Jul 13, 2016 04:21 PM
7732 Views
Yeah, right. They could have made a ground breaking motorcycle but its good that they decided to defer it till the day when they could find a solution to parts breaking and falling on the ground on their regular motorcycles. Path altering, you say, sir? Well, the Classic 500 I rode almost altered its path when the front skidded at 90 kmph on a straight road, but I've heard they've rectified the instability issue in the later batches.
I do hope the Himalayan does sell well and I admire Sachin Chavan(he wanted more power out of the LS 410) and team for having the two big ones between their legs to have come out with a motorcycle like this - I can imagine the kind of research and resources it needs to develop an all new product plus the tremendous stakes on hand if it fails; but somehow I do not see many people lining up for this. As their tagline says, the Himalayan is'the only motorcycle you will ever need'. Well, there are better motorcycles out there that make you look less awkward while rolling in a mall to pick up a lass, I wouldn't like to arrive on this to my office, dressed up in formals, and frankly, to paraphrase Jeremy Clarkson, buying such a motorcycle to ride it around in the city 90% of the time is like permanently wearing a condom all 365 days a year in the hope that one day you might get lucky.
I had read a nice comment somewhere(was it by you?) which summed up why the Impulse failed:'those who want an enduro do not want a 150cc engine and those who want a 1500cc commuter do not want an enduro'. And please, let's not bring the 2 stroke KTMs and Husqvana 125s here.
Anyways, as far as the numbers go, the success and failure does not depend on absolute sale numbers but one has to see if the sales match the company's projections. Any idea what kind of numbers Royal Enfield is expecting for the Himalayan?
And as for reading enough of your reviews, well, you are No 1 of the three(guess the other two, one has specs and bad hair and is 36, other has a beard and a paunch and is 26) motorcycles journos in the country who are just miles and miles above the crap dished out by other youngsters in the name of reviews.
Keep it up man. And don't buy a car.
Regards,
Sanjay
