[jackerhack]

Here are the Continental GT mirrors on my Himalayan. They work well.

[rideon74]

Originally Posted by jackerhack

Here are the Continental GT mirrors on my Himalayan. They work well.

Thanks for the info about the CGT mirrors. Got them fitted today. As you had mentioned, they work fine. And just Rs. 500/- for a pair. Feels good to ride without the worry of blind spots. Honestly, I should have done this earlier.

[jackerhack]

Originally Posted by bblost

They are idiots.

I have referred back quite a few people to my dealership simply based on the awesome buying experience.

Originally Posted by rideon74

Hi & congratulations on your new acquisition! Your also warmly welcomed to the "RE sh**ty dealers" club. Membership is free but not compulsory. As mentioned previously, you can opt for other customer-friendly RE service centres instead of the one you purchased your bike from.

To be fair, I had a pleasant time with the purchase experience. Sales manager Hari was very nice to interact with. I had been to the Indiranagar store earlier and they didn't have a test bike and the manager there feigned ignorance about ABS, so I didn't feel comfortable with them. Not so at Koramangala Motors where Hari and Sathya gave me a test bike promptly. But the unceremonious delivery meant I rode out without a registration number, spent a few days wondering if I'd get caught for riding with a TC number, and had to hand paint the number myself when it came though a week later. The bike didn't feel legitimately mine at the exit.

Originally Posted by bblost

Easy way to solve the noise is to get a better helmet.
The gears are an issue in my bike as well.

About this: what should I look for? I have a cheap (₹2k) Vega modular helmet that I picked up a few days before the bike. It's incredibly loud after 60 kmph. I can't tell if it's the windshield directing a blast at the helmet (I'm 5′10″) or just bad helmet design. I like modular helmets because I wear glasses. An MT modular costs ₹9k so I need opinions on it.

Originally Posted by bblost

This should be an easy fix. But I doubt its a spring in the main stand. Try and shake everything to identify where the issue might be.

I can feel the clacking vibration particularly well on the left leg, so maybe it's the side stand.

Originally Posted by bblost

NO. You can go anywhere you want.
I gave my bike to a different dealership for service as its much closer to my office.

That is good to hear!

Originally Posted by bblost

They forgot to fix this in my bike as well.

I did the same steps:


It worked.

This worked! Thanks!

Originally Posted by rideon74

Just a heads up here: If ever you need to change the headlight's angle adjustment, you can DIY it. It's just a matter of removing the rubber covers (with flat head screwdriver) on the side of the frame as shown and using the correct Allen key to loosen the bolts inside. Adjust as required & you're good to go!

I'll try this, thanks!

[bblost]

Originally Posted by jackerhack

About this: what should I look for? I have a cheap (₹2k) Vega modular helmet that I picked up a few days before the bike.

I don't like these helmets.

An MT modular costs ₹9k so I need opinions on it.

I have a MT Thunder. Its decent. I cost me around 5500. It gets noisy over 100.

I can feel the clacking vibration particularly well on the left leg, so maybe it's the side stand.

Put bike on side stand. When its safe try and fiddle with the main stand to locate the loose end. This will help you deal with the dealership.

Welcome to the RE Getting hands dirty club.

[techfreak]

Himalayan experience has been good so far. No hands dirty scene so far.
Bike has become substantially smoother over period of time.

[rideon74]

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, one month and the 2000km mark will be completed.

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.

[jackerhack]

I've started to experience a new problem since first service last week.

Once in a while, when I turn the key to On and then turn On the Engine switch, the console powers off. Turning the key back to Off and then On restores it.

Then I noticed something odd: simply wiggling the key turns it back on. No need to turn off and on again.

Today the bike turned off mid ride when I was downshifting. Console dead until I wiggled the key again.

Is this a simple mechanical issue with a loose contact in the console, or am I debugging for battery overload or electronic failure? Advise appreciated.

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by jackerhack

Then I noticed something odd: simply wiggling the key turns it back on. No need to turn off and on again.

Spray some WD40 into the ignition keyhole, turn the key off/on several times and check if the problem persists.

[rohing]

They are replacing ignition switches as they are faulty. Check with you SC.

I had a unique incident this week. My Petrol tap lever (main-close--reserve) fell down while driving ! Have to go sort it out. Himalayan now after 10K plus kms and my daily ride in city and highway is a true RE. Pleasure to drive, pain to maintain.

[adrian]

Originally Posted by jackerhack

I've started to experience a new problem since first service last week.

I have been there

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...replacing.html

Don't know whether the same is applicable to the new Royal Enfields.

regards Arun

[nosfreak]

Originally Posted by rideon74

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......

