[ast.ggn]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Metallic Panting/Clatter is from worn valve guides/improper seating.

the Xpulse does have a reputation for having crappy machining, during the 2019 ISG2G a fellow enthusiast had faced issues with his brand new machine which was fixed under warranty during the ride and then later on fixed again after, most of the threads had given up within 400 or so km's of continuous riding.

Most likely the case. Dropped the bike today at service center and they have acknowledged the issues. I didn't have time and patience to stand there while they open it up at their own convenience. I told them that I need photographs of whatever they are changing, they reluctantly agreed to it. It is under warranty so I am not bothered a bit, unless they come up with some new excuse to void warranty. Let's see how it goes, I will update soon.

It's funny and sad to see that in almost a decade not much has changed with Hero/Honda products.

I was assuming till now that they have better product quality as compared to Bajaj, I had poor experience in past with Pulsar 180 (black). Looks like they all are same.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

Most likely the case. Dropped the bike today at service center and they have acknowledged the issues. I didn't have time and patience to stand there while they open it up at their own convenience. I told them that I need photographs of whatever they are changing, they reluctantly agreed to it. It is under warranty so I am not bothered a bit, unless they come up with some new excuse to void warranty. Let's see how it goes, I will update soon.

As long as you've maintained proper service record they cannot claim your warranty void, if at all they try to pull anything of that sort directly reach out to Hero, nothing fiercer than the wrath of Hero's higher-up's when it comes to a dissatisfied customer at the hands of one of their outlets.

Back then just a mention of an email to the company would have the whole lot of SA's pee their pants in unison.

I was assuming till now that they have better product quality as compared to Bajaj, I had poor experience in past with Pulsar 180 (black). Looks like they all are same.

It's the other way around for me, used to be a Honda-Fanboi until I got up and personal with a few, but still held Jap bikes in high esteem up and until I bought a Bajaj, without much expectations of course, just as a throw away college motorcycle. The rest is history.

Have been hooked ever since, currently on my 4th Bajaj.

[ast.ggn]

I paid them a surprise visit today and as I was expecting they were sitting idle on the task. Bike has been parked in the corner and more money minting customers (like regular sunday service rush) were given priority. Service center manager told me that the order has been placed for cylinder kit and after the parts arrive they will open the engine. I said ok and left.

On my way outside, I met the spare parts guy and another expected thing happened. He wasn't even aware of any order being placed. I asked him to recheck. When I reached back home, he called me and told that he is going to place order now under new job card. Previous one has been closed.

Now I will wait till Wednesday as promised by them and if they are still found sleeping on it, I will escalate to Hero.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

Now I will wait till Wednesday as promised by them and if they are still found sleeping on it, I will escalate to Hero.

Are you seriously telling us that a seized cylinder kit comes under the ambit of a warranty replacement?!!!! Or have I gotten it wrong.

Cheers, Doc

[ast.ggn]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Are you seriously telling us that a seized cylinder kit comes under the ambit of a warranty replacement?!!!! Or have I gotten it wrong.

Will you call it a seizure if bike is still running? Any engine which has seized has to stop rotating, right? I don't get what you are meaning here?

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

Will you call it a seizure if bike is still running? Any engine which has seized has to stop rotating, right? I don't get what you are meaning here?

Not at all.

It's very common for piston and cylinder wall to kiss and then break up. With transfer of metal. And then the same racket your bike is making.

If Royal Enfield started replacing cylinder kits for everytime it happened in warranty, they would have gone out of business in the 1960s.

Cheers, Doc

[ast.ggn]

Originally Posted by ebonho

If Royal Enfield started replacing cylinder lots for everyone it happened in warranty, they would have gone out of business in the 1960s.

They replaced mine under warranty 4 years back, similar noise. Odo reading was 9k only.

Do you mean Hero should refuse warranty?

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

They replaced mine under warranty 4 years back, similar noise. Odo reading was 9k only.

Do you mean Hero should refuse warranty?

Who replaced 4 years ago? Which bike?

I thought this was a new bike.

Cheers, Doc

[ast.ggn]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Who replaced 4 years ago? Which bike?

I thought this was a new bike.

Doc, you were talking about RE, so I responded with my experience about RE. RE replaced the cylinder kit 4 years back on my bike, under warranty. Thunderbird 500.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

Doc, you were talking about RE, so I responded with my experience about RE. RE replaced the cylinder kit 4 years back on my bike, under warranty. Thunderbird 500.

Ok. I did not know you had an RE earlier.

Warranty applies only if there is liability on part of the manufacturer. Like if there is a breakdown of the lubrication flow or error like oil was not put in etc.

Please note I am talking about plain vanilla manufacturer warranty and not various paid-for "extended warranty" packages.

A seizure on a 9000 km engine that is out of run in is otherwise going to come under "usage" ...

Cheers, Doc

[ast.ggn]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Warranty applies only if there is liability on part of the manufacturer. Like if there is a breakdown of the lubrication flow or error like oil was not put in etc.

