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The joystick woes are to continue for a long time to come. The tactile feel will be robbed as days pass by and it's extremely cumbersome to operate especially with gloves on. This isn't a one-off case, there are numerous cases of joystick failure where the complete switchgear is offered as a replacement due to it either going completely out or working intermittently especially post rainy day ride or a pressure wash. 4 in 10 bikes are randomly affected by this joystick problem, low-down I get straight from SVC folks.

Cheers!
VJ

Same issue, the RSA refused to replace the joystick, they demanded for a video of the malfunction for any warranty claims.

Got the second service done today. Got oil changed as I have a big ride coming up. Also replaced rear brake pad, they reckoned there was only 1k km worth of life left. Kept the old brake pads. Surprised they have only lasted 4900 km.

Common problem. My bike says Joystick Malfunction on turning on. They didn't have stock - have said 10 days for the part. Hoping it comes soon - need control for my long ride.

Ownership Update : Bagheera crosses 13000 kms

Present day odo reading : 13796 kms (post completion of Spiti ride)



Two servicings done in between :-

• Third Free Service
• General Check-up post Spiti ride.

Third Service details

Odo reading : 9763 kms

Got it serviced a little early as I was on a ride to Spiti and had stopped at Delhi for this servicing and few other preparations.

Location : Kaytee RE, Mahipalpur, Delhi

Work done

• Engine Oil Change
• Oil Filter Change
• Air Filter Change
• Steering Stem fastener bush change
• OBD scanning
• Torque check of all bolts
• Chain slack adjustment
• Chain clean/Lube
• Rear brake pad replacement
• General check up

Total servicing cost : ₹ 5839.00 including rear brake pads (costing ₹ 3300.00)

Few pics from the third free servicing.


Odo reading during the third free service


Opened up and awaiting servicing.


Must mention here that Mr Nitin, the head technician of Kaytee RE who is also OEM trained on Himalayan is a sincere soul who is really good at his work.


Oil filter being changed


The new oil filter dipped in fresh engine oil prior to installation : a good practice


In goes 2.1 litre of Liquid Gun


The air filter seemed to have lived it's life and was replaced


The rubber bushes of steering stem fastener were changed and the bolts tightened to correct torque specs


OBD scanner was used to diagnose problems, if any


All parameters were found to be satisfactory

General check up details

Odo reading : 11727 kms

Got this servicing done after returning to Delhi from the Spiti ride. It was a well deserved pampering of Bagheera who took all the beating at Spiti without batting an eyelid.

Location : Kaytee RE, Mahipalpur, Delhi

Work done

• Air Filter Cleaning
• Air box cleaning
• Steering Stem fastener kit change
• Torque check of all bolts
• Chain slack adjustment
• Chain clean/Lube
• Both brakes servicing
• General check up

Total servicing cost : ₹ 1318.00 including Steering Stem Fastener Kit(costing ₹ 720.00)

Few pics from the general check up


Odo reading during the general check up


Awaiting service at the bay


The air filter housing was found to be full of fine dust. Hence taken out for thorough cleaning


Surprisingly, the throttle body was found absolutely clean


A rare view of the engine head. Notice the spark plug


Another rare view of the hardware : the radiator fan


An interesting fact : the HT coil is attached to the air box.


The air intake was also found completely dirty and required thorough cleaning


The air box after thorough cleaning : spick and span


The steering stem fastener kit was changed for the third time : problem was excessive play in handlebar.


The culprit : worn out stem fastener rubber bush


Both bushes were found damaged.


Some "kat kat" noise had developed from front end due to centre nut getting loose. The same was changed as part ot the steering stem fastener kit


Correct torque application using the torque wrench


Thread locker applied to both steering stem fastening bolts.


And finally correct torque application to steering stem fastening bolts


The front sprocket cover was removed and sprocket cleaned thoroughly

Overall, decent work done to satisfactory standards by the technicians at Kaytee RE.:thumbs up

Have covered more than 6000 kms in last 18 days. And I must say, I'm more than happy with my decision to add Bagheera to my stable. Hoping to cross many more milestones and make many more memories together. :cool:

PS : Spiti ride details coming in travelogue section soon.

