[ebonho]

Foundation bolts of the engine are never to be touched. Even if RE is using them to anchor its own guards, its absolutely flying in the face of mechanical logic. Guards get damaged. They are meant for that. And then they need to be replaced.

I have the exact same views on the twin pinch bolts of the fork legs, which thousands of junta happily use to anchor the brackets for their auxiliary lights. It is extremely unwise to do that. But then you have auxiliary light manufacturers actually making and selling brackets for exactly that location.

Cheers, Doc

[Rahulkool]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Foundation bolts of the engine are never to be touched. Even if RE is using them to anchor its own guards, its absolutely flying in the face of mechanical logic. Guards get damaged. They are meant for that. And then they need to be replaced.

I have the exact same views on the twin pinch bolts of the fork legs, which thousands of junta happily use to anchor the brackets for their auxiliary lights. It is extremely unwise to do that. But then you have auxiliary light manufacturers actually making and selling brackets for exactly that location.

Cheers, Doc

I absolutely agree to this, whenever buying accessories i always try to find out first the mounts, I will not be using those critical bolts for mounting accessories. Another example of this is rear tyre huggers mounted with the axle bolts, i have seen flimsy aluminium plates used for it, it will definitely affect the screw alignment. Only way this could be ok if the mount is casted in the same shape as the fittings on the swing arm. Many bigger International brand i see do this way.

[BullettuPaandi]

Originally Posted by maheshm619

While it seems great theoretically, the actual work will be horrible as most hooks will slip with spanners and allen keys. It may still work well for lower torque settings as slip can be reduced by something like a teflon tape , as seen in screenshot.

Sorry, just noticing this post after clicking on my own post from 'Hot Threads'.

Part of what I love about such hacks, or as we call it, jugaad, is that there's no 'over-jugaad-ing' as opposed to 'over-engineering', 'over-building', etc. It's just about being creative and scrappy to get a given job done. It's just as appreciable even when it isn't particularly elegant or simple, so long as it gets the job done.

I mention all this because, this is what I do overcome issues you mention. I use my already versatile key-chain to hook on to the scale and pull the tool with the leather band, if it is slipping. Quoting myself from an other thread:

Originally Posted by BullettuPaandi

Attachment 2607003

I like using key-chains of this design, as the clip/hook/carabiner is quite useful : hook on to belt loop to free the pockets; hold reasonably heavy items, that rest on the tank, in place while riding; hook on to the top of the shopper bag, when I'm walking to the bazaar in a lungi or veshti, making it easy to fetch the house key when the bag is full, etc. The versatility alone is worth it, plus I like leather!

This is probably not the only solution, which I think is the beauty of it. If I didn't have this key-chain, I would've probably tried wrapping the tape around both the hook and the tool, to avoid slipping. I haven't found myself in need to apply more torque than what can be easily applied with this setup yet (a higher torque setting), but increasing the arm length for more leverage - therefore less pull required - should do. For allen keys like in the picture, for instance, you can use the handle of a removable screwdriver. If your motorcycle came with a tool bag, odds are you already have one.

Point is, jugaad is not a recipe, rather a mindset!

[mercedised]

I cannot digest the fact that fitting a external accessory like crash guard voids the warranty even if it is fitted without tampering with engine mount (like seen in video posted by zana). What's coming next? Fitting a aftermarket engine bash plate will also void warranty? Fitting rear luggage racks should also void warranty? Fitting a aftermarket windshield should also void the warranty? By this logic you cannot fit anything on the bike, shameless and baseless claims to hide a engineering failure by RE.

[VijayAnand1]

In simple terms.

Trust is like a vase, once broken, it's shard and broken. No amount of Fevibond or Fevicryl can bring the trust back. Perforce to say, and it truly is flying in the face of logic, how a potential safety mod ends up being a potential hazard.

Though I am not trying to appease to Zana; they have a solid, valid, simple and convincing theory borne out of experience -- to say what they gotta say is itself a testament to a clean hand. Glad Zana did this video so that potential and existing users know the actual insight hidden in the never-ending haystack of dubiety.

If the truth is to be beheld, to both the protagonists and antagonists alike, is that the crash guard manufacturer themselves should come forward, just like Zana did, and mention the questionable cavity their guards slide in, which would simply make a world of difference and will really be a highlight over and above RE's investigation.

Cheers!
VJ

[IamAsHter]

Here’s the update from the onwer of the motorcycle of the 2nd instance.

