Royal Enfield launched Himalayan 450 earlier this year and has excited a lot of enthusiasts around the world. Built to take on rough stuff, Himalayan 450 is among the best single-cylinder ADVs on the market. Spanish rider Salvatore Di Benedetto took a modified Himalayan 450 and completed Swank Rally De Sardegna held in Italy.

Modified Royal Enfield Himalayan 450

Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 has been making quite a few headlines in the recent past, albeit, not for good reasons. Himalayan 450 has been witnessing chassis-related failures when after-market accessories were installed. Crash guards, in particular. However, company promises a seamless experience when genuine RE accessories are used.

Right around these circumstances, renowned ADV rider, Salvatore Di Benedetto, participated in the popular Swank Rally De Sardegna and used a Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 to complete it. Benedetto went for fewer modifications and kept the vehicle mostly stock. Except for a few attributes here and there.

Sure, we can see an aftermarket exhaust and this could mean an engine tune to extract slightly more performance and free flow of intake and exhaust. Maybe the main ECU is tuned or a piggyback ECU is in action. The main mod that will boost performance in rally scenes is the off-road knobby tyres seen on this bike.

Front fender of this motorcycle has been removed and so has the rear tail section, turn indicators and ORVMs. Stock split seat setup has been replaced with a rally-spec seat that looks a lot like the seat from Royal Enfield's GMA (Genuine Motorcycle Accessories). Stock windscreen has been replaced with a more substantial one.

Himalayan's stock headlight has been removed and in its place, we can see a rally-style tower headlight setup. Rest of the motorcycle seems to be kept stock. Even the suspension looks like it is the same non-adjustable one seen on stock bike along with stock braking setup.

How many GMA does it have?

Also unchanged is bike's circular TFT instrument cluster that Royal Enfield calls Tripper Dash. On top of it, we can see another auxiliary display which should be used for navigation and other metrics. Benedetto has retained tank braces holding a couple of bags that might be holding tools and other paraphernalia including nutrition and hydration packs.

Notably, the motorcycle ridden by Salvatore Di Benedetto also had a few add-ons from Royal Enfield's Genuine Motorcycle Accessories catalogue. Some of them seen in these images are single-piece Black Rally Dual Seat, Rally Mudguard and Silver Radiator Guard. However, the Sump Guard seems to be aftermarket.

While there weren't any crash guards from GMA installed for an apples-to-apples comparison, the motorcycle proved its mettle and shined bright by completing the Swank Rally De Sardegna in Spain. Thus demonstrating its capabilities when ridden stock or with dedicated add-ons from GMA catalogue. Notably, there were a few aftermarket accessories too.

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