Royal Enfield’s Himalayan DAKAR EDITION concept.

Royal Enfield unveiled this awesome one-off Himalayan at the Bangkok Motor Sale earlier this year – and we love it.

Essentially, the standard Himalayan has been overhauled to look like a factory Dakar racer. Sadly there’s been no news if the bike will go into production – or even compete in rally raid events in the future – but at the minute we reckon chances are pretty slim. Essentially, Thai motorcyclists are big into customisation – and Royal Enfield has taken the chance to showcase just what’s possible with its affordable, entry level adventure machine.

It’s a well-equipped machine – and it looks the business too. The engine is protected by massive crash bars. There’s LED auxiliary lights which provide further light. At the front end there’s a carbon fibre light guard, two small round headlights and a decent size front screen. There’s a thick padded seat, a raised exhaust and a small duckbill front mudguard. And of course, it’s had a blue, white and red custom paintjob too.

As it’s just a concept – the bones of the bike are unlikely to have changed much underneath all the new rally-raid ready gear. It’s still powered by the Himalayan’s standard 411cc single cylinder power plant, and will kick out about 25bhp.

It’s a massive shame Royal Enfield aren’t doing more with the concept. They don’t have to go the whole hog and produce the complete Dakar Edition machine, but they could offer bolt on parts and accessories – and help its customers create their own, unique, kitted-out Himalayan. And maybe they eventually will – it just won’t be quite yet.