KTM Pressure : The Adventure Touring and off-road segments have gained significant traction in the Indian market in recent times. Now, word is that the Himalayan Raid or Project K1X as it is internally known, has been fast-tracked, and it is likely to come much sooner than we expected.
Indications are that the newly launched KTM Adventure motorcycle don’t quite make rivals and in all fairness, Royal Enfield really does not have a challenge to the range topping KTM 390 Adventure. The Himalayan Raid will tick this box perfectly and will be a more off-road centric model.
The motorcycle has no specs at this time, but was originally set for a late-2026 or early-2027 launch yet looks to be coming a tad early to us. The Indian and UK R&D teams are collaborating on the Himalayan Raid and the teams have also collaborated with the new racing team they have formed in Europe as well as legendary motorcylist CS Santosh who is a well known figure in the off-road motorcycle racing. ‘
The new motorcycle will likely get the rally kit that Royal Enfield lists as an accessory on the Himalayan 450, as standard equipment. It will also add other options to further increase it capability, most importantly, tubeless spoked wheels which has been a long requested feature and is, you guessed it, an optional fitment. It might also feature adjustable suspension and trick electronics.
We reckon that mechanically the Himalayan 450 should remain unchanged but we could see the 452cc single-cylinder liquid cooled engine get a power bump or a different state of tune focusing more off-road with the Adventure variant. At present, the engine makes 39.5 bhp and 40 Nm of torque. Expect pricing to be Rs 3.5 lakh (ex-showroom) at best and it would take on the KTM 390 Adventure head-on.