Not sure if this was posted before, and everyone watched it. Chris from Bike World did a rally on an almost stock Himalayan. The experience documented here -

https://youtu.be/NsM80XnJuVE?si=2YnKfpcWlsUJbLaF

Changed all the wiring on my H450 ( as company recommended) and took it on a Ladakh trip the very next day. I completed 3,500 km with no errors in sight. The bike performed beautifully, but I bent my front rim, though.

also 3rd service invoice attached after laddkh trip. + 2100/- for front brake pads.

+ The front indicators (due to buzzy noise) and front brake light switch are due for a change under warranty, and the parts have been ordered.

I am reading about a lot of cases of bent rims. In my understanding these rims are from Excel Malaysia which produces high quality products. So is it that the owners are pushing the machine to the extremes leading to this or there is legit issue with the product in itself ? We can't blame RE here for sure as RE doesn't manufacture them, it simply procures them.
Anyways, the thing I am trying to put forward here for discussion is that if the Excel Rims are getting bent so easily - what are we expecting from the relatively cheaper rims from some Indo-Chinese collab company that is being procured for a substanially cheaper cost.

Or is it that people are actually blowing the bent rim examples out of proportion since off-road units do tend to get their rims bent. Isn't that why rims are given in the first place so that they can be repaired on the go (mostly).

Ps, I have ordered the cross spoked rims a while back from RE CO dealership but they don't have any news about delivery yet. Running the tubeless conversion done Excel rims for now - and it's working well so far.

On a side note, has anyone here used a Rear Paddock stand with Himalayan 450 ? For those of you pulling your hair out on this question, there are some of us who have removed it for weight savings and hard stop sound when not having resonator box in its intended place. I recently purchased one but I can't seem to find a correct way to place it under the swingarm. It makes we wonder if the swingarm design even allows the room for it ? Is there any scope of using bobbins ?

In my case, that was totally my fault. bumped my bike at 70-75 km/h into a big stone (lying on the road) on an otherwise smooth road. Somehow, I managed to keep control of my bike and was pretty sure the rim was completely gone, but to my surprise, it was only a little bent.

That rare moment when I enjoyed having tubed tyre.

Is the Himi 450 a sales success in India?

Reason I ask this question is because still I'm not seeing enough numbers of them in Mumbai streets. And this begets the questions, how many are they selling monthly in India and how many are going for export. Any data points?

You can find the August 2024 figures here. About 2k units, which is decent for a 400cc motorcycle.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5848326

I see them in Hyderabad but not in large numbers. But in Himachal Pradesh, and Ladakh, every 2nd or 3rd bike on the road is a Himmy 450. Most of them being rentals.

The numbers are very interesting. From 3.3K Unit in May 24, its dropped down to 2K Unit in August24.

This could be either because:

1. Guerilla is taking some of the Himi 450 volumes
2. Initial euphoria over, sales are stabilising.

But still the numbers are better than KTM 390 by a large margin.

And another thing to note is its selling almost 70% of Xpulse numbers inspite of being 2X more expensive.

Kudos to RE team!

Question on this tubeless rim. Will there be tubeless rims of two types, one the orange one for Hanley Black models and one for rest of the models? Or will everything get orange? Or everything gets normal steel color?

Hi @balenoed, for brand new bikes specced with the tubeless spoke wheels, only the Hanle Black version will come with the golden rims. All the other colour options get black rims. Existing owners however are free to choose either the golden or black rim, as per their preference.

Cheers!

Got the joystick replaced at the service centre yesterday. Working fine now. I think the issue is not the joystick, it's the connector - I saw a video where the creator came to this conclusion.

It makes sense to me because my mode button was also not working, but it is now. They only changed the joystick and the wiring it comes with.

Here's a link to the video - https://youtu.be/9Gbdg4uR4qg?si=XSiH50VrK2k-ubjw

Hopefully this fix is permanent, or at the very least holds up through my upcoming long ride.