Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

27/7/2020 was a hot and sultry day and the bike stalled one too many times to get me to act and let the tank breathe-err vent-so opened up the gas cap ,took if off the tank, opened up the underside and extracted the two way breather valve -now the tank will hopefully vent directly to the atmosphere and the bike should not stall as often as it used too-and was seriously shocked to see the grime that had collected under the gas cap.
End result-It definitely helps-instead of the usual 4-6 stalls in heavy traffic,the bike stalled just once yesterday and twice today.
Kindly note my EVAP pipe has been checked and has no kinks to block it-but the tank pressure whoosh was not eradicated and hence prompted this surgery to avoid the irritating low speed stalling .
Fingers crossed [emoji1696]-expecting long term allevation of the problem

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Thanks for the compliment [emoji120].

Here is another good review of Himalayan where it is contrasted against its other Indian made sibling....the 310 GS and a few other ADV bikes of International stature. The points that the reviewer brings out shows how frugal engineering and rugged reliability is making great sense to a large set of western consumers who have had their fill of overengineered oversized overpriced bikes. Kudos to Himalayan...



Ride hard stay safe.

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Such beautiful video this, the joy lies in basically understanding what one bike can do different than others and not what both are capable of, and in a good way, these blokes just threw it out of the water.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Here is one of the better on site comparative review of the true off road capabilities of Himalayan and 390 Adventure that I have come across in some time. I am sure it will help a lot of prospective buyers in finalising their decisions.....



Ride hard stay safe.

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

I am hearing a chain disengagement for the first time in a Himalayan. The Himalayan uses an open link chain, meaning the chain is easily removable by removing a clip in the chain, it is useful for quick repairs and basically makes life easy. Sealed chain are a pain in the posterior, they have the entire swingarm to be removed, but they are rock solid and provide complete chain integrity. Very rarely does a chain get broken, unless, a link or stuck or improperly connected clip, but anyway, now that's done. Make sure you have right chain tension, not too tight nor too loose.

On the hindsight, there isn't too much redlflags per se, but a slightly looser chain is preferred than a tight one. A chain that is tight will expand on loading and unloading and given the right circumstances, it will just disengage/severe when you least expect, as your friend's case.


Hope it helps!

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

At First i was using the bearings which were provided by RE itself which are of SKF which lasted me about 6k kms only.Did some research And found out the bearing part number and started using TIMKEN which is lasting for About 10k kms.Everytime when i open up the bearings,i see that the bearings did not fail due to usage but due to rust in them.I live in a place where monsoon season is very strong and there is more than enough rainfall,So water is creeping in to the bearings and damaging them.Will have to use waterproof grease or change the design of dust seal which is on top of the T-stem assembly to something which does not let water into them.Art of motorcycles,A workshop based in Bangalore has come up with a modified dust seal.Will try that and see but the only problem is they make it in blue colour which is no-no for me

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Hello guys .
Ravi very good post, helpful and accurate ;
I have exactly the same ideas about himmie . I assume the only difference with the EU BS4 is the ABS system, in fact useless for me ( mostly little roads and track)
WIll follow your posts mate
mine is 13kkm and one big rde to eastern EU .
Next year, after the covidmatter - we will be going to the Caucasian countries as far as Bartang Valley , this is a serious ride .
2 questions :
how will you upgrade the bearings . Mine looks OK at 12kkm
tyres are not the same here : using MITAS E07 50/50
stantard oil
X ring chain , the first one lasts 10 kkm ....
namaste

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

I am new user to the the platform.Just wanted to share my experience on the REH.I am using himalayan for 2 years,clocked 40k something kilometers as of now.Main observations are

1.RE as a brand does not come close to Yamaha or Honda in terms of quality,Those who want a buy it forget it type of motorcycles please stay away from RE.But it offers a much more riding feel which makes you forget all the niggles and problems.Everytime you take the himalayan out for a long trip,the riding experience makes you forget everything.
2.I have been using the stock engine oil from RE so far and think it is more than enough for our everyday and occasional touring usage,but would advise everyone to change the oil at 5k rather than 10k
3.The main thing which needed constant care was the cone set.REH uses tapered roller bearings which needed to be replaced every 10k kilometers depending on my usage,this was the only issue with me.I believe that using waterproof grease or modifying the design of the dust seal would help a lot.will experiment when I change the next set
4.The clutch plates lasted me for 40k kilometres,showing signs of replacement,will need to change it.The power delivery and fuel economy has come down.Will update after clutch replacement
5.Fuel economy.30-32 in city and 34-38 kmpl in long rides.The best fuel economy I got was 39 kmpl
6.Offroading needs a bit of skill,keep the momentum and gun it down.Once you stop in the middle of a trail,it is difficult to get it back in the momentum
7.I believe in preventive maintanence.The first set of chain and sprocket lasted me 25k kilometres with constant cleaning and lubing and on the second set now.Greasing the swing arm link and bearings every 10-15k kilometres,still not replaced.
8.TYRE-Used only ceat tyres as of now.On the 4^th rear tyre and 2^nd front tyre.Ceat tyre offers superior grip and performance than Apollo and MRF but only downside is low tyre life.For some one who does not do off roads or trails I would recommend MRF or Apollo since tyre life is high,but offroad grip is low.Heard good reviews about timsun tyres,will try it in next change but they are bit costly at 5.5k per tyre compared to Ceat
Overall-The experience has been good for me,REH is perfectly suited to me and never has it failed in the midst of a trip or a ride.I am using REH bs4 Non-ABS

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Just a while back one of my friends bike chain got broken in the middle of the road and due to Lockdown not much help available so he had a pretty tough time reaching home.
So just learning from the experience I have few questions in my mind

1) How often does these incidents occur with Himalayan?

2) Apart from regular chain maintenance what are other things to look for red flags

3) Is it a DIY thing? What tools do we need to fix it? Like link locks etc or any alternative temporary solution.

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

@B7ACKTHORN ,everything dried out and fitted back to OE spec

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

The pictures aren't visible, but hopefully Safeena didn't get herself choked. Make sure the innards are completely dry and I'd suggest you replace the AF for peace of mind.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

First heavy rain today and my air filter intake modification has come undone-rode through pouring rain and waterlogged roads and the front facing intake allowed water into the airbox-the bike spluttered but didn't stall.On opening the air filter on reaching my factory, shocked to see everything wet.So back to the original rear facing intake mouth.Guess the company engineering is better than my stuff

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Safeena has two new controls added-2 Minda on/off switches have been added-the left one is an off/on switch for the headlight-now the AHO is controlled by this switch-no wire cutting involved-all wires joined into the stock socket junction near the frame headstock .The parking lights and speedometer lights are always on but the 60/55W headlight operates through the switch-my battery must be happier now with more share of the current going to charge it than to operate the headlight.This switch will be normally be in off position.The right Minda switch is the ABS on/off switch connected to the ABS actuator 5A fuse in the fusebox under the seat-this involved wire cutting and taking off the fuel tank to route the wires from the switch to the fuse. This right ABS switch will normally be in ON position and will be switched off if need be during off roading.Everything tapped up tight and working right. Cost Rs260.
Safeena also has been to a tapping saloon for a mild makeover to make her more individualistic-cost Rs400

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

The bike goes well with any brand of oil provided it is JASO MA or MA2 and the right manufacturer specified grade. I won't personally recommend FS for this bike, as it gets rough for the most part. SS works better on the Hima.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan


Using the RE full synthetic 10w50 oil in my bike-it is TOTAL FS10W50 SN grade oil in RE packing-the same oil used in the 650 twins.