Please note I am talking about plain vanilla manufacturer warranty and not various paid-for "extended warranty" packages.

A seizure on a 9000 km engine that is out of run in is otherwise going to come under "usage" ...

Engine is definitely covered under warranty for all manufacturers. Hero, for example has 5 year/ 75000 kms warranty. May be the seals/ rubber parts, if any, required for engine rebuild are excluded from warranty. And this has nothing to do with warranty or extended warranty. For most manufacturers, extended warranty is an extension of main warranty. So if engine has seized due to manufacturing issue or whatever reason, it is manufacturer's liability. If I had not carried out services as per company recommendations or if I have tampered with engine or say exhaust or drive train - they might find an excuse to void warranty. None of these are valid in this case. I remember getting a call from Hero executive after bike purchase who told me that engine is covered under 5 year warranty, if I get all services done from company workshop.

"Usage" part which you were referring applies for wear and tear parts as specified in clause 3 of warranty exclusion below:

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Ok. I did not know you had an RE earlier.

Warranty applies only if there is liability on part of the manufacturer. Like if there is a breakdown of the lubrication flow or error like oil was not put in etc.

Please note I am talking about plain vanilla manufacturer warranty and not various paid-for "extended warranty" packages.

A seizure on a 9000 km engine that is out of run in is otherwise going to come under "usage" ...

Cheers, Doc

Will agree with AST here, and hero is far more generous with warranty repairs as opposed to KTM. No prizes for guessing why.

[ebonho]

https://youtu.be/LCJ7JK4vNNQ

Cheers, Doc

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Are you seriously telling us that a seized cylinder kit comes under the ambit of a warranty replacement?!!!! Or have I gotten it wrong.

Cheers, Doc

If service record is maintained then any form of engine seizure is covered under the warranty, even be it due to oil starvation as it reflects lack of due diligence on the ASC's part at the time of service which is duly recorded in the service book.

I'd had my ZMA's cylinder kit replaced under warranty a decade ago due to similar reasons, wasn't even charged for consumables as the motorcycle was brand new.

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

Will you call it a seizure if bike is still running? Any engine which has seized has to stop rotating, right? I don't get what you are meaning here?

Practically speaking it is near impossible for a user to seize a 4 Stroke that has been serviced as per manufacturer recommendations, by a thin margin of course due to the new trend of stupid high oil change intervals, but then again at best if you try really really really hard the best you could do is a partial seizure and that is being hopeful.

A partial seizure is when the piston has scuffed and scored the cylinder walls, most people don't even notice a partial seizure or as once was commonly called a heat seizure.

My ZMA had also undergone a partial seizure which resulted in the cylinder kit being replaced, at the time Hero had changed supplier from Usha to SAL one of their own companies to source cylinder kits and the whole batch had issues of partial seizures, some simply ignored it whereas others like myself forced the ASC to open the engine which was when the same was confirmed, reason was the new kit had a gudgeon pin that would expand to the point that it scored the cylinder walls, Hero issued replacement kits for those affected and the new kits came with a SAL cylinder and Usha piston.

Here's my ZMA with the new cylinder kit in place;



Now mechanical issues are part and parcel of owning a machine but having said that what really should tick everyone off is that the engine on the Xpulse is a bread and butter unit that first came to India almost 2 decades ago on the Unicorn, the architecture is even older as its from the second iteration of the CRF150(first iteration being the one on the CBZ Classic with larger displacement), and Hero being one of the manufacturers who've milked this platform and sold several iterations of Xtreme's and Hunk's, really has no excuse when it comes to consistent issues faced on the same platform being sold in 2020.

It is glaringly obvious that all issues are related to a lapse in quality control since the technology at hand has been around for longer than some of us, and that is something that cannot be forgiven especially coming from a manufacturer like Hero.

[ebonho]

Any updates on the bike? Have they taken a look and found what went wrong?

And more importantly, why.

I appreciate all your points about the seizure coming under warranty.

I still maintain that it does not. And you will find that every warranty statement cleverly does not spell it out as such.

It's not enough to say "engine is definitely covered under warranty" ... of course it is. It's an integral part of the bike. But it's not a blanket cover.

The same bike busted the sump on a rock. Engine part. Was that replaced under warranty? It's a tenuous argument, but I make it to convey that there is a LOT of leeway of interpretation.

And there is always, always language around usage outside/beyond the recommended design envelope, abuse, racing, rallies, dirt, etc.

Warranty cases go back to the company and are analysed.

Depending on what broke, someone inside feels the heat. Fir those of you working in the corporate space, you know how it works.

Yes, cylinder kits ARE replaced in warranty.

What you as the customer do not realize is that they are replaced under a grey area specific cost center called "Goodwill".

A LOT of crap is covered up by collusion between Company officials (area/regional service managers, technical experts, etc) and Dealer Authorized Service Centers under this one head.

I posted a video earlier. Read the comments. And read between the lines about the manipulation of Job Cards.

Please do not take my word for it. Keep riding for a decade or two more in India. Let's speak then.

Cheers, Doc