Do Performance Mods On The Himalayan Make A Difference?

RE Himalayan is notorious for its lack of power, especially the BS6 version which restricts the engine’s capacity to obey the new emission norms. There have been a lot of attempts to bypass these settings by installing performance mods on the Himalayan to squeeze out every drop of performance the engine has under its hood.

But is spending an arm and a leg for all these mods worth it? I’ll let you decide but first, let me share my honest opinion about these mods.

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What are these performance mods on the Himalayan and why did I install them?

The mods I installed are the BMC air filter, Fuel X Lite, PowerRage exhaust and NGK iridium spark plugs. Why did I decide to review all 4 together and not one by one? Well, I’m no expert, but based on what I’ve read and heard, you need all 4 to complete the whole circuit in order to see any performance boost, if any.

With just a free-flow air filter, you’ll be letting more air in but it’s being burned with the same amount of stock fuel setting and letting it out through a restrictive exhaust. Changing the exhaust alone would just change the exhaust note but nothing else. You have the same amount of air coming in and being burned.

Now if you change the ECU parameters alone, your air intake and outflow are restricted by the filter and exhaust. Vice versa, the ECU is burning the same amount of fuel and air even though you have both the intake and outflow improved with aftermarket ones. So in order to see a change, I’ve heard you need all 3 working together to have more air coming in, being burned and let out.

Pros of the performance mods on the Himalayan

1. Quicker throttle response

There’s quite a significant improvement in the throttle response. There used to be a second delay in quick throttle input especially while overtaking on the highway or in city commute. It has been reduced to maybe half a second. So the bike feels much peppier and more responsive to ride. That’s a lot of fun.

2. No more stalling/knocking

Fuel X Lite itself does a great job of making the engine run richer. There’s a significant reduction in the knocking and stalling on the low end. Hence you’ll have far lesser downshifts when commuting in traffic, slowing down on the bumps. It greatly helps when riding the twisty mountain roads. The bike climbs hairpin bends in 2nd gear and your need for frequent downshifts to manoeuvre mountain roads greatly reduces. This is the most significant change that you’ll notice.

3. Less stressed and cooler engine

On the highway run, I felt the engine calmer and less stressed close to the 6000 rpm. It’s not screaming for help anymore at the top speeds and feels more at ease. That improves the riding experience especially while touring long distances. On the city commutes, I felt the engine running a bit cooler but not to a great extent. It’s noticeable but not significant. It takes more time now for the engine to become annoyingly hot.

4. Exhaust note

This is not a performance boost but the exhaust note of PowerRage is brilliant. It’s as loud as the stock one when you have the dB killer on but it’s more bassy and has a good grunt to it. When you rev the engine, the note just amplifies, becomes a bit throaty and sounds great. I’m not a fan of loud exhaust so I’ve left the dB killer on. Now why did I add this point to the pros? I believe anything that improved the overall riding experience should be considered a positive point.

5. No loss of power under load

I think because of all the improved throttle response and the improved low-end performance, the bike doesn’t struggle much with heavy luggage and a pillion on board. I recently travelled to Wayanad with Yash and fully loaded saddle bags and a full tank of petrol. Even with all the load, the engine doesn’t struggle even at lower RPMs esp when climbing the mountain roads.

Cons of the performance mods on the Himalayan

1. No improvement in performance

All these parts are marketed and sold as performance parts. But there’s no actual increase in torque or power. Not that I could notice. The bike takes the same amount of time to reach 100 kmph as before and it doesn’t cross 120 kmph as before. It’s just that it cruises at 120 more comfortably than before. So don’t expect any real-world improvement in performance from these mods.

2. No change in mileage

Many expect to have a drop in mileage. I didn’t experience any drop in mileage or any gain also. The average mileage on 29 kmpl in the city and 31 on the highways remains the same for me.

3. High cost

All these mods cost me 24000 INR which isn’t cheap at all. Now are all these worth the hype and price?

Are these performance mods on the Himalayan worth it?

Fuel X Lite costs (INR) 6490, BMC filter 5499, PowerRage 7990, NGK spark plug kit 3000 and around 1000 for the installation. That totals around 24k. And you see plenty of videos on youtube telling you to get all these mods and you feel pressurised to have them installed. The FOMO on a high-performing Himalayan is strong here. I too fell for it and got all these installed. So is it worth it?

In my opinion, the return on investment or the amount of performance boost you get out of spending 25k on your Himalayan is not worth the cost. Definitely, there’s good improvement in the overall smoothness of the bike but I think it’s not worth such a price. There are plenty of other small things that you could do on your Himalayan to get a significant improvement for a much lesser price. For example, the Rolon brass chain sprocket is just 3k but it significantly smoothens the ride, cuts off the chain noise and you need to lube it less often.

The same goes for Motul engine oil. It makes the engine run a bit cooler than the stock engine oil and is just 200 Rs per litre more than the stock engine oil. The same goes for the Magnum Motorsport handlebar. Under 2k, you experience a significant improvement in riding posture and comfort. And not to mention the importance of good tyres like the Maxxis Maxxplore for good braking, cornering and off-roading experience.

Who should get these performance mods on the Himalayan?

If you are a new Himalayan owner who hasn’t done much touring and off-roading and has clocked less than 20k km on the Odo, then these aren’t for you. You are still yet to explore a lot more of what the Himalayan has to offer in different terrains. Definitely upgrade to a better handlebar, chain sprocket kit, tyres, engine oil and a whole lot of other mods and accessories that can elevate your riding experience without burning a hole in your pocket. If you want to know more about these accessories do check out the other video I’ve made on those.

If you are someone like me who has ridden the bike for more than 30k km through all kinds of terrain and has had every bit of fun the Himalayan has to offer and is somewhat getting bored of the bike, then definitely go for these instead of thinking about buying a new one. You’ll feel a newfound excitement by the peppier throttle response and the improved low-end gains. And of course, you should have a bit of extra cash that you absolutely wish to luxuriously spend without expecting much in return.

My point is don’t feel pressurised to buy or have the FOMO of a faster Himalayan by seeing all the review videos of these performance mods on youtube. They don’t do much and I don’t recommend these to beginners, new owners or owners low on budget. I wish someone had put up a review like this one before and I’d have thought twice about getting all these mods. But luckily I got all these at a time when I had some money to spare and I was kind of getting bored with the bike. So I don’t regret getting any of these installed.

So maybe these mods may not be the best value-for-money products for your Himalayan but they do make a difference altogether.

Why did I choose these specific performance mods on the Himalayan?

Coming to the last segment of this video, why did I choose these specific performance parts when there are plenty of other options in the market? The simple answer is budget. For instance, Fuel X has both pro and lite versions where the pro version has 10 maps to choose from while the lite has one best-optimised map. There’s a 3500 INR price gap between the two and moreover, I’m not very technically sound as to rightly choose which map I think is best for the terrain. I’d rather let the sensors do the job for me. Moreover, around 99% of the time, I ride in lower altitudes which don’t need frequent changing of maps.

I chose the BMC air filter over K&N or Schroll only because of the price. It’s the cheapest among the 3 and there’s almost no significant performance difference over one another. The same goes for PowerRage exhaust over Red Rooster or the Devil exhaust. And PowerRage closely resembles the stock exhaust in terms of the design which was a plus point for me. I couldn’t find any alternatives to NGK iridium spark plug kit so I went with it. That’s it. Let me know in the comments below if I said something incorrectly or if I missed anything. Thanks for reading.