The way the Royal Enfield Himalayan performs is quite impressive. The engine has plenty of low end pull although there is a slight surge at the bottom as the power comes on around 2, 000rpm. The gearbox is a little notchy between first and second gear and I also experienced quite a few false neutrals through the day, particularly when shifting between first and second gears. Second gear onwards the gearbox shifts well and even responds to clutch-less up shifts without much complaint.
Performance is decent and the Himalayan doesn’t ever feel slow but it won’t blow your socks off either. We didn’t get to go beyond third gear for much of the day so more will only be revealed in the full road test. For now it’s clear that the Himalayan offers unhurried, unstressed performance. Basically just what you’d expect from a Royal Enfield.