[CDeckner]

So this may be a question better answered by Kevin himself but I was wondering how many of you have dealt with warranty claims through a dealer. I brought my 2015 C5, which was purchased in April, in to the dealer due to the battery cable breaking. They have informed me, this was Tuesday, that it would take a week and a half to hear back on the claim before they could order a replacement and fix my bike. Does this sound like a reasonable time frame? Is it due to Royal Enfield now having an office here in the states and CMW not handling the dealer network here anymore or is it maybe something else that I'm unaware of. The bike is my main means of transport and being with her for possibly two weeks or more is a little daunting.

[The Old Coot]

I've never had to wait that long and they ordered the part right then and there.

As far as the battery cable, cut the end off and crimp a 10g ring on and be happy. I think they all break so a replacement will do as well.

[wildbill]

yeah -do it yourself and save the wait. its really not that hard to do and a good feeling to know you did it yourself

[heloego]

If they are a decent dealer they'd fix it and submit the paperwork to keep a satisfied customer.
Better off fixing it yourself. You get familiar faster with your bike.
Put a new terminal on yourself and ride on. 

[tenacres650]

If they are a decent dealer they'd fix it and submit the paperwork to keep a satisfied customer.

+1 on this comment
when mine broke my dealer fixed it while I waited (not with the original part either, as it will just break again)

[Arizoni]

I would suggest to the dealer that he should study the small black wire that is connected close to the end of the heavy wire that attaches to the battery.

Under the rubber like covering, the wire has probably broken.

That small wire is part of the main wiring harness so if it was going to be "replaced", the entire wiring harness would have to be changed.

Getting a new wiring harness could take a lot of time and that may be the reason the dealer said it would take such a long time.

Then, after getting a replacement harness, a lot of the motorcycle would have to be taken apart to install it.

All in all, too much time and too much work for what could be a simple repair.

[wildbill]

I think when you have an issue with these bike and you will - there are two things that come into play.
1. how far are you from the dealer.
well if your only a few miles - run it around to him and get him to do what he should be doing in the first place. fixing it if shits itself...lol. then the problem is solved and all is well and again happy. but I will say one thing from past experience and I can honestly say I am the best private buyer to advise on this.
just because these guys are dealers doesn't mean they know all about these indian bikes and have all the answers.
when I asked one dealer why the new c5 had straight forks  - he told me  it was cosmetically more appealing to the eye.
when I first hit the forum it was a totally different story and to sum who had problems with the off set front forks on early c5's and pretty scary handling too. 
2. now if your like me and have a 400 mile round trip to/from the dealer I'd say a trip for a quick fix like a neg battery cable could be a waste of time and money and I like to waste both.
but saying that the next best thing is this forum which comes into play. either via search engine or a quick question. most questions have been asked in the past 100 pages and times when I have little to do I might randomly hit page say 100 and track forward the newer threads. usually pretty interesting reading at times.
without this forum and members questions etc I'd say a lot of the bikes may have not gone the distance but this forum has certainly saved a lot of disheartened original bike owners from selling on their bikes to another buyer.

[Rattlebattle]

I'm inclined to agree with wildbill on this, except that for minor matters such as a cable break I'd fix it myself even though the dealer is only walking distance away. I have taken the risk of servicing my new C5 Classic LE Dispatch myself. While the supplying dealer is an expert on re-chipping modern bikes and is a very accomplished racer and a nice bloke all round, he and his mechanics don't really understand what these REs are about and how they differ in fettling and servicing needs to modern bikes, including Chinese ones. The closest I can think of are Urals. An example: he didn't realise that the correct oil is 20W/50 SL grade, so it was suppied with the more common 10W/40 on the basis that the particular make had always served him well in his racing days. In the UK many RE delaers are new to the marque, so they won't all have the necessary expertise. Apart from that, by doing the work myself I can establish what is going on in the engine from the deposits on the magnetic drain plugs. Anyway, in the UK at least, a warranty cannot supersede consumer law, so irrespective of what the warranty says, if there is a major fault that is in no way connected to servicing work (eg the starter motor packs up) I should be able to sue successfully for a replacement. I doubt that RE would really want to contest this in court. So unless the failure can be shown to be a direct result of bad or ignored maintenance I would imagine RE would play ball. I have all the receipts for oils, filters etc. We'll see how I get on; touch wood it's been ok anyway apart from a silly little guard thing having to be removed before the pop rivets let go completely...Better off without it, as it only got in the way of the kickstart.

