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Old 8th November 2019, 14:10   #61
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Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan - Broken into two pieces

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Originally Posted by IndigoXLGrandDi View Post
I had received the following video over WhatsApp in August 2019.
Royal Enfield Bullet Vs TVS XL accident.



Don't how much true it is.
This is becoming like that "Dont eat Cheetos, it has plastic inside" forward that everyone used to receive twice a year !
The video was already posted here earlier, although not thoroughly discussed.

Last edited by moralfibre : 12th November 2019 at 02:40. Reason: Removing embedded video from quoted post.
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Old 11th November 2019, 22:12   #62
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Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan - Broken into two pieces

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Originally Posted by alpha1 View Post
We don't know:
1) whether there was a collision between Enfield and TVS
2) whether the collision was the cause of Enfield's plight
3) whether Enfield's condition was caused by some other obstruction in its path
You are right. The video doesn't show how the motorcycles got into the condition they were in.

It also doesn't give a clue about when the Royal Enfield was made.
As many now know, some of the first Himalayan's produced when they were first released for sale did have a problem with the weld integrity at the headstock. Royal Enfield shut down production of the motorcycle until the problem was fixed. As I recall, production stopped for quite a long time which indicates to me that whatever Royal Enfield did to fix the problem was quite extensive.


Even if the video was made recently, it is very possible that the RE involved was one of the first production machines and whoever owned it didn't have Royal Enfield inspect and repair it..(I'm sure if you own one of these first production motorcycles, RE would be happy to inspect it and to repair it if it needs it.)
In fact, if anyone reading this has an early RE Himalayan it would be wise to ask RE to inspect it just to make sure it doesn't have a potential problem.
I'm sure they know what the serial numbers of the problem motorcycles are.
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Old 12th November 2019, 08:57   #63
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Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan - Broken into two pieces

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Originally Posted by ArizonaJim View Post
As many now know, some of the first Himalayan's produced when they were first released for sale did have a problem with the weld integrity at the headstock. Royal Enfield shut down production of the motorcycle until the problem was fixed.
It is good that RE has fixed the problem and is inspecting older Himalayans and fixing them.

Post-production issues and recalls are prevalent across automotive brands and every major brand has suffered one. Am just wondering if any auto brand has had such a basic and serious issue? I know that there have been airbag defects in various major car brands and that could be fatal. But this seems rather basic, related to chassis design and something the company should have gotten correct.

Admittedly, am not a fan of RE. I own one and I feel the company takes us customers, and QC, for granted. Have just seen way too many issues with each new bike model. So that bias is there. But I'd really like to learn if any other major auto brand has suffered a recall for such a fundamental issue.
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Old 8th September 2020, 18:43   #64
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Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan - Broken into two pieces

We were on a ride last Sunday to some off road trails and broken roads off of Nashik highway. Nothing too serious that a Himalayan couldn't handle. We had Classics, CBR250, Dominar and also a couple of Interceptors, all could handle the roads/ off roads. But then this happened to one of the Himalayan. It is a 2 year old BS4, done just some 30k plus Kms.
I believe the crack was developing even before the ride and gave away completely during the ride. The Himalayan rider told me that his was the 2nd such BS4 Himalayan which disintegrated like this that he is aware of.

How hard could it be for a company like Royal Enfield to fix a simple welding issue? Or is it a design issue wherein no matter how good the weld is, it just can not take the load and can not be fixed at all.
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Old 8th September 2020, 20:28   #65
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Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan - Broken into two pieces

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Originally Posted by ishan12 View Post
...
How hard could it be for a company like Royal Enfield to fix a simple welding issue? Or is it a design issue wherein no matter how good the weld is, it just can not take the load and can not be fixed at all.
If you look closely at the area of failure, you will see that the weld joint is intact. It's the parent metal tube that has failed from stress. This looks more like a design defect. Maybe the engineers underestimated the load or overestimated the strength of the chassis member. Keep in mind that this area of a bike chassis is highly stressed and is subjected to repeated high loads from braking, bad roads and potholes.

The owner should push RE for a free chassis replacement, even if the warranty is over.
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Old 8th September 2020, 21:07   #66
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Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan - Broken into two pieces

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Originally Posted by Motard_Blr View Post
If you look closely at the area of failure, you will see that the weld joint is intact. It's the parent metal tube that has failed from stress.
You are right. I didn't notice it before. The weld is intact. I still wonder what is stopping RE from fixing this in all these years? Or is it so difficult or non fixable? Any experts in this field on the forum?
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Old 9th September 2020, 01:49   #67
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Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan - Broken into two pieces

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Originally Posted by ishan12 View Post
Or is it a design issue wherein no matter how good the weld is, it just can not take the load and can not be fixed at all.
I haven't seen the anatomy of Himalayan up close but from this pic a few observations come to mind.

1. The split looks surprisingly clean and linear to be caused by a single or even a few impacts. I have seen metal fabrication up close in my early years and this is not one of those accidental breakages

2. Do I see some rust ? how come rust entered that position.

3. The sheet metal looks thin for a bike weighing ~200 Kg and built for off roads.

4. At the lower left of the open section you can see the metal paint is scraped of and area is shiny. It could be possible that front area of this split happened some time ago and the two tubes were already grinding each other. (This can explain rust also)

5. This area is not one which bikes should be breaking at it is supposed to be one of the most important joints of a bike, my Splendor plus had a meeting with an Ox but still chassis wasn't damaged. It's the handlebars that are prone to take most damage in case of nasty mishaps.

I personally feel this is either a manufacturing defect or this split happened some time ago during some work and whoever caused it decided to hide it.

My complaint for RE would be that the metal tube is thinner than it should be
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Old 9th September 2020, 12:14   #68
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Re: Royal Enfield Himalayan - Broken into two pieces

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Originally Posted by ishan12 View Post
How hard could it be for a company like Royal Enfield to fix a simple welding issue? Or is it a design issue wherein no matter how good the weld is, it just can not take the load and can not be fixed at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Motard_Blr View Post
If you look closely at the area of failure, you will see that the weld joint is intact.
Welded joints are more stronger than punched out or formed metal parts. So its no surprise that the weld held while the metal intermediate bracket between neck and down tube gave way.

This problem was discussed in detail and design solutions were also provided. BS6 versions, IIRC, have design improvements.
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