Royal Enfield Scram 411: A good-looking, great-working bike

The Scram 411 is quite well-specced as an off-road capable machine

The new Scram 411 is essentially a reworked version of the Himalayan adventure bike. Royal Enfield’s idea, here, was to create an easier and more accessible version of the Himalayan, one that will be more at home in the city, but still rugged enough for some explorations beyond.

To that effect, the design changes have not only resulted in a less serious looking motorcycle, but one that also looks shorter than the Himalayan. The bulk of the visual changes have happened towards the front, with the headlamp now being set lower and further in. This gives the bike a better sense of proportion, and the halogen lamp also sits within a nice cast aluminium surround.

At the sides, the Himalayan-style, big bulky fuel tank frame is gone, and is replaced by two small side panels. The seat is a new single piece unit that looks good and is comfortable.

The rear section has been re-profiled with a smaller grab handle and a different indicator/number plate set-up. The overall quality and finish is similar to the Himalayan, and while it does not feel as special as the new RE 350s, it is definitely better put together than the new Yezdi Scrambler.

Another area where the Scram really differentiates itself from the Himalayan is in the choice of colours, with seven funky schemes available. And then, of course, there is the new offset instrument console. This display has been borrowed from the Meteor 350, but with a different colour treatment around the speedometer. The Tripper navigation display on the side continues to be an optional extra, just like the Meteor.

While the display looks smart, there are a couple of downsides. For one, you do not get a rev counter, which you do on the Himalayan. The bigger issue, however, is that this new console is more mechanical. Unlike the Himalayan, there is no button to switch off the rear ABS. If you want to do that, you will have to pull the ABS fuse out, which will deactivate the entire system.

That is not Scram’s only mechanical change compared to its sibling. While the chassis is exactly the same, including the headstock angle and the rear subframe, the bike does get a 19-inch front wheel as opposed to the 21-inch unit on the Himalayan. The front suspension also has 10mm less travel, with a total of 190mm. The rear shock has the same spring rate and 180mm travel as the Himalayan, but the damping has changed slightly.