The Royal Enfield Scram 411. A lot has been said about the motorcycle even before it was launched. Several spy images surfaced, creating quite a buzz around it. If the name already hasn’t made it obvious, the motorcycle is a Scrambler. However, it is not your typical scrambler. This one’s different.
Scramblers as a type of motorcycle have been around for just over 100 years now. The history of scramblers can be traced back to the English countryside in the 1920s when point-to-point cross-country motorcycles races were organised. Due to the absence of dirt bikes back in the day, road-going motorcycles were modified to make them more capable off-road.
Over the decades, scramblers have become more powerful, more tech-savvy and more capable. It is also a motorcycle segment that seems to be quickly catching on in the Indian market as well. The Scram 411 is Royal Enfield’s take on what a scrambler should be, and it turns out to be quite an interesting take.
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We hit the dirt tracks at BigRock Dirt Park to find out what this motorcycle is all about. What sets the Scrambler apart from the Himalayan? How easy or hard is it to ride off-road? Does it look better than the Himalayan? Let’s find out.
Design & Style
As aforementioned, over the last few decades, scramblers have become more powerful, and manufacturers are loading these motorcycles with the best in terms of technology. However, one thing about scramblers still hasn’t changed – the scrambler design ethos.
All scramblers made by various motorcycle manufacturers across different price points, all have common design traits. A circular headlamp, dirtbike-style mudguards, a single-piece seat, a large fuel tank, and dual-purpose tyres. These are the design traits of a proper scrambler and the Royal Enfield Scram 411 checks all these boxes.
At first glance, one might end up mistaking the Scram 411 for the Himalayan. In-fact, it is based on the Himalayan and this is quite evident. However, there are a few design elements that set it apart.
Up front is a circular headlamp that appears to have been lifted from the Royal Enfield Himalayan. However, there is a sort of a headlamp surround, a masking that sets the Scram 411 apart. This mask covers the rear end of the headlamp and extends up to cover the backside of the instrument cluster. You’ve got an upright handlebar and a set of mirrors that look quite unique.
The motorcycle also features fork gators with the bottom-half of the fork finished in Black. Up front, the Royal Enfield Scram 411 rides on a 19-inch spoked wheel shod with CEAT GRIPP dual-purpose tyres. The rim is finished in Black and this entire setup makes the motorcycle look tough and sturdy.
Move over to the sides and the familiar fuel tank immediately grabs one’s attention. It feels familiar because it has been lifted from the Royal Enfield Himalayan. However, the Scram 411 comes with tank extensions and this sets it apart.
Royal Enfield will allow you to choose between seven unique and interesting colour options and the tank extension will be decked in different colours with graphics and decals to suit. This is certainly the most attractive bit when it comes to the design of the Royal Enfield Scram 411.
The engine, chassis, exhaust, rear-wheel, and the tail-end of the motorcycle are all similar to that of the Royal Enfield Himalayan. The Himalayan is a good-looking motorcycle and hence, the Scrambler too ends up looking great.
While the Royal Enfield Himalayan gets a split seat, the Scram 411, in typical scrambler fashion features a single-piece seat. The seat is ribbed and this adds significantly to the design & styling aspect.
On the whole, the Royal Enfield Scram is a motorcycle that is very attractive and there is little left to be desired, in terms of the design & style.
Royal Enfield Scram 411 Features
Scramblers are meant to be bare-bones and basic. Traditionally, they are just supposed to be a chassis, an engine, a couple of wheels, and just the functional bits of the body. With time though, things have changed quite a bit and a lot of features are found on the scramblers being retailed today.
These feature-packed scramblers though are on the expensive side of the motorcycle market while the Royal Enfield Scram 411 is expected to be lest-expensive scrambler in India. This does mean that the motorcycle comes with just the bare basics in terms of features.
The Royal Enfield Scram 411 features an analogue-digital instrument cluster. It is a twin-pod unit and one of the pods is the Tripper navigation system. Connecting to this navigation system via Bluetooth is easy and using it is a no-brainer. It displays turn-by-turn directions, making it easy to navigate. Proper maps would have been better, but this is wishful thinking.
Tripper is only available as an optional extra via the Royal Enfield Make It Yours program. The main cluster that handles instrumentation combines an analogue speedometer with the speed readout in mph and km/h, typical of Royal Enfield. Within the same circular pod is a small LCD screen that displays the fuel level, trip meters, odometer, and time.
We would have at this point said that Royal Enfield has equipped the Scram 411 with basic features. However, there is one basic feature that is missing even at this price point – a tachometer. It is a shocking omission and the tachometer is sorely missed on the Royal Enfield Scram 411.
