AUSSIE LAUNCH | Himalayan 450 Mana Black

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Black, bold and built for adventure, RE’s mid-capacity all-rounder looks tougher than it needs to… and rides even better

Adventure bikes have traditionally been christened with labels that tend towards the wild, rugged and aspirational. Names like Stelvio, Touareg, Norden, Africa, Expedition, Tenere, Tiger, Rally or Versys (whoops, that’s a powerful insecticide). And now we welcome to that pack the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Mana Black.

It’s named after the breathtaking (literally) 5600ish-metre Himalayan road, the highest motorable ‘frog’n’toad’ in the world – Mana Pass. Higher and tougher than Khardung La, Mana Pass never gets much glory because of the lack of people travelling it. In a way it’s an unsung hero of the high passes of the world. This lucky little tinted teal had just settled back into the humdrum of daily life after spending two weeks on a 450 Himi, yes… In the Himalayas (“Himalayan Highs”, Vol 75 No.09). Our North East India and remote West Nepal trip only reached a little over the 3000m mark, passing within a day’s ride or so from this formidable, highly restricted pass.

So what is a Himalayan Mana Black?

It’s black T-shirt, skinny black jeans, dark eye shadow, blue black dyed hair and black lipstick; a styling exercise rather than a new model. Royal Enfield has blacked up and ‘enduroed’ the Himi to offer a more purposeful-looking steed. The uncoated sticker set looks suspiciously like that of the standard Kamel White paint job.

Undemanding to ride, the Mana Black eats up typical Aussie bush backtracks like this one

Over a couple of days in the Victorian High country, we got a sneak peek of the bike. To be frank, we pushed the launch bikes beyond the limits of what they were designed for. Get a bunch of highly skilled, ex-enduro champions (the other riders) on challenging off-road tracks, and test bikes (and this old fella) get a hammering. The little Himi impressed even the most hardened off-roader in the group. Yes… it’s a bike that changes perceptions.

Andy stops to get his high country bushranger vibe going

Himalayan by name, Himalayan by nature

In the environment of lowish-speed, tight, rough mountain roads that are the Himalayas, the 450 shines. Low speed, tractable, single-cylinder grunt, more than adequate suspension and a comfortable riding position whether standing or sitting.

The Himi punches above its heaviest-in-class 195kg kerb weight. Which is only really noticed when hauling it up off the lowish sidestand.

Indian market Himis come with a mandated saree guard

This incarnation is fitted with hand ‘wind’ guards, special side pods, a seat strap at the rear for dragging it out of the slop, and a fixed-height, taller ‘rally’ seat. We had a bike fitted with the rally seat on our OS trip and found it less comfy on our long days than the two-piece (825mm or 845mm height) stock item. Not that the rally seat is actually uncomfortable, it’s that the stock seat is bloody good. My stumpy legs didn’t find the 860mm rally seat’s reach to terra firma an issue.

Avoid the freeways and you’ll find the Mana Black is perfect for mountain tarmac backroads

The Showa suspension, expertly tuned for Royal Enfield by ex-racer and ex-AMCN staffer Paul Young, makes the Himi go where you ask it – rough as guts or smooth as poo. The six-speed gearbox helps the 450 powerplant wing along at a tad above legal Aussie highway speeds – unstressed and unharried. While modest, 29.44kW (40hp) of go and 40Nm of push there’s enough throttle twist to comfortably overtake.

It’s amazing how a few simple changes can transform a model

From day one in the rough roads in Himachal Pradesh, I found the gap between first and second too wide in rough conditions. First too low and second too high, revving the rings out of the Himi in first or lugging it if changing up a cog. In the mountains behind Bright, it did make the harder uphill sections a little more challenging than they needed to be, and control on nose-bleed downhills a little harder to find. Experimenting with sprocket teeth might help sort this, however.

