[Mick Bailey]

I had a good look at the Himalayan in a local dealership last week and one thing that's really disappointing is the exposed wiring around the headstock. Not just a few wires - the entire main harness bundle is exposed. Also, the sleeving is loose, allowing water ingress. When I moved the bars to the left I could see the harness getting really strained. This is just not good enough. It's the same failure point that's repeatedly been a problem with both mine and my wife's Electra X. I really like this bike and I'm in the market for a new machine, but I don't want to buy into problems for the future when the warranty has expired.
 

[Morgan65]

That’s odd Mick. The wiring is just fine on my Himalayan and my friend’s as well. In fully locking the bars left to right there in plenty of slack in the wiring. As far as the wires being tidy it look normal to me. Not like a Harley Davidson where on most models the wires run inside the bars. But then at $4,449 MSRP we are not paying HD prices for it.

[Mick Bailey]

Maybe this is an example of poor quality control. If I get chance to call in I'll take some pictures.

[Mick Bailey]

I went back to the dealer today and the bike had gone, but there were two other new models in the showroom that I had a good look round. The first thing I noticed is how tidy the wiring was on these particular machines and the connectors were located inside a hefty yet flexible (slightly rubbery feel) plastic tube. None of the loom core was visible and there was no strain on the wiring.

By contrast, late last week I saw a Himalayan parked up and it had exposed wiring and a number of connectors poking out just where the wiring disappears under the tank. A similar situation to the first bike I'd seen. This bike also had badly-formed rear pannier frames with corrugations on the inside of the bends and on one side the tubing had collapsed. Being aware of this caused me to take a closer look at the frames on the two new bikes and they have perfect bends.

I don't know why there's some variation, but the new bikes I've looked over with a critical eye are excellent. I'm hoping that the bikes with the issues are just blips as Enfield gets to grips with production. In a showroom full of bikes from the main manufacturers the Himalayan stands out with it's solidity, design and impression of dependable durability. Regardless of price.