[janakiram_m]

Originally Posted by ambarkhan

WTH: Why the Himalayan

Well I tried to find a nice sentence about the Himalayan BS3 to quote, but found none! This was the same reason that kept me back from posting an ownership thread about my 'Hima Bro'.

But look at how the motorcycle has made you follow a new hobby, make it a passion and achieve some memorable and proud moments.

Mine's a May '16 manufactured one. I never did serious offroading with my Hima. It did it's duty as a tourer and now a city commuter and weekend warrior at best. Like you and many others I had to change the Stator coil twice, the cone set, fuel filler cap,t stem and key set. I had a coil failure on a week long tour and had to jumpstart the motorcycle everytime I stopped. Luckily my riding buddy's BS4 Hima didn't fail. I have a folder for the Himalayan related emails with RE in my Gmail.. The service centre's do more harm than good when even doing routine service. My tires lasted for 25k kms though.

All things aside this motorcycle is like a nagging girlfriend you have sufficient reasons to break-up with, but you just couldn't because it would break your heart.

Originally Posted by Gamerk

I knew the BS3 Himalayas had issues, but I didn't know it was to this extent, reminds of the 2019 Tata Harrier

I'm one of those unlucky souls to have both in the garage. But the Harrier has been trouble free till now.

[dinu2506]

Originally Posted by janakiram_m

Well I tried to find a nice sentence about the Himalayan BS3 to quote, but found none! This was the same reason that kept me back from posting an ownership thread about my 'Hima Bro'.

Attachment 2152051

I'm one of those unlucky souls to have both in the garage. But the Harrier has been trouble free till now.
Attachment 2152053

Whatever said, the Himalayan has a character of its own. The no-nonsense, rugged look has captured the hearts of many
You seem to be a Tata fan. The Altroz also yours?

[autocrat]

Great review @amberkhan, thanks for sharing!

Your persistence has paid off.

A couple of posts have unfortunately tried to turn this informative thread into a Himalayan bashing thread

Himalayan as a motorcycle has come a long way, and I hope RE continues to build nice bikes like the 650 twins going forward.

[VijayAnand1]

Beautifully and honestly complied and concised. The BS3 had its unique charm of insolvencies that made it an urgent reveal to the world. Nonetheless, the hiatus RE took on bringing out the BS4 and seeing that you've been factory updated to BS4 and the bike holding well, definitely helps undo the negative pyjamas that shrouds this machine. Being an owner myself. I can totally relate to the differences,.
Good luck and keep plugging the trails.

Cheers!
VJ

[museycal]

Its quite seldom to come across ownership stories wherein the owner faces such travesties (chassis cracks, engine fails etc.), still persisted with the vehicle and yet had so many great memories to share! Hats off to your patience and involvement in your bike @ambarkhan and thanks for sharing your experience with us. Wishing you thousands of fuss-free happy kilometers ahead.


Slightly OT (Mods, please delete this part if required)

Originally Posted by dinu2506

The Altroz also yours?

That's his Tigor actually, though now that you mentioned Altroz, it does carry the Altroz impression quite well! You can check out more in janakiram_m's photo-tastic ownership review of his Tigor too.

[ambarkhan]

Originally Posted by SkyWraith

Great Write-Up. As a Himalayan owner myself I am envious of the extent to which you have been able to use it's "all road and no roads" ability. Being a BS-IV owner, I am yet to face any major issues, probably thanks to guys like you who have taken the motorcycle to it's limits and pointed out the issues to RE.

I have a few queries though.
- What Engine Oil are you using on the BS-IV engine?
- For mostly adventure touring use, which tyre do you think will be better than the stock CEAT ones?
- With all the performance modifications, have you felt the need for a re-map or a piggyback ECU like Powertronic?

• I am Shell Advance post 2000kms mark on the odometer. I change it every 5000kms at max.
• For Adventure touring I have found the Apollo's to be superior to MRF and CEAT especially on the wet concrete and while corners.
• ECU remap are fun, but unless you are going competitive spending 20k on a riding school which be a much better investment go get more out of your bike.

Originally Posted by PioneerNB

The ownership is nice with an added silver lining of the Service manger being a friend else it would have been a huge pain.

I became friends with him because I was visiting the service centre very frequently

Originally Posted by SenPai_GTi

t would be great if you could share some basic/important checkpoints to keep such bikes in good shape.

Maintaining a Dual Sport Bike

Any bike which goes off the road is getting exposed to harsh treatment than any road bike.

I practice the following routine.

• Wash the bike after every offroad ride
• All the bearings (outside engine) needs to be checked for play after every offroad ride.
• All the bearings (outside engine) will be cleaned, inspected and greased once a month.
• Clean and Lube chain at least after every alternate offroad ride.
• Change Fork Oil after 30 Hours of riding offroad. (In my case it is like once every quarter)(Approximately 500-1000)
• Change Fork Springs in approx 1.5 years. (Costs around 1000 for Himalayan)
• Change Rear Suspension in 1.5-2 years. (Costs 4500 )
• Be vigilant for any crackling noise. Prevention is cheaper than replacement.

Touring

I have slipped touring in my review because you'll find plenty of them online.
In summary, it's a great tourer if you are not in hurry and can live with tubed tyres.
Here are some pics from the tours.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by ambarkhan

Maintaining a Dual Sport Bike

Any bike which goes off the road is getting exposed to harsh treatment than any road bike.

I practice the following routine.

