[suitcasejefferson]

First of all, I REALLY wish the Himalayan had a carburetor. I replaced the crappy EFI on my 2013 B5 Bullet with a carburetor, and it runs 100% better. I ALWAYS recommend that an engine be at least mostly warmed up before taking off with it. It is very hard on a cold engine to put a load on it, whether carbureted or EFI. Metal (especially aluminum) is weak and brittle when cold. It wears faster and breaks easier. And warming it up too quick, by putting a load on it, can cause it to expand too rapidly, possibly causing thermal cracks. Also, the engines clearances are not correct until it reaches operating temperature.

As for the early Japanese bikes, some of them really were junk. It took them over a decade to get things sorted out. Japan was a special case. They understood quality. I have NEVER seen a quality motor vehicle made by a Chinese company. Not only that, but I have seen no improvement at all. I had a Chinese dual sport and a Chinese scooter. Both were junk. India seems to get it a little better than China. I have had a Kinetic TFR moped, made in India, beat the crap out of it, rode it off road, you just couldn't kill it. It was still running fine when I sold it. I have an '09 Genuine Stella scooter (Vespa P series copy) made by LML in India, bought new, now has over 11,000 miles on it. Top end seized in under 200 miles, repaired under warranty, stator failed around 7,000 miles, replaced by me, and that is it. Not bad for a 150cc 2 stroke whoever made it. The Enfield had more problems. Rear tire chewed the wiring harness into on the first day I rode it. Exhaust nuts and studs kept falling out, I carried spares and a wrench. I finally replaced them with bolts and safety wired them. One battery cable broke. The rear mounts on the tank would have cracked if I hadn't discovered a problem with them and installed shims between the tank and frame. Finally the rear brake locked up. I found the shoes did not fit properly, removed them, and kept riding without a rear brake which never really worked to begin with. The brake lock up stretched the chain, and I replaced that. Bike is now stored in what used to be my living room, in need of new tires and rear brake, and some other maintenance. It starts and runs fine. Fortunately I never had a cracked frame or cracked engine cases like I heard so much about. The Himalayan got off to a rocky start. I heard they had to fix 36 problems with the original bike. I'm hoping it is better quality than the Bullet.