level - so...
The mirrors are a problem. RE would sell you a solution to that problem if you ask for it. Almost every other Himalayan I've seen had those bar end mirrors. They look cool, they don't get stuck when you stand. 😄
what a place you guys over there have 🙂 lucky beggers, oh and fantastic job beating the bike up - the controls are bonkers, can't fathom why they do this but hey ..... aftermarket to the rescue
Hmmm.... a street bike with low end dirt bike parts.... the trail same type that i ride with Trek mountain bike..... $9,000.00 hmmm it stall 9 grand money is money.... my finial thought a better Honda adv 350 for the same price....
Very good question. In this class there isn't much competition from the Japanese. You've got the nx500, but that is much more road focused. I'd buy it over a klr650
I’m not entirely sure what your point is? By the time sone get to the off-road part they may have used some fuel , or they could be a carrying extra, or X amount of kilos of gear… In any case a few kilos either way makes no difference🤔 Id also suggest what people never seem to consider when worrying about bike weight is riders size and weight which is a far bigger variable. Weight of the bike itself is largely irrelevant. How a bike handles with weight and where it carries it ergonomically are more important. Ie all other factors being equal such as the same rider, same tyres etc a heavier bike may handle better than a lighter one dependant on a variety of factors. Of course the biggest determiner of handling is the riders skill, experience and mindset. People that get wrapped around the axles about what is often arbitrary, like a bikes weight, are usually simply projecting the fact they don't have the skill or physical ability to handle the weight vs the bikes dimensions being the issue.
This was great to watch. You obviously know how to pedal a bike along. But this test is not what 99.9% of people who buy this bike are going to be doing with it. In my opinion you would have been better off just doing what the bike is designed for.
My first ride video was your more typical adventure ride, this was a bit of fun and a real test of the components. I find it is good to stress test gear to see what will fail and suit hard adventure riding
Hate to tell you but my riding mates and myself do put our Adv bikes into that sort of terrain and quite often come off second best. But its good to know they generaly handle the abuse well after some initiall setting up.
I've never seen a bike so abused. The poor mechanic who has to repair that.... hopefully it's a press bike reserved for hard use. Just thinking - and I don't know - probably better to have malleable levers than hard brittle. I remember watching a guy on his brand new KLX do the same and the levers bent too.
The Japanese have been making adventure bikes for decades and haven't yet been able to make one with decent suspension and handling. Now we have two sub $10000 dollar bikes from India and China with fantastic suspension and handling packages. It's about time someone other than the europeans offerred us what we have been begging for.
Great riding and review mate 👍👍
What you mean??
In Japanese adv bikes you don't get kicked this much on of road
On this bike you hear crack croock and you loose balance
Hmm... difference being Indias bikes are built for purpose, actual real world condition usage, have character and heritage and are not built just to saturate markets. They're made from culture and by passionate bikers. They tend to care less about tech and appearance. Chinese bikes are essentially back engineered copy paste jobs with literally millions thrown at marketing. They know the way to the white person's wallet is through tech and appearance. As is the case with their cars and their women. Please don't put us in the same bucket!
So, you are saying that Yamaha tenere is bullshit? 😂
@skaparo nope. Saying it has typical Japanese soft under sprung under damped suspension for twice the price of these new bikes! Read my comment again!
@@skaparocan you read?
It’s great when you narrate what you are doing, like hard brakes, gear selection, throttle position. It makes me feel more like I’m there with you. No idea how you don’t have more subs, your content is awesome.
THIS is how to do a helmet cam off-road review. The skill + insightful narration really make it for me. As an owner it's really helpful to know what the performance ceiling of the bike is --- and you've shown it to be MUCH higher than my actual skill level, haha. Thanks for this! Hell of a rider.
i've watched a lot of Himalayan 450 reviews, and I've seen guys do stuff that it was never designed for, but this takes the cake. I've never seen so much hard enduro on a Himmi 450 review. You're dang near a lunatic! But wow, what a performance from you and the bike both.
Had a blast and I was surprised by the Himmy 👊
I remember when he used to ride similar trails on his '22 KLR! Talk about crazy. Good crazy, but crazy. He eventually had to give up his KLR, after he about killed it, it just couldn't keep up. This is a tremendous promo for the Himmy.
