A friend who owns a BS6 411 bought the new 450, put everything on it that is available (fuelx pro+ and Powertronic) and handed it to me for a brief test ride.
I went for the backroad here, the "elephant road" - a nice test stretch for an off road bike with lots of narrow curves and occasional sandy stretches.
A few observations:
1) The brakes are really good although the position of the rear pedal is unfortunate, I cant put my foot over it, just next to it, so if I need to brake quickly I have to shift the foot quite a bit.
2) I could only accelerate to 80 because of traffic on the main road - and up to that speed the 500 "old" BS3 Hima is equal if not a bit faster
3) sitting position is so-so. It was kinda comfy for the first 15 minutes but then increasingly hard to sit without shifting on the seat
4) handling in curves is nice and similar if not a bit easier than the BS3 - although the Indian tires suck - not RE's fault. I bet its way better with Metzelers or Heidenaus
5) The engine sound is horrible (original exhaust) - reminds me of a sewing machine. nothing to write home about!
6) The bike is high and the center of gravity is also high - that makes it more agile but also less stable. On top of this a 172cm person with sports shoes can only reach the ground tip-toeing. Maybe with boots with large soles it is better. The seat was on middle position (out of 3)
7) the engine's power is developing quite late. nothing happens below 2000rpm. so old Hima riders need to learn to do it the KTM way. when I turned into our road on the way home from the national highway - that road immediately has a steep incline. I killed the engine trying to go up at 2000rpm in 2nd. I had to re-start it and it was a VERY wobbly and uncomfy moment with my toes just holding the bike upright. A less experienced rider would have probably dropped it.
Not much more I can say after a 30 minutes ride but my take away is: I am not really interested in getting one. Here in India I mean. In Germany I would, because the top speed there is a factor - but here it isn't. 100kmh is all you want. max.
I went for the backroad here, the "elephant road" - a nice test stretch for an off road bike with lots of narrow curves and occasional sandy stretches.
A few observations:
1) The brakes are really good although the position of the rear pedal is unfortunate, I cant put my foot over it, just next to it, so if I need to brake quickly I have to shift the foot quite a bit.
2) I could only accelerate to 80 because of traffic on the main road - and up to that speed the 500 "old" BS3 Hima is equal if not a bit faster
3) sitting position is so-so. It was kinda comfy for the first 15 minutes but then increasingly hard to sit without shifting on the seat
4) handling in curves is nice and similar if not a bit easier than the BS3 - although the Indian tires suck - not RE's fault. I bet its way better with Metzelers or Heidenaus
5) The engine sound is horrible (original exhaust) - reminds me of a sewing machine. nothing to write home about!
6) The bike is high and the center of gravity is also high - that makes it more agile but also less stable. On top of this a 172cm person with sports shoes can only reach the ground tip-toeing. Maybe with boots with large soles it is better. The seat was on middle position (out of 3)
7) the engine's power is developing quite late. nothing happens below 2000rpm. so old Hima riders need to learn to do it the KTM way. when I turned into our road on the way home from the national highway - that road immediately has a steep incline. I killed the engine trying to go up at 2000rpm in 2nd. I had to re-start it and it was a VERY wobbly and uncomfy moment with my toes just holding the bike upright. A less experienced rider would have probably dropped it.
Not much more I can say after a 30 minutes ride but my take away is: I am not really interested in getting one. Here in India I mean. In Germany I would, because the top speed there is a factor - but here it isn't. 100kmh is all you want. max.
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