Check your tyre pressure once. Also those knobby tyres of ceat are not really meant for tarmac curves, however at most times it just lack of confidence. Being a heavy bike, just have to throw it around a corner. Try braking early and take the long corner (which might take several tries).

[rideon74]

Originally Posted by nosfreak

Check your tyre pressure once. Also those knobby tyres of ceat are not really meant for tarmac curves, however at most times it just lack of confidence. Being a heavy bike, just have to throw it around a corner. Try braking early and take the long corner (which might take several tries).

Tyre pressures, entry speeds & lean angles were experimented with before I posted about what I was fumbling with. Many thanks for the inputs nevertheless. Though my experiences with the Himalayan's road responsiveness maybe very personal, here's what I'd gathered from further enquiries (please excuse the rambling post as I do have a Sherlock Holmes tendency on matters )

1. To a large extent, the dual purpose type of the tyres supplied don't really help for medium to high speed turns (or sudden braking) while on tarmac. One just has to be aware of this point at all times.

2. I've been far too used to the cruiser styled bikes (Avenger & TB350) until recently. Both bikes have comparatively lower CG and road tyres with better grip on wide corners.

3. Again, from my earliest days with a KB100 to the recently sold off TB350 (add two scooters somewhere in the timeline too), all the two wheelers I've ridden are with (typical) identical tyre diameters for front & back.

4. With the REH, the front tyre's larger diameter adds a 'lazy suzy' feeling while doing wide or sharp corners on tarmac and inadvertently, I've been trying force the bike into reacting the way I'm used to. Once I figured this out, I'm changing the way I react to the bike's response to turn angles.

5. Softer, long travel suspensions might have a small factor here too - specific to the mild back tyre skidding issues I'd commented about earlier. Noted this as another point to make a mental note of.

Now I'm no expert and the above points are only what I've gathered, thought about and am working on with the above set of points as guides for the adaptation this baby-dual sport has thrown me into. Since my last post, much time has been spent trying out various changes to my riding techniques & there's been good improvement in the confidence levels - specific to tarmac conditions.

Off the road? She handles just fine - brakes, suspension, tyres n' all..it's fun unlimited!

[Jaguar]

I had a short TD of the Himalyan today and there was considerable knocking in 2nd gear. Is this normal? The sales guy brushed it off saying the vehicle was old.

The overall experience at Teknik Mortors, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore was bad. The sales guys were least interested and I was allowed TD only on the service road. The security guard was the most enthusiastic of the lot and showed me the Thunderbird X at their store room behind and even explained the color options. They didn't have any Thunderbird X models available for TD as well.

[rideon74]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

I had a short TD of the Himalyan today and there was considerable knocking in 2nd gear. Is this normal? The sales guy brushed it off saying the vehicle was old.

The overall experience at Teknik Mortors, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore was bad. The sales guys were least interested and I was allowed TD only on the service road. The security guard was the most enthusiastic of the lot and showed me the Thunderbird X at their store room behind and even explained the color options. They didn't have any Thunderbird X models available for TD as well.

At the four showrooms where I had done TDs of the Himalayan before I decided on the BS4 REH, all of the TD vehicles had my pity. They were roughed up, tired out machines. I figured the repetitive visits to the showrooms were only good for judging if the ride posture and other such points would be suitable for me.

I took the plunge after a chance long ride TD on a friend's two month old BS4 came my way. That's when I realised what a development the LS engine is from the RE stable. Once you've felt the almost vibe free, torquey pull of this baby - you'd think twice about opting for any of the other models of RE primarily for this one important advantage on offer.

As for the salesmanship experience at some of the RE dealers - well, that's been the case with most of us I suppose. The delivery process could be equally passable too. However, there was a mention of Koramangala Motors doing a better job at TDs just a few posts earlier in this thread.

I do believe the engine knocking could be attributed to the roughed up engines on the TD vehicles but also because you can't actually 'gun' an Enfield unless you're in that sweet spot range for each gear. That's when the hesitant torque surges through - effortlessly or 'thumping-ly' and you're grinning. It's quite a high & this sweet spot is known to every RE owner fairly well. The same applies to the Himalayan too but she's a lot quicker on the draw.

[MadRasTan4986]

Originally Posted by rideon74

4. With the REH, the front tyre's larger diameter adds a 'lazy suzy' feeling while doing wide or sharp corners on tarmac and inadvertently, I've been trying force the bike into reacting the way I'm used to. Once I figured this out, I'm changing the way I react to the bike's response to turn angles.

Have you tried counter steering? This helps a lot for high speed turns. While leaning into a corner, gently push the inside end of the handlebar, or pull the outside end towards you, whichever is suitable for you, but inside push is always better. You can feel the bike turn in quicker while doing this. Hope the tip helps, do let me know how it goes for you.