Ha. That was great. I love the riding, the commentary, and pushing the bikes through their paces. “If something’s gonna break, I’m gonna break it.” Love it. Keep ‘em comin mate.
Cheers mate!
I have had mine for a month now and put a bit under 3000 kms on it. Great review Curtis, think you summed it up pretty well. I am replacing the tyres, mirrors, foot levers, bash plate and adding barkbusters (nice the CFMoto comes with those) and the rally bars. Waiting on everything on order. All up I think with accessories and tyres will be about $1600 I have added to the initial price. Not that much considering I paid $650 for a new set of boots the other day.
I was really worried about the weight and it only becomes an issue for me when I need to turn it around somewhere tight on a slope. Other than that really surprised how little I notice the weight. I have dropped the bike about 5 times now and those bars protect it really well. I am 75kg and 58 years old and I can pick it up, but yes it is heavy. I use Bret Tkacs favourite method…really good for me. No marks from dropping it so far other than on the protection bars…..and I have had bent foot levers.
Cheap bike I can throw around without having to worry about it that is okay on the highway......and to address the flaws I can buy parts to upgrade once I destroy them. BTW tools under the seat to tighten the mirrors (yes they are crap) and have improvised with them to bend those levers back a bit more gently than using a foot/leg :)
Gotta say really nice of any of these brands to let you “test” their products. BTW liked your review of the D606....think I will give those a try on the back.
Always good to hear from an owner. Sounds like yours will have a great set up when it's done. A d606 would go nicely on the rear. What tyres did you go with?
@@onthebackwheel I went with Pirelli Scorpions. Same ones the MAD guys put on the Himi loaner they have. I have not put them on yet, I have a long ride out to Chillagoe this weekend that suits the stock tyres and it is still dry here in FNQ. Next week or so once the rain arrives I will swap them over. Just want to get as much out of the stock ones as I can since I paid for them :)
@davidtaylor1188 haha yep, got to maximise the dollars. I love the Rally race front
Proper test, something 90% of people would never do on this bike. I appreciate the dynamic commentary as you are riding hard or technical sections, it makes it more entertaining and informative.
Cheers, glad you enjoyed it
Hi, I’ve been watching a whole heap of videos of people riding Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 riding around India, and if they can ride through India, you can ride anywhere in the world they ride, through snow ice, washed out roads, etc etc if I had two legs unfortunately I’ve only got the left one due to a truck accident and I lost my right leg above the knee. I would definitely be going out and buying one of these bikes. They have just enough power to get you out of trouble and maybe into trouble LOL Cliff from Logan City, Queensland, Australia 🇦🇺 I’m on the big island 🏝️
Watch TH-camr moto giant. He lost his right lower leg in a motorcycle accident. He is riding again on a Tenere and shows the mods he is doing. He's just about to install a rear brake lever on the handle bar.
He has also documented his crash!!!
brake and gearlever are meant to be bent so you can bent them back, harder steal just snaps of with those ruts, the abs with rear of also less restricts the front abs so the front gets offroad abs mode. great video, i bought mine last week, just waiting for the paperwork to arive :)
Congrats, you'll love it
"brake and gearlever are meant to be bent so you can bent them back, harder steal just snaps of with those ruts. " i agreed
A folding tip gear lever would be much appreciated
@@onthebackwheelI’m pretty sure that RE does have a rally shift lever as an accessory
This is the best possible off road test. Fantastic job my man. Everyone who wants to buy this bike should watch this video.
Thanks mate, appreciate it
Great review. You ride harder (much) than I do but you are probably 40 years younger. Very pleased with my Himmy, and it is inspirational to see what you could ditch this one. I would be riding that track in my XT 250, which is almost 60 kgs.lighter. Brake and gear levers are pretty flimsy but as you mentioned, this was pretty extreme riding for an adventure bike, and arguably, being bendable, they put less stress on the brake and gear shafts when you do bend them and are easy to bend back. These RE’s are designed to be fixed on the side of the road in India or Uzbekistan! Well done - really enjoyed the review. Alan - Tasmania.