The Scram 411 also misses out on LED headlamps and this is yet another feature that should have been present at this price point. The halogen-lit headlamp is just adequate and its performance is nothing to write home about. The motorcycle also features basic switchgear and the quality of these switches is great, typical of a modern Royal Enfield.
The Royal Enfield Scram 411 gets dual-channel ABS as standard and with that, we come to an end of the features list on the Royal Enfield Scram 411. As with all Royal Enfield motorcycles, there will be a host of accessories that can be added to the Scram 411.
Royal Enfield Scram 411 Engine Performance & Riding Impressions
Scramblers are supposed to be fun-to-ride motorcycles be it on the road or off it. We got to ride the motorcycle off-road at BigRock Dirt Park to see just how much fun it allows the rider to have.
As aforementioned, the Royal Enfield Scram 411 is powered by the 411cc single-cylinder engine from the Himalayan. It is an air-cooled, 411cc, SOHC unit. Royal Enfield has not made any changes to the motor and it still pushes out 24.3bhp at 6,500rpm and 32Nm of peak torque at 4,500rpm. The engine is mated to the same five-speed slick-shifting gearbox.
The power delivery on the Scram 411 is smooth. It is a torquey engine and has good initial acceleration and the bottom-end is strong. The engine also has a charming mid-range and this is where the motorcycle feels the sweetest.
It does lack a good top end as the power tapers off as the revs climb. However, it can do triple-digit speeds all-day and it can constantly hold onto between 100km/h and 105km/h. Beyond those speeds, vibrations start setting in through the footpegs and the handlebars.
The Scram 411 features a 19-inch spoked wheel up front, rather than the 21-inch wheel on the Himalayan. The front-end of the motorcycle is now much lower to the ground and as a result, the rider feels connected with the bike as soon as they swing their legs across the saddle.
Since the Scram gets a smaller front wheel and misses out on the front rack that is present on the Himalayan to mount the jerry cans, the motorcycle feels much lighter. It is very easy to maneuver the motorcycle on and off-road. Owing to the smaller front wheel again, the handlebar is now slightly lowered, the front-wheel travel of the motorcycle has gone down by 10mm, and the seat height by 5mm.
All of this does make the Scram 411 an easy-to-ride motorcycle while still being fun. The ground clearance is reduced from 220mm to 200mm, and this can be a slight problem while riding off-road. However, in case you do bottom out as we did on a couple of occasions, the Scram 411 features a metal bash plate to take all the beating.
Braking duties are taken care of by a 300mm disk up front and a 240mm disc at the rear. It also features dual-channel ABS. The Scram 411 being an off-road-oriented motorcycle, we did expect it to get switchable ABS for the rear-end. Braking is adequate for the motorcycle and nothing extraordinary.
We rode the motorcycle on a flat-track as well as on a small off-road course. Off-road handling is perfectly good and it is easy to ride off-road. It is very forgiving and good riders can push the Scram 411 over its limits without much thought. On-road mannerisms are great too and it definitely handles better than the larger and taller Himalayan.
On the whole, the Royal Enfield Scram 411 is an easy-going, fun-to-ride motorcycle. We would love to ride it for a bit longer on-road to know more of what it is like. So stay tuned for our detailed roadtest.
Royal Enfield Scram 411 Colour Options
The Royal Enfield Scram 411 is available in seven interesting and attractive colour options:- Graphite Red- Graphite Blue- Graphite Yellow- White Flame- Silver Spirit- Blazing Black
– Skyline Blue
We found the Skyline Blue shade to be quite simply the most attractive among the seven colours, however, the other colours on offer are great too.
Royal Enfield Scram 411 Competition
The Royal Enfield Scram 411 competes directly with the Yezdi Scrambler. While the Yezdi Scrambler on the outside does seem very stylish and it does offer more features than the Royal Enfield Scram 411. However, Royal Enfield has more service touchpoints, is more reliable, and does seem like the better machine.
Verdict
At the very beginning of this article, we had mentioned that the Royal Enfield Scram 411 is different when compared to other scramblers. This is because scamblers are usually road motorcycles that are then turned into off-road capable machines. The Scrambler has been developed the other way around.
It was developed from the Himalayan which is a proper ADV with great off-road capabilities. What Royal Enfield has done here is, add road-going mannerisms to an off-road bike. As a result, the RE Scram 411 is very capable off-road and has decent capabilities on-road, which in our opinion is a great combination.
Keyword: Royal Enfield Scram 411 Review — Royal Enfield Goes The Scrambler Way & It’s Fun