[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by Ketan

I've got the NGK spark plug, replaced it and went for a 250kms ride on a weekend 10 days back, I felt the misfire (although I noticed it less frequently) and some irregular firing (this I noticed more frequently) seems to have got better now, I see stable firing and power delivery even at the low rpm and felt its better! I'm thinking if I need to change the power cable as well? Although its not going to help much in bumping up the top speed or motorway speeds, but getting there becomes really fun with powertrocnis.

Ketan, you've given the crux of the answer at the end of the post. My personal opine: serious mods for the Hima are a disgrace to the investment. The bike is extremely capable, yet is a late bloomer in most performance aspect. As with any motorcycles, you'll have piggyback ECM,
even Termignoni/Ohlins have specific exhaust and springs made for the Himma, but would I go about it with significant investment without nothing drastic in return? Nopes. Trust me, this bike is excellent as it is, a couple of "better equipment" and I wouldn't term them as "mods"
such as plugs, better quality plug wires are more than sufficient.

If you intend to squeeze a bit more performance from the filters, remember the bike is a lean burn, and performance filters only increase air flow and obviously lean the mixture which in turn increases engine temp. I'd suggest you stick to stock for better filtration and ease of replacement. It's always recommended to calibrate the fueling when the exhaust system and air intake system is tinkered with. Remember, this is an ADV, better the air filtration, better it is for the fragile engine.


And if you intend to upgrade, and if the heart is fixed with the upgradation process, don't even bat an eyelid regarding high end mods. Plus resale value isn't that great for the Himma.

Hope it helps.

Cheers!
VJ

[ArizonaJim]

For what it's worth, Noraly (Itchy Boots) and her Himalayan (Dhanno) have covered over 10,000 km without any mechanical problems in her adventure while riding thru Argentina and Chili.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCHOLox1U6g

[bblost]

Odometer at 17,000 and bike went in for it's fifth service.

No work done expect for general service and oil change. Bill was about 1700 or so.

The disc pads and chain related stuff is marked for replace in the owner manual but a very close inspection found that they were all fine.

Getting the bike ready for Rider Mania 2020 in Nepal.

I will get the rear tire changed in the next few days.
Don't want to risk issues on the long ride.

[Shubhendra]

Completed approx 10000 kms. Almost nil use within city, mostly on state highways, village roads, no roads and bit of offroad with friends.
Its carburetor version and below are the niggles faced till now:
1. Alternator conked off when i was 500 kms away from Poona, thankfully bike reached back home in 8 hrs, replaced under warranty
2. Gear indicator showing blank - replaced under warranty
3. Cone set bearing - replaced under warranty. Also added bearing cover of latest design
4. Rear mudguard mounts started breaking one by one - Had to change entire set (mudguard + number plate frame)
5. Front Fork Cover Protector Gaiters replaced with OE ones
Except warranty work, i never take bike to ASS and i am very happy with decision. Bile still runs beautifully and brings smile everytime i come across bad roads. I have not done any modifications except two aux LED lights, side bags (for bottles and small nick nacks).
As i dont ride above 100, i am happy with available power.

[bblost]

Ordered the rear tire form MRF: https://www.mrftyresandservice.com/s...malayan/174410

They ask you to select the dealership from where it can be picked up along with the date and time.

It was today.
So picked up the tire from the dealer but the dealer was not very confident of replacing the tire because of the rear disc brake. It was no big deal so I had it loaded on the bike and took it to a proper motorcycle puncture repair guy.

Its too new for any decent review but while riding over to office noticed that there is no lockup on dry sandy roads.
The old Ceat would love to lock up on even the tiniest braking.

[VijayAnand1]

Lovely bblost. For some reason, I feel the MRF looks to be more grippy than the CEAT. I'd love to hear on this one. Ditto on the gravel lock up, it seems part of Himalayas were left off in the Himalayas when the CEAT was being tested I presume, that's one of the Achilles' heel for the Hima. Good grip on that sunny day and totally subpar performance on gravel and moist surfaces, always fishtailing and scary stuff.

Do keep us posted. I for one intend to throw away the stock junk, if the Meteor is a good fielder.

Cheers!
VJ

[bblost]

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Do keep us posted. I for one intend to throw away the stock junk, if the Meteor is a good fielder.

Cheers!
VJ

Getting ready for the Rider Mania in Nepal.
Will have a couple of kilometers to report by the end of this month.

[R-Six]

Originally Posted by bblost

the dealer was not very confident of replacing the tire because of the rear disc brake.

This has been a common scene everywhere I guess. Even leading dealership folks shy away from opening the rear set up if it is a disc brake variant. I faced similar resistance while changing the types on my Continental GT.