[suitcasejefferson]

I have had my B5 for a year and a half now, and have had no warranty claims. I have had two issues, one where the rear tire wore through the part of the wiring harness going to the tail light, brake light, license plate light, and rear turn signals, which also took out the front turn signals. The harness was routed under the rear fender. I repaired it, and rerouted it under the seat. That was when the bike was only a few days old. I also have had continuing problems with the exhaust header nuts/studs coming loose. I finally found a way to solve that problem. I also had a non functional rear brake, which I fixed myself. Turned out the shoes were not centered. To me, all these things would have been warranty issues on a new Japanese bike, but the Enfield is different. I would also fix the battery cable issue myself, and do it right. If a dealer fixes it, it will likely break again. Now if the engine blew up, that would be a warranty issue for me. But I knew the Enfield was going to have minor issues when I bought it. My nearest dealer is 120 miles away. And I am very much a do it yourselfer.

As far as warranty service, have you ever had to deal with the warranty on a Japanese bike? Talk about a nightmare. Sometimes the bike will be in the shop a month or more. And newer Japanese bikes do not lend themselves to do it yourself type repairs like the Enfield. I have yet to find a Japanese brand dealer that cared anything about their customers. I had a much more pleasant experience buying my Enfield than any new Japanese bike.

I get the idea that many new Enfield owners think the bike will be as reliable as a Japanese bike, and have even seen comparisons between Enfields and Japanese bikes. The two are worlds apart. A new Japanese bike will be nearly 100% reliable. I expect that from one. I did not expect that from an Enfield. I could have bought a new Yamaha SR400 or a Suzuki LS650 if all I wanted was a big single. But I find those bikes nearly 100% boring compared to an Enfield. I consider the Enfield to be basically a vintage British bike as far a build quality and reliability go, and deal with it for the wonderful Enfield riding experience, where the bike itself plays a big part in that experience. The look, sound, and feel of an Enfield are totally unlike any other new bike you can buy in the U.S. as far as I know, other than perhaps a Ural. I plan to have one of those someday as well.

[Captwilly]

Yeah you are better off fixing any minor problems with the help of the forum.
From my experience you might as well not even have a warranty with a RE, and do all of the service yourself. A few months after buying my C5 the clear coat started peeling off of the tank, I contacted my dealer and he told me that he would start the paperwork, some months later when I moved back to Colorado I checked with my new dealer and there was no paper work started at all. I contacted the RE dealer in Denver Sportique Scooters about a nagging charging issue and one person told me that they did warranty work and when I called back another on told me that they do not, but they would do an oil change for $250 plus parts.

[tenacres650]

I would suggest to the dealer that he should study the small black wire that is connected close to the end of the heavy wire that attaches to the battery.

Under the rubber like covering, the wire has probably broken.

That small wire is part of the main wiring harness so if it was going to be "replaced", the entire wiring harness would have to be changed.

I don't know if your bike is different to mine, but the black negative cable is only about a foot long and is easy to replace? It's not part of the complete loom.

 

[The Old Coot]

There's the negative cable and there's also a black wire that is part of the harness. 

[suitcasejefferson]

Right now I'm in Portland, OR, 1300 miles from my bike. But I had already planned on replacing both cables completely. That black wire can be cut where it is attached to the battery cable, and you can either crimp or solder a terminal on it that would attach to the battery post the same way my battery tender pigtail does. I never did look into where the that wire went. It pretty much has to be something that requires a separate ground. I have discovered a few things on the Enfield that were basically rigged when changes were made, rather than completely redesigning everything, the way the Japanese do. I actually prefer Enfield's way. I think it makes the bike more do it yourself friendly than the constant redesign of Japanese bikes. The Enfield has very basic wiring, other than the ecu that controls the fuel injection.

[The Old Coot]

I was talking to a bud and we were looking over my C5 and he popped up with "I bet we could rebuild this thing with a monkey wrench and couple of screwdrivers". That's was not a put down from him we'd spend about 2 months overhauling his Ducati and it was a most hateful job.

My KLR is a simple beast BUT the C5 is even simpler. I like that in a bike it means I CAN fix it at home without spending a ton on special tools.

[suitcasejefferson]

My Yamaha XT225 is also a very simple bike. It is easy to get the engine out, and you can even remove the cam chain without splitting the cases. It is basically the same as a KLR (I have owned 2 KLRs) just smaller, and without the liquid cooling. It is also a SOHC design. I wouldn't hesitate to rebuild it if necessary, but it looks like it will run forever. My Vulcan 750 has a nightmare of an engine, with 4 cam chains, 2 jackshafts, 4 camshafts, 8 valves (v-twin) 4 spark plugs, shaft drive, a counterbalancer, and liquid cooling. You have to remove the engine (not a fun job) to replace the stator, which I did once. But I wouldn't even consider rebuilding it. For one thing besides being ridiculously over complicated, it was not designed to be rebuilt. Doing so would require replacing half the engine. It would be far cheaper and easier to just buy another bike. I don't think I would have any problems rebuilding an Enfield.