Everyone Wants A Royal Enfield Himalayan 650, So This Shop Built One

The question is, will Royal Enfield take notes?

02:48

Janaki Jitchotvisut

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Feb 4, 2022 at 12:51pm ET

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Have you been waiting eagerly for Royal Enfield to build that long-rumored Himalayan 650? So have we, but so far, there’s been no word. While we’ll keep holding out hope that those dreams will one day come true, at least one shop apparently got tired of waiting, so it made its own. Cooperb Motorcycles is a British shop, located in the East Midlands—and it built this extremely tasty-looking Royal Enfield Interlayan 650.

Imagine the capability, suspension, and posture of a Himalayan, only with that 650 Twin powerplant in place of the Himalayan’s stock 411cc single. Actually, we probably don’t even have to suggest that to you, because so many enthusiasts worldwide have been clamoring for Enfield to do something like this for so long. It’s not that the Himalayan isn’t a great bike, it’s more like a parent-teacher meeting where a kid isn’t quite living up to their potential. Only, you know, the kid in this case is a bike, and you know it could be absolutely amazing with just a bit more effort.

Thus, Cooperb set to work crafting the Interlayan 650, from a base Interceptor 650. It has a Himalayan front end, a laced, 19-inch front wheel, a set of Continental TKC70 tires, and a very nice set of Givi Alaska hard cases to carry plenty of your necessities. Hand guards stand at the ready, along with a lightly smoked windscreen that forms a pleasing shroud around the instrument cluster from the cockpit. There’s no skid plate at present, but no project is ever completely done, is it? We think not.

Gallery: Cooperb Motorcycles Royal Enfield Interlayan 650 Build

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Cooperb took this bike to display at Motorcycle Live just before the New Year, where it drew plenty of attention from visitors. Unsurprisingly, the shop has had plenty of inquiries as to whether it plans to sell this bike—but so far, they've said on social media multiple times that there’s currently no plan to part with it. This bike was simply a build they wanted to see happen, so they built it.

Will Royal Enfield one day do the same? Here’s hoping.