Thanks for sharing!

Ride safe,
R-Six

[sam_babushka]

Posting a quick pic clicked during my return from Rider Mania in Goa, 2019. Rode solo through, and I did not have a single hiccup. Tackled flat out open highways, twisties and broken dirt paths with aplomb. She's completed 3 years in November this year. The battery is still a persistent issue - drained out when not used for almost a month after returning - but apart from that, no other complaints. Pic clicked at Amboli ghat, at 6.30 am, during my return ride to Bombay. Cheers

[bblost]

Originally Posted by sam_babushka

Posting a quick pic clicked during my return from Rider Mania in Goa, 2019. Rode solo through, and I did not have a single hiccup. Tackled flat out open highways, twisties and broken dirt paths with aplomb. She's completed 3 years in November this year. The battery is still a persistent issue - drained out when not used for almost a month after returning - but apart from that, no other complaints. Pic clicked at Amboli ghat, at 6.30 am, during my return ride to Bombay. Cheers

Battery drain can be from something using it. On a bike the suspect will be brake light.
Maybe sometimes it stays on because the switch is dirty?

[sam_babushka]

Originally Posted by bblost

Battery drain can be from something using it. On a bike the suspect will be brake light.
Maybe sometimes it stays on because the switch is dirty?

I suspect it's the after-market fog lights then. Will get that looked into. Thank you

[bblost]

In that case simply disconnect them and watch it over a couple of days.

[maker_of_things]

Hey guys. Been a while since I've been back on the Himalayan threads. Didn't actually ride a lot for the past year or so because of work pressure or mental state. Been recently riding my Himalayan again (mostly short city rides or weekend stuff since I work from home), and I have to say I missed riding my bike. Kind of forgot how beautiful the bike feels when riding.

Back to topic, I have been pretty dissatisfied with the stock Himalayan headlights. I even upgraded to Philips Xtreme vision headlamps a couple of years ago, but it hardly improved the output as opposed to stock.

Last month I upgraded my headlamp to Philips Ultinon Essential LED headlights from Amazon (Amazon Link), and it really impressed me. I have a friend who has a Yamaha FZ250 with stock LED bulbs and he complains about the abysmal quality of those so I was a bit skeptical it would work. But the improvement is literally night and day.

The box contains 2 CSP style LEDs (these are the ones you want if you're retrofitting to a reflector housing). The main reasons I went for Philips over Auxbeam or some other cheaper manufacturers was the thinner PCB and that the LEDs are only on 2 sides of the bulb (most cheaper options have 3 or even 4 sides which is not really what you want to have as it messes up the beam pattern). Another advantage of these Ultinon Essential over their other lineup is the heatsink. Its 4 pieces of braided copper wires. Most other LEDs have a big heatsink which would fit but it would require removing the dust cap covering the headlight bracket. These copper heatsinks can be pulled through the hole in the heatsink and it is snug fit. Also, a driver (not sure if that's the correct term) is provided for transforming the input voltage/current as required by the LEDs.

Adding some images for your reference. Apologies, but I do not have any photos of the process or any before/after comparisons.



Low Beam



High Beam



The Philips LED bulb



The older Philips Xtreme Vision



The driver module for the LEDs



Only 17W!

[VijayAnand1]

I am giggling inside here, what you would have thought after switching to LEDs, and that lightning fast hi/lo transition when compared to the stock halogens, which would have felt like an absolute steampunk candle light switching between high and low beams. What I really would've loved to see is how the ballast and the led was installed along with the dust boot on the back of the unit, as the unit is already very busy inside.

Cheers!
VJ

[maker_of_things]

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

I am giggling inside here, what you would have thought after switching to LEDs, and that lightning fast hi/lo transition when compared to the stock halogens, which would have felt like an absolute steampunk candle light switching between high and low beams.

Lol yeah! I wasn't expecting this much of a difference from a random purchase made on an idle weekend afternoon!

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

What I really would've loved to see is how the ballast and the led was installed along with the dust boot on the back of the unit, as the unit is already very busy inside.

Yeah, the installation was pretty tight. The ballast is pretty small and was pushed to the sides of the unit. As for the dust boot, the LED fits inside the boot pretty well. The heat-sink braids can be pulled out through the dust cover (there's a hole about ~1cm in dia for the 3 pin power cable to connect to the stock bulb). It's a tight fit, but it seems to be working fine so far. I've done a couple of commutes of about a couple of hours each and it doesn't seem to be heating up excessively. Even the headlight glass is cool to touch whereas it would get pretty toasty with the halogen bulbs.

I'll try an add a few pictures when I open up the bulb next time around. I forgot to bring my phone along the last time!

Cheers!