[100Kmphormore]

It is with mixed feelings I have to say that I have sold my beloved Ghata, my Rock Red Himalayan 411. After 21580 km on the odo with just a couple of days to the 2nd anniversary. Sold almost all my accessories with it to a direct buyer for a fair price considering how the market value dropped after the launch of the 450.

As I described my many experiences with the bike, both good and bad, the 411 should have been the 450 in all ways as I described in my short impressions post on the 450 thread, still, fingers crossed on the 450s reliability. Considering the 411 is a 2016 launch, it may have a great package then, gradually refining out the fiasco with the BS3/4 and this 2020 BS6 version being the best.

But the general robustness and ownership/maintenance experience with RE for someone who tours on road like me very frequently if I can and the fact that I grew out of it quickly, the desire for speed as well as strong brakes even for city commutes amidst our drivers/riders made it clear I had to move on. With my touring season for 2024 not seeing many planned trips due to career changes and only city commutes, I had grown apart emotionally from the bike except the still lingering emotion of "first bike, first long tours of many" to keep it as a 2nd bike, even if I had been able to.

Make no mistake, for a very sedate tourer/city rider and offroad rider this is STILL the bike. The 390 Adventure/Himalayan 450 cannot fill this gap by a long shot just because of that low end tractor torque. This sort of fits the gap between Xpulse and 390 Adventure/Himalayan 450 for someone looking in the preowned market for an occasional tourer, if weight isnt an issue for the rider.

P.S.

I am in exactly the other way round thoughts - own a Himalayan but want a scare you, updated with electronics bike like the Duke 390 now. The Himalayan is great for touring but not breakfast rides. I do breakfast rides every weekend and boy is the Himalayan slow.

My post from rahul4321s Duke/Himalayan thread in July 2022, a month after my first tour with my Ghata and 6 months of owning it. The next chapter is exactly what I had asked for then, the same feeling extended to touring after a year and 10000 km of ownership. Salaga is with me now, having just taken her today from her previous equally heartbroken owner who had to move on to complete his transition to his recently acquired preloved Duke 790. Touring all this time has taught me exactly as to what and how to modify any shortcomings, a stiff suspension no longer a problem. I will post some pictures and definitely try my strongest to write an ownership thread after I put a few kilometers on it.

A parting shot of Ghata on the way up to Zostel Wayanad. Had a great time touring on it for 1 and a half years and riding it for nearly 2 years. You will be missed!

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

.....and a half years and riding it for nearly 2 years. You will be missed!

Now I see that you've bought yourself a 2017 Duke 390, if I infer from your post on the Duke 390 thread. The 411 is a great bike, no doubt in that. Just as you think you've had enough love making with it, it delineates the good times one had with it, in a subtle way. Hence why even after parting ways, down the line, one misses the all the re-kindle.

It's a good bike, but not a great bike nevertheless. As you've correctly put, this should have been the 450 we'd all hoped right from the start. Lo, it's not bad a time we're living in and the mid segment is super-piping hot like no other.

Good luck on your new adventure.

Cheers!
VJ

[100Kmphormore]

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Now I see that you've bought yourself a 2017 Duke 390, if I infer from your post on the Duke 390 thread. The 411 is a great bike, no doubt in that. Just as you think you've had enough love making with it, it delineates the good times one had with it, in a subtle way. Hence why even after parting ways, down the line, one misses the all the re-kindle.

It's a good bike, but not a great bike nevertheless. As you've correctly put, this should have been the 450 we'd all hoped right from the start. Lo, it's not bad a time we're living in and the mid segment is super-piping hot like no other.

Good luck on your new adventure.

Cheers!
VJ

Indeed I did. Thanks for the wishes and advice and you're spot on about the Himalayan. It was my city bike as well and it was testing my patience with its poor brakes. Had it been a little more rev happy like the 450, it would have remained with me as the city beater despite the 24 hp, I didnt like the experience straining the engine past 5000 rpm, with a cam tensioner replacement already done earlier due to tappet noise. The gearshifts werent a good experience, the hard clutch and lack of a slipper clutch ruining the last moments of a tour when you were entering the city. This can be the second bike in the garage like how many have for moderate distance touring, no roads too daunting a task.

I'm learning to ride Salaga slow in the city now (one highway run to a temple done of 340 km with a super active 60 year old dad as pillion) and apart from a 10% difference that I see in the low end and the suspension, it all is regular business, except the infernal headlights that I posted about on that thread.

[bblost]

Just a short overnight ride to a tiger reserve in Jannaram. Did not spot any wild animals during the safari but the idea was to burn some petrol and chill out with friends.