Thanks Alan. Had a great time filming it
articulate, killer skills and unbiased content My favorite Aussie reviewer
Thanks mate
I come to your channel for legit off road bike reviews
Props brother, awesome channel 🤙🏽🏁
Thanks mate, appreciate it 👊
Ahh crazy man Curtis, real world testing to destruction.
Like with all bikes, there is always things to change.
I'm very surprised you booting bend back the gear lever twice without breaking them off!
Naturally, I would be definitely asking when you test ride the CFmoto 450MT, can you test it on the same tracks (if you remember them) that would definitely be a similar comparison with similar track conditions.
The Himi did well & the engine seemed to have that tractor capability as i asked.
Cheers Champion 🏆
What a comprehensive thrash and review of this bike!
Only way to do it!
Best bike review i’ve ever watched !!! You rode the bike hard, showed its strengths and weaknesses. You were candid and balanced. Great riding. Thanks
Thanks mate
Congrats on 20k subs! Keep up the great work, safe travels
Thanks mate, appreciate it
Your reviews are becoming my favorite reviews. Nuanced, rather than all good or all bad. Great!
Thankyou!
That was probably the best 'on board' commentary I've seen on YT.
Thanks 🙏
Finally a real offroad test and not some soft cock gravel road ride ....well done mate.
Cheers, no mucking around here
To be fair, RE markets this as a travel bike, so if it’s more capable then that in any manner, RE have done a bloody good job.
@@martyn_g I agree, however its always nice to see someone test its limitations. Always better to have your expectations exceeded after a purchase.
@@anthonyfox5337absolutely!
That's a very well put video for the RE 450 Himalayan review! Every bit was there, the dirt, tight and technical, rocks, doulbe and single tracks.. Very well put.. wish I have had this video before and that would have helped tremendously, as they do not give customers here in India (homeland of RE) to test it to its limits..shame that, but they lost a potential buyer. I'm currently enjoying the 250 Vstrom nevertheless..
One more thing I noticed is that even in the Zuk, the pedal controls are pretty flimsy, just enough to take the hard fall, but soft enough to be pulled back on the trail, instead of snapping off completely. I think that is thoughful feature, not just cheap steel.
Thanks mate. It is useful, but they are no doubt cheap. I'm also riding it where it doesn't belong!
One of the only guys that actually offroads. I was thinking i should do a channel where i actially offroad these beasties but you are doing it so i dont have to haha great work!
MADTV also did a good comparison of this and the CF moto.
Lepadventure did some gnarly stuff too with the bike
Joe Ryan, Bikeworld and full pelt adventure are also worth mentioning.
That is a real freaky off-road test. I just put deposits on two of them for may wife and I (going from our two up Super Tenere 1200), and try to validate my choice by looking at all these TH-cam videos. Yours is trully over the top. If you achieved all that tough riding with stock tires we will be more then OK to handle our round the world trip safely on Dunlop's Trailmax Mission.....
A good set of tyres and some minor mods, should be perfect for you guys
Great work Curtis.
Your intro really set this one off.
Can see you developing your review style.
Very professional mate.
Thanks mate, really appreciate it
Loved the narration!❤
Thankyou
Good test mate and on street tyres too. Well done
Thanks mate
Yep, the break & gear leavers need attention. I lifted my gear up a notch, and adjusted the rear break "actuation" point down. The Bash plate/Engine guards do provide some protection, but that whopping break foot peddle has to go. Looking for some folding action to bolt or weld in. I think there is a folding "Enduro" gear leaver.
Otherwise, your assessment is as how I have found it to be. Though you go harder than I am game to go. I am growing more pleased with my choice.
👍 PS: most of us older guys are never going to hit it as hard as you can, Great ride Again👍
Enduro lever, that would be perfect. How many kms are you up to now mate?
@@onthebackwheel Only 2600ks, planing another 2-3k ride soon before it gets too hot. Perhaps south NSW, ACT & Vic, might be a bit too much. Or head west, Lightning Ridge & chew up these 70/30 tyres a bit. Love to see some night skies.
Good to see it out in some tough stuff. You can turn the ABS of and on without turning the bike off. I handles sooo much better with off road tyres. Don't understand pulling fuses as you need ABS for the road.
