The Himalayan has certainly done Royal Enfield no harm and they have also seen that with Honda. Patent drawings reveal that Big Red is working on similar engines based on the current CB350 developed specifically for the Indian market.
When the Royal Enfield Himalayan made its debut in 2016, the 411cc single-cylinder was initially intended for the Indian market, but also caught on outside India as an affordable alternative for adventurers. The Scram 411 was therefore launched in 2022 as an urban variant.
Given the sales success of the Himalayan, it is not surprising that Honda has now applied for patents for two similar engines. In fact, you might wonder why it took so long – and why no one else came up with the idea.
The patent drawings show a retro-styled Allroad and Scrambler, which share the same chassis and engine, but are styled differently, with the focus, like the Himalayan, on rugged solidity, with details such as crash bars and tank-mounted luggage racks – indeed, à la Himalayan. Featuring more adventurous styling with wire wheels for the ‘Allroad’ and roadster with cast wheels for the ‘Scrambler’.
Although the filed patents relate not so much to the design, but to technical solutions, the chassis and engine block appear to have been taken from the CB350, which was launched in 2020 specifically for the Indian market, and more recently in Australia and home country Japan as GB350 on the market has been set.
The CB350 is powered by an air-cooled 348cc single-cylinder with fuel injection, good for 20 hp of power at 5,500 rpm and 28.5 Nm of torque at 3,000 rpm, with a five-speed gearbox and that is not a far cry from the 24.5 hp and 32 Nm of the Himalayan 411, Although Enfield has switched to a 452 cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder with 40 hp with the new 2024 Himalayan.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.