• Wash the bike after every offroad ride
• All the bearings (outside engine) needs to be checked for play after every offroad ride.
• All the bearings (outside engine) will be cleaned, inspected and greased once a month.
• Clean and Lube chain at least after every alternate offroad ride.
• Change Fork Oil after 30 Hours of riding offroad. (In my case it is like once every quarter)(Approximately 500-1000)
• Change Fork Springs in approx 1.5 years. (Costs around 1000 for Himalayan)
• Change Rear Suspension in 1.5-2 years. (Costs 4500 )
• Be vigilant for any crackling noise. Prevention is cheaper than replacement.

What an amazing thread. Hats off to you for persevering with the BS3 Himalayan and getting to a stage where you are very happy with the motorcycle. Despite being a fellow Royal Enfield owner, I cant imagine the difficulties that you might have faced over the years.

The above points are very useful and will serve as a good point of reference to other owners of the Himalayan.

Can you please share your experiences of the Indian National Rally Championship and the Raid De Himalaya? That would be a fascinating read.

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by ambarkhan

Touring

I have slipped touring in my review because you'll find plenty of them online.
In summary, it's a great tourer if you are not in hurry and can live with tubed tyres.
Here are some pics from the tours.

I didnt know you were on T-BHP. Thought to share photos of touring we did together

[nitinkbhaskar]

Originally Posted by ambarkhan

Post the engine swap I had almost an entirely new bike. At least all the functional parts were new.
By early 2018 the bike was almost reliable and regained confidence in it.
In 2018 I started to use the bike to run for rallies and It served really well.
I started with Indian National Rally Championship and later used the bike for Raid De Himalaya as well.

That's a stonker of a review ambarkhan.
Thanks for sharing your experience about all the issues and you still stood by the bike. I am sure that you would have developed a special bond with your Himalayan.

Also, you are one of the very few who are actually using the H to its full potential. The rides must be highly rewarding !!

Good to see that you are very sincere on the maintenance part. I think your initial experience with H has a big role to play in that . Your points really help a newbie like me.

If you don't mind can you also share your luggage setup + riding gear ?
Do you have different things for offroad and touring or managing both with a single setup on bike + body ? (if this is out of context here, maybe share the details on riding gear thread).

[666arj]

The Himalayan is a truly underrated motorcycle. Weird soviet union (a Ural inspired ADV/dualsport) aesthetics aside, the chassis is very sorted thanks to Harris performance.

As long as you are off the highway straights, its good company. Especially in the twisty hills or dirt trails. I rode mine everywhere.

The main crop of issues IMO was because early owners messed with the wiring at roadside mechanics by installing the highway foglamps etc.

I got rid of mine because I couldn't find the rear tyre size I wanted. But will be looking forward to a 650 port.

[666arj]

Sharing a picture and a video clip of mine

https://youtu.be/LS6O20EREbo

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by ambarkhan

The Motorsports Experience (Dream)

Post the engine swap I had almost an entirely new bike. At least all the functional parts were new.

What a thread, thanks for sharing your experience, I have been following you on Instagram and man you are using the Himalayan to its full potential. On the engine replacement, the BS4 engine, if i am not wrong is fuel injected and BS3 being carbed, how did you manage to get the BS4 engine to run with a carb? I know its possible and lot of people have been doing it on the UCE 500 engines but have never seen anyone doing a carb conversion for a Himalayan.

[logicalidiot]

Thanks for sharing your experience here. I know the BS3 Himalayan was pretty notorious for issues, have heard fair share of them. As much as the noise it made during the launch for being the first affordable ADV bike, it made equal amount of noise for it's issues as well. This made a lot of people steer clear of Himalayan and the ones who bought it for the love of RE/Adventure motorcycling ended up selling it off quick. There are only a handful of few enthusiasts who stayed through the complaints and kept fixing them. Hats off to you. It is owners like you who tested the vehicle extensively and brought the issues forward instead of the RE's in-house team, who should have been doing the work.

On other note, I have booked BS6 Himalayan for adventure touring and off-road trails, currently waiting for the pandemic and lockdowns to end before taking delivery. There's no point letting brand new motorcycle gather dust after taking delivery. I still hear about niggles and small issues with the BS6 model as well but most seem to be minor niggles or one off cases. Fingers crossed!

[ambarkhan]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Can you please share your experiences of the Indian National Rally Championship and the Raid De Himalaya? That would be a fascinating read.

Sure will post my experience soon.

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

I have been following you on Instagram and man you are using the Himalayan to its full potential. On the engine replacement, the BS4 engine, if i am not wrong is fuel injected and BS3 being carbed, how did you manage to get the BS4 engine to run with a carb? I know its possible and lot of people have been doing it on the UCE 500 engines but have never seen anyone doing a carb conversion for a Himalayan.

You can split powerhouse in three parts:

1. Engine (Block Piston Crank Shaft)
2. Ignition (Spark Plug CDI, etc.)
3. Fueling (Carburettor/EFI, etc.)

What I changed under warranty was just the engine and ignition & fueling parts remained the same.
In modern EFI engines, Ignition and Fueling are closely connected and controlled by the ECU. But It is possible to separate them.

Originally Posted by 666arj

I got rid of mine because I couldn't find the rear tyre size I wanted.

That's the first time I heard someone selling a motorcycle because they couldn't find the tyre sizes. You could have changed the rims, or imported the ones you want.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by ambarkhan

WTH: Why the Himalayan [/h3]

Lovely review and hats off to your patience with the bike

Would you recommend the Himalayan to someone who is looking for a long distance tourer and not necessarily (recreational) off-road stuff?