G'day mate, I see you put a decent set of hoops on yours, very jealous! The fuses were just to see what happened since the front can't be disabled. I've been having issues with changing modes when it's running, I have to cycle the power then it works. A few others have reported the same so might be an early glitch
@@onthebackwheel Mine is working fine.
Good to hear 👊
Good job on the video. I found myself wondering if RE offers road/trailside assistance on their press bikes. It would definitely suck to completely lose your foot levers in the back country.
Thanks!
Thankyou!
Damn, you near killed that thing on a Sunday ride. What was the damage bill at the dealership 😂
I rarely ride that hard but occasionally find myself in those situations. Good to see how it goes when it goes wrong. I am liking this bike more and more.
That's a lot of test ride! Thanks mate...
Thanks!
My man, you are a very good rider. Looking forward on your reviews. Congrats! 🎉
Thanks for watching mate
Wow. Thats the test ive been waiting for. I currently punt a 411 Himy through simillar terrain and since installing YSS suspension front and rear it does amazingly well but ground clearance and lack of grunt to lift the front wheel over obstacles are its biggest downfall. I pulled the fuse on the ABS after my very first offroad and apart from the warning light on the dash its not an issue. I can see a 450 in my shed in the very near future as long as i can get a reasonable trade.
I think they've reached a good balance with power on this one. The motor is certainly a big step up
You are a great rider with tons of experience.
Wow that was epic didnt imagine the Himmi was up to that much abuse sorry purposeful riding, but pleased it survived and performed! Ive had mine for 1000kms so far dont plan aon anything quite so extreme but good to know if i turn off onto the wrong track i should be ok to survive most bush tracks. Love the bike great review cheers from NZ.
Very capable bike mate. How are you finding yours?
You turned a review into a pretty dang fun riding video. Great stuff.
Cheers
The bike is absolutely transformed with knobby tyres so fit some if you can as it’s a shame seeing it tackling hard off road on the road tyres. Loving your review of the bike as I bought one and love it. I’ve owned many adventure bikes and the Himmy is the best. Just a great all rounder and lots of fun.
Just subbed mate, very well done on the video. Love the location, ridden there once. We've got some great choices here in SEQ/Darling Downs.
Cheers. Very lucky aren't we, dont have to travel far
I truly appreciate the rally style callouts, it definitely translates and I almost feel myself doing the trail with ya! I feel like we could hang lol
Haha cheers mate. Had a great time on this one
Damn, I was right there riding the trail along with you in the video. I mean it absolutely felt like it
Glad you enjoyed the ride mate
Great video on this heavy weight 450 , when standing up can you see the dash ie speed and gear indicator , for standing on gravel roads ect .
Noticed you had to put a foot down when turning around, shorter riders need to be aware the camber may not allow them to in certain situations .
In my opinion one of the bike companies should hire you as a bike tester , awesome riding and discussion of any bike .
relly good! never before ihave seen an himy taken to its limits by a pro
Thanks. I wouldn't say pro though!
Great video man. Solid testing, and excellent explanations.
It would be great if the bike was lighter. But as you say. For 9 grand. This is a very competent bike that allows many more people to get out and explore. I'm sure some more off road tyres would negate the need for removal of front abs in most situations. Then just a matter of protecting those levers. And away you go.
Hey Curtis, great review. I ride a 200kg bike on the farm tracks and anything that bends has been replaced. Tyres, it would be good if manufacturers put good meat on in the first place. I run Shinkos, cheeper than Motoz that are hard to get.
804/805?
Informative and great vid once again 👍🏻
Thanks mate
Great review and Congratulations on 20k subscribers, 100k is just around the corner. Why haven't you reviewed the Transalp? I would love to see your comparo to the 800DE. IMHO the Talp is garbage. As for the Himalayan, it wouldn't last 5k miles the way you ride. Let's see if the MT450 does any better. I'm sure it will. To be fair, I would choose the Himalayan over the Talp.
Short story, I was supposed to test out the Transalp but it didn't end up happening
excelente video !! mi proxima moto
Enjoy!
Best review yet.
👊
You're finding exactly the same issues I've found with mine, and I'll end up replacing a number of things. Changed the screen so far to a bigger one due to buffeting.