The gap between first and second gear caused our tester some issues in the tight stuff

The variants across the range now all sport spoked, tubeless 21in front and 17in rear wheels; Mana gets, you guessed it… black ones. Teamed up with the stock dual channel, switchable ABS, the 320mm ventilated disc, twin piston caliper up front and 270mm disc at the back haul the whole plot up effortlessly and predictably.

The bikes on the launch, as I mentioned earlier, were pushed hard on a hot day, in tight, steep, rocky, slow and challenging conditions. A few of them suffered overheating issues. We never saw a hint of that in the Himalayas, even on the hottest days, and to be fair the bikes arrived late and were dragged out of the crate and pressed into immediate service… Poor things; a journo running in a bike is never an act of kindness!

Our ride home took in a bunch of sealed roads that I’m familiar with; fast twisties and highway sections, stuff we didn’t get to do on the Nepal trip. Again, the Himi exceeded my expectations, as did the stock CEAT tyres.

The attractive Mana Black really stands out. It would suit a younger and/or taller rider, looking for a stylish, capable, mid-capacity bike that will do just about anything asked of it. It’s learner approved and expert capable! A hell of a lot of bike for not a lot of readies. And while it’s not on the enduro end of the Adventure bike continuum, it sure took what we threw at it.

The Himi continues to grow on me. The more time I spend on one, the more it gets under my skin. I’d buy the standard model and spend the extra five hundred smackers on goodies offered in the accessory cattle-dog. First thing bolted on would be a curiously omitted rear rack.

PROS – Stress-free riding, even in rough stuff. Easy to live with. A package that is more than its component parts.

CONS – Rear rack not standard on the Mana. Rally seat not as comfy as stock. Tell-tale lights in speedo too small. 

 

The Competition – 21in front wheels

CF Moto 450
175kg wet, 449.5cc, liquid-cooled, parallel twin, DOHC, 270° crankshaft, $9990 ride away

Suzuki DRZ 400
151kg wet, 398cc liquid cooled single, $11,590 ride away

KTM 390 Adventure R
176kg wet, 398.7cc liquid cooled single, $11,395 ride away

19in front wheels

BMW 450GS
176kg wet, 398.7cc liquid cooled single, $10,600 + ORC

Triumph 400 Scrambler XC
186kg wet, 398cc liquid cooled single, $11,690 ride away

 

SPECIFICATIONS

ENGINE

Type Liquid-cooled, sngle cylinder 452cc. DOHC, 4 valves
Bore & stroke 84mm x 81.5mm
Compression ratio 11.5:1
Power 29.44kW (40hp) at 8000rpm (claimed)
Torque 40Nm at 5500rpm (claimed)

TRANSMISSION

Clutch Wet multiplate, slip and assist
Gearbox Six speed

FUELLING

Electronic injection 42mm throttle body
Fuel consumption 3.43l/100km (claimed)

CHASSIS & SUSPENSION

Frame Twin spar tubular steel frame
Front suspension Upside down Showa cartridge fork, 43mm
Rear suspension Linkage type mono-shock

WHEELS/TYRES

Tyres Front CEAT 90/90-21in
Front Wheel travel 200mm
Tyres Rear CEAT 140/80 R 17in
Rear Wheel travel 200mm

BRAKES

Front 320mm ventilated disc, twin-piston caliper
Rear 270mm ventilated disc, single-piston caliper

DIMENSIONS

Weight 195kg (kerb claimed – 90% fuel)
Seat height 860mm
Height 1316mm
Length 2285mm
Width 900mm
Wheelbase 1510mm
Ground clearance 230mm
Fuel capacity 17L

ELECTRICALS

Headlight LED
Tail light Integrated LED turn and tail lamp
Rider modes Performance or Eco plus ABS on or off in each mode
Accessory power USB type C
Dash 4in round TFT display with phone connectivity, Full Map Navigation (powered by Google Maps)

BUSINESS END

Price $10,490 ride away
Warranty 3 years unlimited km and roadside assist
Contact royalenfield.com.au

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