Vlogger Rides Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 To A Totally Frozen Arctic: Does The Bike Survive The Trip? [Video]
Royal Enfield took wraps off the Himalayan 450 in November 2023. The ADV motorcycle was introduced in the Indian market at the Motoverse that year. The manufacturer sells the motorcycle in various international markets like UK, France, Italy, Malaysia, and the US.
Emil Duvander, an adventurer and filmmaker from Southern Sweden has lately been touring the Arctic Polar Circle, on his Himalayan 450. He has been into motorcycling since a very young age. His YouTube channel Frozen Bike Ride posts various video stories from this epic Frozen Arctic ride. Some of these episodes show the motorcycle being ridden through extreme conditions.
The tenth episode shows the Himalayan 450 touring through Scandinavia during the winter. Emil is seen struggling a lot with the motorcycle, as the terrain around him is extremely frozen. he goes snow tenting somewhere on a mountain. In the morning, when he is ready to leave the tent site, we get to see a snow-covered Himalayan.
The YouTuber does a cold start on the motorcycle, and is even seen rubbing snow off its instrument cluster. The overnight halt in the Arctic had caused snow to accumulate on the Himalayan's digital cluster.
Owing to the snowy conditions around, Emil has special riding gear on. He is seen taking occasional halts to clear his visor and goggles of snow. Later in his journey, we can see how harsh the climate is. There is snow everywhere, and the visibility is minimal. This ride is definitely tricky (read 'dangerous') for both the man and machine.
In the video, we also see him use a toe warmer (thermo pad) to battle the chill and moisture in his visor and goggles. However, after a few kilometres, we get to see him having to clean them again. He says that he had to stop at least six times to remove ice from the visor. It looks like the temperature at the place was below '-8' degrees.
Making things tougher for the rider, more chill and even slight rain were forecasted for the following night and the next day. Emil was on his way to Ostersund. Clearly, this rider is determined to continue riding. He has accessorised his motorcycle accordingly and has taken special care in choosing the right gear for himself.
The Himalayan 450 is, in fact, a well-engineered motorcycle. The global spec isn't much different from the one sold in India. It comes in five colourways, of which this rider has chosen the White.
The engine here, is Royal Enfield's newly developed Sherpa 450 which delivers 40bhp and 40Nm of torque. This also happens to be the bikemaker's first-ever liquid-cooled single, and comes mated to a six-speed gearbox with an assist and slipper clutch. The bike weighs 196 kilograms.
The motorcycle has been fitted with full-LED lighting, ride-by-wire technology, switchable ABS, circular TFT instrumentation display, and Bluetooth connectivity.
The Swedish spec rides on a 21 inch front wheel and has a 19-inch unit at the rear. These come with dual-purpose tyres. The bikes sold in Sweden, source their rubber from brands like Avon, Bridgestone, Continental, Metzeler, Dunlop, Continental, and Mitas. Being excellent dual-purpose units, these perform equally well on both roads and terrains. We don't know if the filmmaker uses these stock units or has gone for a swap, to make the bike more suitable for snow-riding.