- mirrors get in the way and keep coming loose.
- tyres are okay ish but front wipes very easy
- abs setting sometimes doesn't let you change it, so needs a restart.
- rear brake (and gear) lever bend easy
- suspension and ride height pretty good (for cheap)
- chugs, and i found stalls easy unless you have lots of throttle.
- its 20-30kg too heavy and is a pig to lift on any sort of incline.
Id be interested to hear your opinion on a good tyre match for it, that's offroad biased. Currently deciding between several like ax41s, motoz rallz/dv, k60 rangers etc. reviews/ comments are all over the place.
Side note, the front crash bars are quite soft too. Mine bent nearly touching the tank from a slow speed drop onto a grass verge.
All that said, its been handling most of what ive thrown at it so far and has been great. No regrets.
Interesting you're having the same issue with the abs settings. So far I've found the Pirelli rally race and Motoz Rallz rear to be my favourite all-round combo. The motoz DV front is pretty good too. People are having good luck with the new Mitas XT+ now too
I think switching to eco mode will help u chug more without stalling.
That was awesomeness😍. Brutal but awesome. Lil Himmy could take it all I presume?
The Himy loved it
Was a great video i have gone for the Guerrilla 450 might look at the Himalayan when my suzuki v Strom 800 RE
CHEERS be interesting to see you review the Guerrilla 450
Best narrated bike testing video i have watched , now i want to purchase 1❤😂
Thanks!
Great review, what tyres would you recommend?
SUPERB terrain detail-by-detail reactions/commentary. What a neat way of 'reviewing' ... Thanks ... How is it at highway speeds in CROSS-winds?
Thanks mate. I haven't had any issues with cross winds yet. Seems very stable on the highway
That's one of the knocks I've heard about Royal Enfield is bad steel. Your riding skills, however , are top notch!
Cheers Bill. Be interested to see how she all holds up
I think that steel alloy is made to be more malleable, otherwise it might just break.
This is an ADV, so most people won't put it through this much trouble. That bent lever won't happen as often in normal ADV scenarios. And when it does happen, you can bend it right back.
Sounds pretty good. You were comparing it to a dirty bike or dual sport rather than the KLR Gen 3. It sucks about the break and gear leaver but for the price it has an easy fix.
For sure, put a nice set of aftermarket levers on and you're away
Super excited for this video
Was a bloody good time
Rode an IT 200L back in the day , on pretty much the terrain you test rode in , plus steeper rocky 4wd tracks , never bent a gear lever or brake lever over thousands of dirt kms , in fact the Yamaha didn’t cost a cent over 2yrs .
Approx 110kg wet , 2 stroke weapon $2000 back in 84/85.
Yes it had a 925mm seat height but short legged me had no issues because it was lightweight and you could lean it on your knee😮
Funny so did i But im not sure what your getting at. Chalk and cheese. You wouldnt want to ride the IT hundreds of Kms on bitumen to get to some adventure destination and still be able to tackle some pretty tough terrain loaded up with camping gear.
@ was on a tangent in relation to seat height and weight , where I rode the IT 200, sometimes was 50km from the nearest telephone or road , but if I dropped bike despite it being tall, the lightweight allowed it to be picked up easily , even if it landed on your leg , I now ride a Transalp , and do sweet nothing off road , because of weight , but bike is great on the back roads .
We knew our guy Curtis would give the Himalayan a proper workout!
Every other review says the Himalayan has to be revved out, you made it CHUG.
Wonderful tracks.👍
Thanks Pinkie. It chugs great!
@@onthebackwheel did u try chugging it in eco mode? Noticed any diff?
@@Futuremodi not yet, it's on the list of things to do. It chugs great though in performance, not after any improvement TBH
Excellent reviewer! 👍
Thanks 🙏
This is how you review an adventure bike .. ride to its limits 😁
What an amazing riding spot!
Thanks for putting it through its paces. Can you let us know how the fuelling is being ride by wire?
The fuelling is great. Throttle action is slightly light but I'm getting used to it
i really consider about CF 450MT and Himalayan 450, seem like Himalayan better alittle bit
Wow, you put it through pretty harsh terrain for an entry level adventure bike. Held up pretty good and it speaks volumes to go for this stuff with an almost 200 kg heavy bike.
