Today’s adventure bike market is a little like the superbike market in the 80s; to quote Fall Out Boy, ?It ain’t a scene, it’s an arms race.? ADV bikes are pushing north of 150 hp and 500 lbs, with eye-watering levels of tech packed in. If that doesn’t butter your toast, perhaps the Royal Enfield Himalayan is the answer.
Royal Enfield designed the Himalayan to be simple and affordable, with an air-cooled 411 cc single, and little more than ABS on the tech side. So it’s basically the antithesis of the modern-day dual sport. And it’s ripe for customization too?as Thrive Motorcycle has just proved with this rally-inspired rendition of the Himalayan.

The commission came from an Indonesian YouTube sensation called Den Dimas. He?d previously reported on a KTM build from Thrive, to great effect. So Thrive saw it as an opportunity for market research, by getting feedback from Den’s young audience on what sort of products they should develop. The relationship stuck, and eventually Den was in the Jakarta workshop to talk about a custom bike of his own.

?After getting solid permission from his wife,? says Putra, ?he sat down with us to discuss modifying one of his motorcycles?without any cutting of the main frame. He wanted his new 2019 Royal Enfield Himalayan to be able to go back to original condition in the future, without huge effort.?
Thrive figured that a Dakar-inspired build would play nicely with the Himalayan’s inherent li...