Bajaj Himalayan Competition – Should there be one?

The adventure bike segment is a growing segment in India and many manufacturers are trying to enter the market with suitable offerings. The Royal Enfield Himalayan being first and has the advantage and has been the go-to choice for a lot of adventure enthusiasts. Bajaj had tried the Pulsar AS as their adventure bike but the timing was a bit off and it did not do so well. But now is it the right time for a Bajaj to introduces an adventure bike? Here is our point of view on why we think there should be a Bajaj Himalayan competition bike?

Himalayan Rival

Although the Himalayan is a 401cc bike it rivals the 200cc or a 250cc bikes in terms of engine performance. So the current 250cc bikes from KTM and Husqvarna are head-on rivals when it comes to performance. Here we are talking about the KTM Adventure 250 and the Husqvarna Svartpilen. The catch here is you have to pay a bit more to get those. And buyers don’t buy the Himalayan only looking at the engine capacity and not the performance. This is where we think the Bajaj Himalayan Competition might shine.

5 Modifications for Bajaj Dominar 400

Bajaj Engine

The engine on this Bajaj Himalayan competition would be the one that we see on the Bajaj Dominar 400. Now here this might raise a question that, isn’t there the KTM 390 Adventure? That bike does not really compete with the Himalayan. It is a far different machine and has a slew of electronics like traction control, a nice TFT display, a quick shifter and on the KTM the engine makes more power. The engine on the Dominar 400 is more tuned towards torque and becomes a worthy competitor to the Himalayan.

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Sports or Scrambler

Going head-on with the Himalayan and making a focused adventure bike would be difficult and could cannibalize sales of the Adventure 250. Instead, the Bajaj Himalayan competition bike should be a scrambler. This would attract the buyer who wants to buy the bike for offroading and touring. The Himalayan is a great bike to take abuse on the trails off-road but lacks punch on the highway. Whereas the Dominar 400 has always been a brilliant highway machine but struggles off-road. Thus, a scrambler is needed. The bike that we are suggesting would sit next above the Dominar but and will fullfill the drawbacks of the Himalayan on the highway with it’s much more powerful and smoother engine and better off-road. So what are the tools requierd?

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This bike would have higher ground clearance and longer suspension travel. The bike might feature the block pattern tyres and spoke wheels. Also, It could feature a bigger fuel tank than Himalayan giving it more range. Unlike the Himalayan, the weight of this bike would also be down and should not be more than 200kgs. A touring seat with an approachable height is required. Lastly, the option to disable electronics like ABS will be needed too. Factory protection from the engine would be great too. A 400cc purpose built scrambler by Bajaj would be a really cool.

As of now, this is complete speculation and fantasy that we believe Bajaj is capable of fulfilling. We have been sighting a Pulsar NS being tested which we suppose is the Pulsar NS 250. If you want to know more on that bike do let us know. Also comment below – What would you like to see on this Bajaj Himalayan competition if it was ever evaluated.

Bajaj Dominar 250 launched – priced at Rs 1.6 lakhs

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