The bendy leavers... somewhere the entry level price comes from.
Yeah exactly, easy enough to replace which is good
Which tyres were on?
Great vid, thanks 🙏🏽
Hi, the stock tyres, Ceat Gripp something
@@onthebackwheel Thanks. Never heard of them, but they did well!
@@peter.knupffer not too bad on the street. They are an Indian tyre brand that seem to be on most RE's
Any chance you could make how to ride videos? You’re a great rider. Would love to learn from you. Like how do you go down a twisty dirt gravel road at such a good pace without hitting a tree? 😅 I see your rear tires are sliding all over the place, but your front goes wherever you point it at.
They are people way more qualified and better riders than me to learn from! Appreciate it though
@ the difference is that you are a great communicator
@@LuckyNikitaBoba appreciate it mate!
6:19 Did he just stall it and clutch start it in the blink of an eye?
My favorite Tuber is back. No just because he does sketchy stuff on a Vstrom 800 DE. It is because I do sketchy stuff on my Vstrom 800 DE and I can empathize with the struggle . LOL. Can you do some basic how to ride off road? You deal with Sand and ruts, up here its nothing but blast rock *sharp jaggy rocks made from blasting roads in the mountains for logging trees* I hate rocks with a passion. How do you like your Boots I got the Dakars and love them to bits, my ankles are messed up and these boots are fantastic.
Do you recommand :
inner tubes
Tubeless wheels
???
Si tu parles spécifiquement des motos, ces termes sont couramment utilisés.
For sure off-road trips, tubes or if you are using tubeless you can put a tube in with a dented rim
When you mentioned the warning lights came on, what did that turn out to be please?
No idea yet, they ended up turning off and nothing would say what it is
Great stuff Curtis, now go get your hands on a Cfmoto 450 MT, do the same route and see how it fares. Royal Enfield announced the Bear finally. I can't wait to see a thrashing with that as well.
That Bear is very pretty. MT is on the way, just been delayed is all
Sweet, looking forward to your impressions.
Having ridden both, I bought a Himi. Ergos and engine - the CF revs its tits off at 85KPH and higher, and the ergos for me was cramped next to Himi. The Himi feels like my old DR.
@@martyn_g Good to know, I just sold my 2018 Himi and am looking forward to picking up a new one next year.
Have you ridden the cf moto mt. 450 yet?
How does it compare to the Himi450
Not yet. I have bought one and I'm waiting for it to arrive ⌚
@@onthebackwheelcopy that.
I love your reviews and content.No bullshit,all aussie.
You ride like me,so your review and choice of track is great for the Himi.You are the only one I have seen pop a wheel stand one one.
So I am so looking forward to the mt450 torture test from you.Probably will be my definitive choice after seeing you.
I would love to buy a ktm890 but cost is prohibitive..You absolutely threw me when you bought a Suzuki V-strom.So of course I have now researched more on them.
Anyway luv ya work.
Keep it up.
I have subscribed and have notifications on..Ohh what about t-shirts n shit?
@davidjehan1579 thanks mate, appreciate it. Yeah got to pull my finger out and put them all up. It's on the to do list. You might get some cheap KTMs yet with how they are travelling
@@onthebackwheel😂❤
Thanks - sounds like what I'm looking for. Mostly pavement riding with the occasional dirt road thrown in. I doubt that I'd ever be doing single track.
As to the weight - my Tiger Explorer comes in close to 290 kilos (loaded) and all of the weight seems to be about chest level - so...
It'll feel like a feather weight for you then
Hey Curtis, can I ask, if you had a budget < $10000 aussie for a rtw bike new or secondhand at that price or under, what would be your first pick?
Probably a modded crf300l. Light, cam take it anywhere, reliable and tons of parts availability
The mirrors are a problem. RE would sell you a solution to that problem if you ask for it. Almost every other Himalayan I've seen had those bar end mirrors. They look cool, they don't get stuck when you stand. 😄
Some cheap folding mirrors are definitely needed
Would you rather ride this or the KLR? are the vibrations better than KLR?