My Himalayan at almost 6 years with 38,000 kms is still as it was when I got it.

Recently got it serviced and also rear brake oil topped up.

The no nonsense bike is the king of bad roads.

[bblost]

Just for information.

The plastic cover on my swing arm pivot thing had fallen off somewhere in the Himalayas.

My local RE service center did not have it.

But I luckily chanced upon this website and ordered it:
https://sparify.co/products/himalayn...41181305831481

Its absolutely perfect fit.




Disclaimer: I have no connections whatsoever with this website.

[jeeva]

Any ideas to improve the brake bite/feel on the Himalayan? The brakes doesn't feel progressive at all, feels almost like hitting on a piece of wood.

TVS Apache brake pads used to improve the brake feel on cars. Has anyone tried aftermarket pads for the Himalayan and can share their experience?

[100Kmphormore]

The plastic cover on my swing arm pivot thing had fallen off somewhere in the Himalayas.

Mine had too, in the city or on tour somewhere. Seems its a regular occurence.

Any ideas to improve the brake bite/feel on the Himalayan? The brakes doesn't feel progressive at all, feels almost like hitting on a piece of wood.

TVS Apache brake pads used to improve the brake feel on cars. Has anyone tried aftermarket pads for the Himalayan and can share their experience?

I used NS200 brake pads on the rear after the stock wore out at the 8000 km mark and had a marginal improvement in the city but none on the highway whatsoever. It wore out after 12500 km. In my friends circle even EBC sintered had the same effect. I would upgrade to the 450s brakes in an instant if possible.

[khan_sultan]

Had the infamous "cone-set" issue paying a visit to my Himalayan 411 with the khat-khat sound coming from the front fork side while going over speed breakers/potholes at normal speeds.

Took it to the RE Service center and they first tried tightening every bolt and seeing if the issue went away. It didn't go away and they had to eventually open the contest.





The bearing condition after opening.


This is the part that gets changed and it is not covered under warranty and is consumable so have to pay for both the parts & labor.


Total came to approx 1700 bucks! Next time if this issue happens, will get the art-of-motorcycle cone-set solution done!

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Hi All! I'm looking to replace my bike's tyres next month. If the members here could provide feedback on the following tyres, that would be appreciated.

1. Reise TrailR
2. Reise TourR
3. Maxxis Maxxplore

How much better or worse are these options over the stock CEAT tyres. Primary use is road touring.

[Geo_Ipe]

Originally Posted by WhiskeyTangoFox

Hi All! I'm looking to replace my bike's tyres next month. If the members here could provide feedback on the following tyres, that would be appreciated.

1. Reise TrailR
2. Reise TourR
3. Maxxis Maxxplore

How much better or worse are these options over the stock CEAT tyres. Primary use is road touring.

I'm a big fan of the stock Ceats. Lasted over 15k km for me with great grip levels!

I changed the rear to Reise TourR a couple of months ago - haven't really done too much riding to post a review yet. If you're use case is mainly tarmac, you may also go for the TourR's.

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

Finally after 15,300 km the stock Ceat rear tyre has been replaced. The Ceat performed wonderfully - had excellent wet grip and braking abilities. Had only one puncture.

Replaced with the Reise TourR in stock size, as almost 100% of my riding is on tarmac. Need to use it for a bit to give some meaningful feedback. Got the tyre & tube for 3150/- and fitting was 250/-

[shyamg28]

Originally Posted by WhiskeyTangoFox

Hi All! I'm looking to replace my bike's tyres next month. If the members here could provide feedback on the following tyres, that would be appreciated.

1. Reise TrailR
2. Reise TourR
3. Maxxis Maxxplore

How much better or worse are these options over the stock CEAT tyres. Primary use is road touring.

From my understanding of the tyre pattern -

- TrailR - if you want adventure on road.
- TourR - if you want adventure off road

Jokes aside, the TourR would be recommended for road biased touring I imagine. Have seen a fair few reviews of it on a few Scrambler 400s already and they seem to have positive reviews of them.

[advstreak]

I am bike-sitting my friend's 2019 Himalayan 411. As the bike is used less frequently it seems to have a battery drain issue often requiring a jumper/charger to start it after a couple of days standing idle.

A couple of Google search links lead the issue to be the gear position sensor which is always on as it is directly connected to the battery.

Here are the links I referred:

https://motohimalayan.wordpress.com/...ayans-euro-iv/

https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/r...#post-43420123

https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/r...#post-43423864

Going through the links I checked the current drain across the F1 fuse with the bike being off ( the key is not even in the ignition). It is at 6.13 mA in neutral and 9.37, 10.29, 10.24, 9.30, and 10.22 mA in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th gear respectively. This confirms that the leakage is caused by the gear position sensor design.













