Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

That's a shame only single channel ABS on Classic & Thunderbird when Classic is their best selling bike. They should have provided it as an option at least.

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

True.

And dual channel ABS on the Himalayan may be great while on tarmac, but if it doesn’t get an ABS kill switch - it’ll be quite dangerous while off-roading.

Let’s see what RE eventually delivers.

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

I had possession of a Himalayan for about 3 months, when he was shifting due to work and its an amazing bike especially when you get to ride one after a Pulsar. Had been to Rajmachi which is the closest and the quite a popular off-road location near my place. The bike is awesome but of course I was not able to play around with it on that terrain with all that fun but it was a wonderful experience and am only looking forward to doing it again (hope I get the bike from my friend someday again, if he is asked to shift )


ABS is not good when off-road. But it was designed to make our rides safer as not often do we use our bikes for off-roading and the ones who do go often buy a bike with an ABS kill function. Now coming to my point, ABS in RE 350 makes sense as its used mainly for touring and on the tarmac. But they should rather avoid providing ABS on Himalayan or provide it with an ABS Kill function, given that the bike is meant for off-roading and also was marketed by RE similarly as it would then turn out to be dangerous to take the Himalayan for off-roads especially on terrains with gravels.

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

A quick ownership report before my REH goes in for its first service tomorrow.

So far I’ve have nothing to report as negatives. On this front, to be honest, I’m quite surprised (and relieved).

I don’t have the ‘hard clutch’ issue that has been reported by some of the new owners. No gearshift issues either. I’d actually anticipated these two points as something I’ll have to reckon with.

The heat from the engine during peak traffic hours has decreased quite a lot.

I found the headlight adequately bright enough with good amount of spread.

The front brake has enough bite and the back brake is best not relied upon - locks in an instant. But then, I'm used to the 70-30 technique - so I can live with it. I’m hoping that RE will have an ABS retro-fit option soon.

I haven’t looked into the mileage aspect yet. I’d rather wait up & take the readings after she’s clocked around 600-750km. The behaviour of the fuel gauge after half tank needs a little getting used to.

The horn provided is an embarrassment to the bike’s road presence. Does the job for now, but need to get a bracket made to fix a dual horn soon.

Have ordered the GT’s right side heel guard from Royal Bikes (online, ₹290/-) and crash guards (₹2,500/- + courier charges) from Monish (aka Monty) at Mumbai. Preferred his design over the one from Hemant of HDT customs - an equally good product though.

There was just one puzzling incident that had occurred when she had clocked around 250km:

I’d parked for about 10-15 minutes after I had finished a 60km evening run. But when I started her up again to get going, she kept shutting down when shifting into first gear. I noted that the idle rpm was showing only 800-900rpm.

After opening & closing the fuel cap, I tried a couple of times and then just shut her down for about 15-20 minutes. After that break, everything was back to normal again. I suspect the EFI system has yet clear its veins, so to speak...

This incident has never occurred after that evening & because of that, I’m not too worried about this - unless it occurs after the first service period too.

I’m getting a little bum sore thanks to the narrow seat design - keep wishing it was a tad wider. Decided to order the Fego Float air seat attachment for my longer ride needs.

I’ve been careful to ensure that I’ve put the bike through varied ride conditions without crossing the 2500rpm mark - which has been a test of patience most of the times, especially while out the highways! Can’t wait for her to complete 2000km to maintain decent highway speeds.

I must say that the joy of half standing while the bike’s superb suspension takes care of the pesky speed breakers is load of fun [emoji3]

My kids & the Mrs. are more than happy with the pillion comfort - though the tail rack tends to bump their lower back at times. Getting a padding done for this.

My experience with the BS4 has been more than satisfactory till date - touchwood. Some pics of my REH from the past one week of ownership...

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Happy to hear all positives about an REH Can you please share the link for the crash guards??

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Thanks! Here’s Monish’s number: *9820570789‬ (Mumbai)

I got the number via the YouTube video:



You can check out the video to get all the details about the quality & the fitting of the guard.

Cheers!

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

@aarunpadmanabhan

Got the crash guards from Monish fitted today. They're quite solid in build quality & have pretty good finish. The precise design made the fitment an easy task. Started the process myself but since I didn't have ring spanners on me, the bolt that goes through the engine casing wouldn't budge. Had to head out the nearest mechanic.

The fitter needs to be patient when handling the oil feed tube while working on that engine casing bolt - one of the flanges sits right behind that tube. The good thing is that there's not much strain on the tube after the fitment. Pics attached to show what I mean.

In my case, one of the flanges required a bit a grinding because it's edge touched the engine casing. No big deal though.

On the whole, the process took just around 30 minutes and Monish had another satisfied customer

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Thanks a lot Bro.. It looks good on REH

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

I had even started a poll for this on my twitter handle but only managed to get 5 votes but everyone voted for Dual Channel ABS.

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Looks very good when compared to HDT, HDT has very peculiar WHITE cup{s}

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Yes, it’s those white bar ends that put me off from going for HD’s model. It might be an additional protection but at times, utility alone is not what we’re looking for.

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Another couple of 100km on the odo clocked - mostly on the hills & ghat roads. No off-roading done yet. With the short two day trip planned for the weekend, 2000km will be completed & it’ll be about 30 days since delivery.

Just falling very, very deeply in love with this wonderful machine. If you are not in a hurry and there is a few hundred km to go, you have good ride comfort, minimal vibes and decent amount of power at your disposal.

Reduced the clutch play a wee bit more and found the gear shifts are much easier now. The clutch action does not feel hard at all still. I use my pair of Cramster Flux almost full time, which also helps I suppose.

One point thats niggling at my ride experience so far: I do find a pronounced lack of grip from the back tyres, especially on the twisties.

Though I am an easy riding type, its the bends that have begun to sour my confidence (and the joy) of gliding into curves - even at very low speeds. Leaning slightly forward or mild counter steering have not found success every time.

Riding with a pillion on such curves makes that ever-so-slight slippage from the back felt even more.

The use of engine braking and an 80-20 combo of front + back brakes is what I have reverted to for downhill curves. For wide flat bends - just really, really slowing down is all thats being done for now - at least till I get hang of the physics at play here.

Perhaps its the tyres supplied or perhaps I need to shake off my Avenger and TB350days. Not sure which is more at work.

Any advice on this point of handling the REH around curves with the existing tyres is most welcome.

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

As written in "Twist of the Wrist", apply a small constant throttle through the corner. IN the OD reviews I saw a few years back at launch, they were saying the Ceat tyres of REH are good.
It could also be getting used to increased suspension travel making you feel less planted on the road.
If you are still not happy, you can try Ralco speed blaster tyres.

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Yes, I’m not going to put blame on the Ceat tyres just yet - it might be like a bad craftsman blaming his tools.

I do think you’re right about getting used to the long travel suspension, which can be a boon at times and something to be careful with in other situations. I’m still on a learning curve when it comes to the REH’s characteristics.

Thanks for the inputs...Much obliged! [emoji1308]

Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan

Rideon74, if you are talking about the rear tyres skidding while cornering, it could be too much lean angle for the REH.

If you mean it's difficult to turn in or the REH feels lazy to turn or quick changes of direction seem difficult to do or seem different from the other bikes, it's because of the 21 inch front tyre.

This effects the handling negatively compared to most other bikes which have 17 inch tyres front and back. The 21 inch front is mainly for off roads.

For the REH you will have to get used to the feeling over time or change the front to 17 inches if that is possible.

Hope this helps.

Cheers