Kindly check it out

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8Gy5...lrdTZpcGozaGJj

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by IamAsHter

Here’s the update from the onwer of the motorcycle of the 2nd instance.

Kindly check it out

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8Gy5...lrdTZpcGozaGJj

So was it the after market crash guard or the fact that it was "not installed properly"? That is not clear yet. Nor the make of the crash guard (still mysteriously missing).

Cheers, Doc

[BullettuPaandi]

Originally Posted by ebonho

So was it the after market crash guard or the fact that it was "not installed properly"? That is not clear yet. Nor the make of the crash guard (still mysteriously missing).

Cheers, Doc

The voice-over (owner's?) says it was due to not properly installing the after-market crash guard. Make is most likely LCB (refer post #31).

But for some unsaid reason they've decided to not 'properly' re-install it at all; & the bike is spotted with the factory 'Rally Protection' after the chassis change. I have a pretty good idea/judgement of what probably happened, but it's unnecessarily off-topic for our discussion. All I'm willing to say is: "Good for him".

For the good of the rest of the owners, 'Rally Protection' appears to be the best bet of the bunch, as of yet. But I think running without any crash guard & practising caution while riding, and letting the factory guard prove itself for a while, would be the wise thing to do.

[marcussantiago]

Installing a crash guard and it causing the chassis to snap, is like if someone installed a cellphone charger in their car (something almost everyone does) and it somehow causes the battery to explode. And it happens more than once on the same car make / model / year.

Whichever way you cut it, you have to accept that at some or all levels, the car was badly designed and not well thought-out if engineers didn't foresee this situation happening.

Admittedly I'm no engineer, but you don't need to be one to understand this.

Here, to simplify things I've made a table of excuses and counterpoints (as far as I can see it):

[BullettuPaandi]

I don't think the crash guard sharing mounting points with the engine is necessarily a 'bad design' in and of itself. I'm of course, assuming the weakest link is the crash guard itself & impact doesn't get to the mounting point - but this is expected of any crash guard mounted anywhere, so it's a fair assumption.

I can get behind this simply because it looks cleaner. Any dedicated mounting point I've ever seen on a motorcycle hasn't managed to not look utilitarian, to put it mildly. It's just a plate of metal welded onto the chassis. But, in most motorcycles, like my own XPulse, I'm willing to look past this because, well the rest of the motorcycle also looks utilitarian. I didn't really buy the XPulse for looks - nobody does. Now, although I like the design of the old Himalayan better, I do think the 'Rally Protection' adds to whatever the design they were trying with this new one; would even say that the bike looks complete with it.

I'd feel like beating a dead horse here, to get into where I think RE went wrong. I tried to explain with many words in my earlier posts, but I'll just quote @prakash_ajp here, who puts it rather succinctly!

Originally Posted by prakash_ajp

not being proactive

[true_sedan]

Calling all these incidents as design flaw is a bit too brash. There are 1000s of these new Himalayans on the road running successfully. Few instances where the chassis failed have more to do with poor QC during manufacturing stage. I would rest the matter at that.

[RD150]

Why are other bikes not facing chassis failures?
Do all other bikes have OEM crash guards? Do all other bikes, always get the crash guard installed from experts? The problem is with the Himalayan and not the crash guards.

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by true_sedan

Calling all these incidents as design flaw is a bit too brash. There are 1000s of these new Himalayans on the road running successfully. Few instances where the chassis failed have more to do with poor QC during manufacturing stage. I would rest the matter at that.

This is all hypothesis - both design flaw and bad QC as reasons and can only be argued for or countered with more theories. My counter against bad QC would be, why only the Himalayan? How does RE ensure impeccable QC for other bikes?

Now, to corroborate the design flaw thoery, a design flaw need not surface all the time. It's possible that it happens only in certain scenarios, could even be a corner case. Who knows, it might even be a design flaw accentuated by a bad QC. In short, without a scientific investigation based facts, we are all wasting our time here.

[Captain Slow]

Just one question comes to my mind? Why only the RE bikes are affected by the chassis breaking after the installation of aftermarket crash guards? I don't see this problem with the Suzuki's, Honda's or KTMs?

[Sebring]

Because the engine is hanging on 3 bolts

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

Just one question comes to my mind? Why only the RE bikes are affected by the chassis breaking after the installation of aftermarket crash guards? I don't see this problem with the Suzuki's, Honda's or KTMs?