Royal Enfield Already Has A Himalayan 450, So Why Is It Making A 440?

Same name, almost the same displacement, two completely different motorcycles.

By: Enrico Punsalang

Aug 19, at 8:22am ET

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Royal Enfield already sells a 452cc Himalayan with about 40 horsepower, liquid cooling, modern electronics, and a properly contemporary adventure-bike chassis. So naturally, its next move is to launch another Himalayan with 443cc and significantly less power. The Himalayan 440 is officially set to debut in India on September 4, 2026, and if your immediate reaction is, “Wait, what?” congratulations, you understood the assignment.

The name certainly doesn't help. Just 9cc separates the Himalayan 440 from the Himalayan 450, yet mechanically, they're nowhere near being the same motorcycle. The 450 uses Royal Enfield's liquid-cooled, DOHC Sherpa single, producing roughly 40 horsepower and 29.5 pound-feet. The upcoming 440 is expected to use the Scram 440's much simpler LS440 engine, a 443 cc air-and-oil-cooled long-stroke single making just 25.4 horsepower and 25.1 pound-feet.

That's a huge performance gap for two motorcycles whose badges differ by only ten. But that's also our first clue as to why the Himalayan 440 exists. This probably isn't Royal Enfield trying to create a cheaper version of the Himalayan 450 in the usual sense. Instead, the 440 appears to be bringing back the philosophy of the old Himalayan 411, complete with a simpler engine, more modest performance, and what should be a substantially lower barrier to entry.

And no, this doesn't appear to be some clever Indian tax workaround either. India's current GST structure taxes motorcycles up to and including 350cc at 18 percent, while anything above 350 cc gets hit with a 40 percent rate. Both the 443 cc 440 and 452 cc 450 land comfortably on the expensive side of that line. If Royal Enfield were chasing a tax loophole, it picked the wrong displacement by about 93 cc.

Price, then, is likely where this starts making much more sense. The Himalayan 450 currently starts around Rs 308,000 (about $3,700 USD) in India, while the Himalayan 440 has been tipped to land closer to Rs 250,000 (about $3,000 USD). That's still speculation until Royal Enfield actually reveals the bike, but it would create meaningful breathing room between the two. More importantly, the company already has the LS440 engine in production for the Scram 440, so there's an obvious opportunity to reuse proven hardware.

And maybe there's simply still a market for the Himalayan that the 450 replaced. The old 411 wasn't quick, sophisticated, or particularly polished, but that was part of its charm. It thumped along, looked like farm equipment had discovered wanderlust, and gave riders a simple motorcycle they could understand without opening an electronics menu. The 450 is objectively far more capable, but capability isn't necessarily the only thing people buy motorcycles for.

What do you think?

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Now, if you've been reading our stuff about the current-generation Himalayan, you'd know that we at RideApart pretty much all agree that the Himalayan 450 is an excellent motorcycle, and it's far superior to the old air-cooled 411 in just about every measurable way. But we're obviously not the entire motorcycle industry. If Royal Enfield thinks enough riders still want that barebones, thumpy old-school Himalayan vibe, the 440 might actually be smarter than its confusing name suggests.

Soon enough, you'll apparently be able to buy either philosophy. So which would you rather have: the simple old-school Hima or the modern, performance-focused 450?