As per the links, this problem was in the BS4 model and was corrected in the BS6 models. The solution is to give power to the gear position sensor via a connection that is controlled by the ignition key. This can be done by splicing up the harness yourself or getting an off-the-shelf harness by Hitchcock or RE themself:

https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorc...page=Himalayan

https://www.bike-parts-royalenfield....rts/RAC00679_A

I was able to get the RAC00679_A add-on lead for Rs.150 and the installation was simple. This disconnects the gear position sensor from the battery and draws power from the rear brake switch.













After getting the add-on lead fixed the current drain is now at 0.01 mA fixing the problem. I will update the thread after some time in case I notice any other problems with the setup.






My friend has fitted a generic headlight which frankly was not the best in terms of spread and cut-off.

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01F6YGQLG?...kipTwisterOG=1

This is the low beam spread.



And this is the high beam one.





I got the original reflector for him and put the Novsight N35 H4 bulb which I had lying around as I was using it previously on the KTM ADV 250 and the Hornet 160.



Here is how the low beam compares:





As one can see proper cur-off and beam spread are maintained.

Here is the high beam comparison.





It might be not that apparent in the image but the Novsight N35 bulb's lower beam is not active when a flash/high beam is used. That is personally fine by me as I hardly use the high beam in actual road use and only use it for flashing pass signal.

Now the next steps in the bike are to get the cone-set fixed along with a general service.

[pedrolourenco]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

Exactly my thoughts a few years back on old/simple tech vs complex modern electronics. One of the reason why i got rid of all the wiring harness including the injectors, fuel pump, ECU and converted my EFI classic 500 into a Carbed version for peace of mind.

Most problems on the early EFI systems on Enfields were due to people running with low fuel levels on a regular basis.

Originally Posted by The_Mad_Hatter

I was doing some thinking today and came upon the notion that RE appears to have taken some small design cues for the Himalayan from some existing ADV tourers, one of them being the Kawasaki KLR 650.

Someone mentioned earlier that the design was based on some old Soviet bike design.

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

I managed to procure a Handle bar from Art of Motorcycles. Also swapped the stock Exhaust to one from Powerage Exhausts.

How was your experience with these 2 products?

Originally Posted by shyamg28

Installed a rear tyre hugger.

I'm planning something like this on my 450.

Originally Posted by airfoil

The Himalayan looks purposeful and well built, I could overlook the rather ungainly headlight and front end while ignoring my friend's comment likening the Himalayan to the Russian Ural from the previous century.

Curious to know which Ural he was referring to. Any links or pictures?

Are you referring to these?

[rahul4321]

Woke up today morning and had an itch to go on a relaxed cruise. Picked up the keys to the Himmie and set out to Polo Forest. It is a 150 kilometre ride one way with a Fern Residency at the outskirts of the forest where you can get a decent breakfast spread or in my case - a late lunch.

The Himmie had touched 21000 kilometres exactly as I left my house and arrived back at home at approximately 21300 kilometers. It was a slow 80-90 kmph trundle as I was lost in my thoughts, thinking about my life past 40 and what do I want to do next. Shifting gears, going over bumps and potholes and maneuvering through highway traffic was all effortless and subconscious. It's only emergency braking which was not only conscious activity but sometimes - a heart in my mouth activity. Anybody who has ridden a H411 will know what i am talking about.

Asked a boy grazing his goats to take a few pictures of mine in front of a lake nestled between the high Aravalli mountains and he kindly obliged. Had a leisurely lunch at the Fern Residency, did a few forest trails and came back home.

There were a few H450's and Dominiar's who went flying past me - they gave me a thumbs up and asked me to join them. Tried keeping up with them for about 5 minutes but then gave up - because riding at their speeds meant I could no longer ride subconsciously which was what I had set out to do. I was happy being a slow tortoise and letting the quick hare's go past me.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by rahul4321

Tried keeping up with them for about 5 minutes but then gave up - because riding at their speeds meant I could no longer ride subconsciously which was what I had set out to do. I was happy being a slow tortoise and letting the quick hare's go past me.

Lovely pics.

Thanks for sharing.

I so completely identify with what you have posted above.

My Himalayan is at almost 40k kms. I got it serviced today. Just oil change and a set of new brake pads.
The overall cost of ownerships is literally nothing on this sweet ride.

My bike had started showing the CEL engine light. It would come on and stay for a couple of days and disappear on its own.

Today we hooked up the reader and it said O2 error.
Cleared the error.

The mechanic assured me that this will not recur. Will wait and watch. But am not very worried about it as this bike is quite primitive in the tech scale.