I prefer this for sure. Little bit smoother
man really wish you do a guerilla 450 review
I'll see what I can do
At around that price point I'd strongly consider the Kove 450 or 800.
We still don't get them in Australia 😢
@onthebackwheel wow really?! Didn't know that...
00:25 the bike is an ADV bike not an enduro. Expecting this bike to weigh like an enduro is silly.
Can you test the Honda transalp 750
I'm working on it, don't have a relationship with Honda ATM
what a place you guys over there have 🙂 lucky beggers, oh and fantastic job beating the bike up - the controls are bonkers, can't fathom why they do this but hey ..... aftermarket to the rescue
That's it mate. And yep, got a lot of good riding hear 🙏
Man what a beating you gave her, great video.
Cheers!
How's it compare to the vsrtrom 800
Easier to handle in general with a better suspension set up. Definitely not on the same level overall though in terms of finish and power
are those tubeless?
If not, would that bent rim have been a flat on tubeless?
Tubed. It probably would have been a flat or at least a leak
@@onthebackwheel I'm completely on the fence for tubed vs tubeless.
@@cloud9847 I'm the same, there's pros and cons with both
@@onthebackwheel lets say you were planning a solo 700 mile Colorado BDR trip...would you go tubeless or tubed?
@@cloud9847 I think you'd be comfortable on either. Depending how hard you ride you can take a spare front tube and put it in
Hmmm.... a street bike with low end dirt bike parts.... the trail same type that i ride with Trek mountain bike..... $9,000.00 hmmm it stall 9 grand money is money.... my finial thought a better Honda adv 350 for the same price....
The scooter?! Would love to try it 😂
that's 9000$ there, but here in india it costs around 3 lakh, which is around 4000 USD, what would be the value at that price point?
4000 USD would be extremely cheap in the USA and Australia, much less than what we pay!
So buy this new or something Japanese but 2nd hand?
Very good question. In this class there isn't much competition from the Japanese. You've got the nx500, but that is much more road focused. I'd buy it over a klr650
@onthebackwheel yeah that was the other bike in contention. Looks like the RE is the winner then.
@@codpieceofjustice4595 I really liked my KLR's, but the world is moving on.
This trail is for motocross or trial.
For sure, good fun though and the bike performed pretty well considering
How the heck is it almost as heavy as a tenere 700? Dang!
With a low price, something has to give
Grande!
I really like
It's a good thing
196 kgs...... 194 with tubeless rims and 15 liters of fuel. How many offroad adventurers will go on trail like these with that much fuel in the tank ?
I’m not entirely sure what your point is? By the time sone get to the off-road part they may have used some fuel , or they could be a carrying extra, or X amount of kilos of gear…
In any case a few kilos either way makes no difference🤔
Id also suggest what people never seem to consider when worrying about bike weight is riders size and weight which is a far bigger variable.
Weight of the bike itself is largely irrelevant. How a bike handles with weight and where it carries it ergonomically are more important. Ie all other factors being equal such as the same rider, same tyres etc a heavier bike may handle better than a lighter one dependant on a variety of factors.
Of course the biggest determiner of handling is the riders skill, experience and mindset.
People that get wrapped around the axles about what is often arbitrary, like a bikes weight, are usually simply projecting the fact they don't have the skill or physical ability to handle the weight vs the bikes dimensions being the issue.
Sent it!
Ken oath!
Great tastings on that bike to see if take the abused!!!!
This was great to watch. You obviously know how to pedal a bike along. But this test is not what 99.9% of people who buy this bike are going to be doing with it. In my opinion you would have been better off just doing what the bike is designed for.
My first ride video was your more typical adventure ride, this was a bit of fun and a real test of the components. I find it is good to stress test gear to see what will fail and suit hard adventure riding
Hate to tell you but my riding mates and myself do put our Adv bikes into that sort of terrain and quite often come off second best. But its good to know they generaly handle the abuse well after some initiall setting up.
I've never seen a bike so abused. The poor mechanic who has to repair that.... hopefully it's a press bike reserved for hard use. Just thinking - and I don't know - probably better to have malleable levers than hard brittle. I remember watching a guy on his brand new KLX do the same and the levers bent too.