NEWS: Honda Developing Himalayan Rival
Honda knows what a hit the Royal Enfield Himalayan is in India and wants a piece of the pie.
Royal Enfield entered a new era when it launched the Himalayan as a low-cost, single-cylinder entry to the adventure-bike market. Now it looks like Honda wants a slice of that action after it filed several patents showing a very similar-looking machine.
The bike illustrated in the documents appears as both an unfaired scrambler and a retro adventure-style machine, both sharing the same tank and tail but with a different nose treatment, and like the Himalayan they focus on ruggedness with details like external crashbars and tank-mounted luggage racks.
The scrambler version of the GB350.
While the illustrations are simplified representations of the bikes—these are technical patents rather than design registrations, so the emphasis is on novel solutions rather than styling—it’s pretty clear that the mechanical parts are those from the machine that’s currently sold as the CB350 and GB350 in various markets. Like the Himalayan, the modern CB350 was originally developed for the Indian market, where it was launched in 2020, but more recently it’s spread further afield, with both Australia and Japan getting their own versions using the GB350 name. The range has also grown to include the GB350 RS (GB350 S in Japan) with a more scrambler-style look including the fork gaiters seen on the new patents.
The patents take that evolution a step further, replacing the GB350′s retro-style fuel tank with a more angular, modern design that in some of the patents is shown with bolt-on racks on either side to provide protection and luggage capacity. These racks are the subject of one of three patents recently published around the new bike, showing how they’d be fitted and illustrating two different shapes for the racks themselves. One iteration of the racks are designed to be fitted both front and rear, with the same unit inverted to act as a pannier bracket at the back of the bike.
Illustrations for the protective structure that is also a mounting point for side boxes.
Another patent relates to the front fairing of the adventure version of the bike, including its own protective structure that extends up and over the headlight and provides a mounting point for side panels that double as storage boxes.
The engine and chassis appear to match those of the GB350, which means the new models are powered by a 348cc air-cooled single, fuel injected to meet modern emissions limits but putting the emphasis firmly on reliability rather than performance. Air-cooling makes sense as there’s no radiator to puncture, leaving you stranded in the middle of nowhere, but it does mean power is relatively muted. The GB350 makes 20 hp at 5,500 rpm and 21 lb.-ft. of peak torque at 3,000 rpm, driving through a suitably retro five-speed transmission.
Those numbers aren’t a million miles from the original iteration of the Himalayan, which also used an air-cooled single and put out 24.5 hp from 411cc, but the new-for-2024 version goes to liquid-cooling and 452cc, resulting in a jump to 40 hp and stepping into a higher market segment as a result. Other obvious rivals, at least in India where this sort of bike has a clear appeal, include the Yezdi Scrambler and Yezdi Adventure, both spinoffs from the Jawa brand owned by Mahindra. Even though India might be the main target, like the Royal Enfield Himalayan, these machines could have a global appeal to riders who prioritize simplicity over speed.