[krat]

I have been on a Himalayan for a year and a half. There are some things that are not being said about it that need consideration.

First, the Himalayan does not compare to a 250cc anything! It don't matter how many letters you put before and after the 250 it ain't the same and it never will be.

The RE is a tank. You are not looking at a 250cc dirt bike made legal for the street, you are looking at a the lower end of the mid-weight adventure bikes set up for back road, bad road and gravel road use and only intended to see an interstate on rare occasion.

The RE is only comparable to the BMW 310 and possibly the KTM 390 though both have a 10hp advantage, but they were engineered for the European market where the highways wide and paved and not the Indian market where you fight the traffic of one billion people and dodge cows between the potholes, as the RE was. Now keep in mind that when reviewed those other bikes, with more power, also top out at slightly higher speed and cruise at the same point as the RE. 6500 rpm is the same no matter what the brand or HP rating.

This sucker weighs in at 450 pounds with oil and a tank of fuel. That is not counting anything you have strapped to the top or the panniers. It has a "low center of gravity" to some extent but when it gets past that point of no return it is going down and it is going down right now! You are not going to stop it if you ain't had your Wheaties, which is why Noraly (Itchyboots) is always looking for a good breakfast. Lord pray that there are two of you there to pick it up.

The stroke is about an inch longer than the bore is wide and it will lug like crazy. The power assignment is deceptive and not even noticeable until you get onto the interstate and try to go 20 over the limit! I think the situation is that Indian horses are bigger than Chinese, and possibly Japanese horses. It's not a crouch rocket but it will snap your head running up the gears at WOT. I have heard it said that you can not wheelie one but I know I wheeled mine when I did not intend too so that rumor is dead.

I often put mine in 4th gear and drive it like a big old scooter. It will lug from 15-50 in 4th without a gear change. in turn it does not want to go into 5th until it tops 50, so working through the Kentucky hills develops your shifting skills.

I also have a TBR7 and a scooter. I find that the TBR does not want to go much faster than my scooter and when you force it up to 60 you feel like you are taking your life in your hands. It bobs, it weaves, it drifts and bounces. The scooter is more stable at 55 than the TBR7.

My Himalayan is rock solid on the road, stable up to top speed and smooth. Last fall I drove it from my home in KY, down to Natchez Mississippi along the Great River Road and then back up the Natchez Trace Parkway. Temps were between 90 and 100 every single day.

No temp problems, the freekin' thing was made to work in India! India is the tropics for those that don't know. They don't have winter and summer, they have dry season and the monsoon. Average temp above 90 daily.