Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 to come with tubeless spoked rims. Check details
Royal Enfield is working on the new generation of the Himalayan. It would be a more powerful version of the Himalayan which is expected to go on sale by the mid or second quarter of 2023. Now, sources have confirmed that Royal Enfield will sell the Himalayan 450 with tubeless spoked rims. The tyres on the motorcycle will be sourced from Ceat which is also currently the OEM partner for Royal Enfield.
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The current Himalayan 411 and Scram 411 are sold with spoked wheels so the motorcycle is fitted with tubes also. The rim size is 21 inches in the front and 17 inches at the rear with dual-purpose tyres. The Himalayan 450 will also get the same-sized rims with dual-purpose tyres but with tubeless spoked rims.
As of now, it is not known how Royal Enfield has managed to make the rims tubeless. However, several advantages come with tubeless spoked rims. Spoked rims are preferred for off-roading because they can take the impact of rough surfaces while off-roading, this is where an alloy wheel has a chance to break but then they do come with tubeless tyres which are a boon to have as fixing punctures are a lot easier on them.
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On the other hand, the spoked rims are usually fitted with tube-type tyres as the air leaks through the nipples where the spokes are attached to the wheel. So, a tubeless spoked rim would offer the best of both worlds. They are spoked rims so they can take impacts while off-roading and they still can be used with a tubeless tyre without a tube which means one does not need to worry about fixing a puncture.
The source also revealed that it is highly unlikely that the tubeless spoked setup will be carried forward to other motorcycles in the line-up, especially the 650 Twins. The 650 Twins are the current flagship motorcycles for the brand and they do not get alloy wheels.
This is a hassle as if the motorcycle gets punctured, then it becomes quite difficult to drag the motorcycle as it weighs more than 200 kgs. Then there is another issue, most of the puncture-repair shops do not fix the puncture of the rear wheel if it is equipped with a disc. Having said that, a test mule of the Continental GT 650 has been spotted with alloy wheels. There are a lot of rumours floating around that Royal Enfield will be launching new genuine accessories for the 650 Twins by the mid of next year. These accessories will include a new tail lamp, seats and hopefully alloy wheels.
