Several months ago, I went to the Progressive Motorcycle Show in Denver. There were lots of exhibits by most manufacturers. Harley Davidson, Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki, they all had big booths with lots of bikes. Suzuki made a good presence too. There in the middle of the show in a modest booth was Royal Enfield. They only had a couple of bikes at the exhibit and the one on the floor was a new Himalayan. I sat on it and liked the ergos but wasn't particularly impressed. I'd assumed it was an $8k bike, just like every other adventure type bike at the show.
Fast forward a bit and that Himalayan was on my mind again. So I went and took a look. $5k new?? Hmmm. I did what everybody does. I watched reviews on YouTube. I checked out Itchy Boots. Yes, I did, don't ask me about it.
I wasn't really in the market for an Enfield, though. I have my classic. I love it. But I wanted something dirt oriented and Japanese, maybe a KLR650 or DR650. I have a friend with a DR650 and we talk about backroad adventures from time to time. He always hints at me getting one.
Well, hmmm. I've been kinda looking for these types of bikes on Craigslist and on eBay. My heart wanted something light and simple. A CRF, really. So I'd keep an eye out for one, periodically browsing auction sites.
About a week ago, I stumbled upon a Himalayan, a few miles from where I live in Denver. Starting bid was $2500 which didn't seem too bad for a 2018 model with only 2200 miles on the clock, so I put it a bid. I kept an eye on it, watching more and more reviews and reading as much about the Enfield as I could. After a week, I won it. $3200.
Here it is. This is my, new to me, 2018 Royal Enfield Himalayan. My daughter named it Clyde.
The bike was first registered in July of 2018 which means it has a few months of warranty left on it. The guy I bought it from, Ryan, was the original owner. He purchased it new with 7 miles on the clock.
Ryan included a lot of the original paperwork with the bike. He bought it from Foothills BMW and paid nearly $6k for it after taxes and fees.
He had them do the 300 mile (500km) service as well. They took $485 of his money to do a valve adjustment and an oil change. They used BMW's Advantec oil which is fully synthetic and only SJ spec. It doesn't meet Enfield's oil requirements. But more importantly, its fully synthetic oil at 300 miles. I'd have waited at least 500 before adding a synthetic (for break in purposes). I don't think I'd take a bike to this dealership. At least I have record of it being done.
I have some simple plans for this bike. Keep an eye out for a review of the pros and cons, some modifications and many ride reports.