[Bilgemaster]

Please excuse me for not being some incomprehensible spambot. They seem to be the foremost contributors to this Himalayan sub-forum lately. But I just popped in here from the "Iron-Bellied Geezers" neighborhood to tell you whippersnappers that there's a very pleasant to watch YouTube review of the Himalayan titled, "Royal Enfield Himalayan BRUTALLY HONEST REVIEW: A McDouble of a Motorcycle!"  found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQwA5t8cnkE. Maybe you've caught it already? Maybe not.

If you enjoy the majestic scenery of the wild southwest like I do, with scads of mesas and buttes and arroyas, replete with swoopy drone footage of same, you'll have a fine time...and  the fellow makes lots of good fair points about the Himi.

Now, get off my lawn!

BTW, WTF is going on with the Forum's word-wrapping? Have we no margins, gentlemen?

[Richard230]

Thanks for posting the link to that video, Bilgemaster. It was a really great review. And those riders sure can ride in the dirt a lot better than I can. 

[heloego]

+1 

[Guaire]

+1 

Yep.
By the 0:37 mark I would be like riding in Puckerville.
  The reviewer works with a lot of common sense, as well as experience and knowing what's in the market.

[tooseevee]

....... there's a very pleasant to watch YouTube review of the Himalayan titled, "Royal Enfield Himalayan BRUTALLY HONEST REVIEW: A McDouble of a Motorcycle!". Maybe you've caught it already? Maybe not.

If you enjoy the majestic scenery of the wild southwest like I do, with scads of mesas and buttes and arroyas, replete with swoopy drone footage of same, you'll have a fine time...and  the fellow makes lots of good fair points about the Himi.

         That is simply one of the best I've ever seen from any criteria you might want to use (except the Himalayan trips).

          I watched it with the sound off so as not to be influenced and I was impressed. I wish I still had the ability and the balls and the confidence to ride that road. Now my palms just drip sweat when the edges give you no place to go but down; badly down. I think I'd actually make a Faustian deal to get just one whole day and then pack it in.

       Now I'll go put the sound on ("Somebody spoke and I went into a dream").

[suitcasejefferson]

eveRide makes great videos, but I disagree with him about a lot of what he considers important on a motorcycle. I really don't understand his hangup with the DRZ. I'd have to have a ladder to get on one, and don't need it's performance. I'm a trail rider. I ride much slower and on much smoother trails. I'm way too old and banged up to ride like he does, though I did once, and on mostly 2 strokes. He mentioned, then dismissed one of my favorite things about the Himalayan. I like it's looks, it's "oldness" and what I consider it's desirability over all the latest plastic dirt rockets. I have no use for an MX bike, and that is what most modern dual sports are styled after. Most of them have "bump stops" instead of seats. I'm going to be sitting down most of the time. I've been riding a heavily modified Yamaha XT225 for nearly 15 years and 30,000+ miles. It may be the best trail bike ever made. But it is totally useless on the road, at least for me. The seat is like sitting on a 2x4. By the time I get to a place I can ride off road, I'm in so much pain I don't feel like riding anymore.



I do have to say I was super impressed with the way the Himalayan held up on that ride. I expected it to break in half. Sadly it lacks Japanese quality, but it also lacks the Japanese price. And if it will handle riding like that, it should easily handle the way I would ride it.

If you really want to see a worthless AND expensive 450 Japanese bike, check out the new $10,500 Honda CRF450L. I have absolutely no idea what anyone would use that bike for. 

[tooseevee]

If you really want to see a worthless AND expensive 450 Japanese bike, check out the new $10,500 Honda CRF450L. I have absolutely no idea what anyone would use that bike for.

      Isn't that bike like a modern 6-Day Trials bike for absolutely horrible, bike-destroying courses where you're always on the pegs and never sit down?

[suitcasejefferson]

It is supposed to be a dual sport, as indicated by the "L" at the end. But aside from the ridiculous price, you are supposed to change the oil every 600 miles, adjust the valves every 1900 miles, it has a tiny gas tank, made out of titanium, that gives it about a 100 mile range, and is designed in such a way that would make it difficult and expensive to make a larger plastic tank. The exhaust has a catalytic converter in it, and the EFI is tuned so that it puts out significantly less power than the CRF450 MX bike it is based on. And Honda designed the ECU so it could not be tampered with. Someone is supposedly working on a new ECU and exhaust, but they are expected to cost over $1000,00, on top of an already $10,500 bike. I see this thing as a huge mistake by Honda.

[Richard230]

It is supposed to be a dual sport, as indicated by the "L" at the end. But aside from the ridiculous price, you are supposed to change the oil every 600 miles, adjust the valves every 1900 miles, it has a tiny gas tank, made out of titanium, that gives it about a 100 mile range, and is designed in such a way that would make it difficult and expensive to make a larger plastic tank. The exhaust has a catalytic converter in it, and the EFI is tuned so that it puts out significantly less power than the CRF450 MX bike it is based on. And Honda designed the ECU so it could not be tampered with. Someone is supposedly working on a new ECU and exhaust, but they are expected to cost over $1000,00, on top of an already $10,500 bike. I see this thing as a huge mistake by Honda.

Would that be a huge mistake like the oval-piston, V4, 750 that Honda sold during the early 1980's? Or the 1981 500 V-twin turbo, or the Gold Wing-powered, praying mantis thing sold about 15 years ago?  When it comes to experimental engineering and/or styling sales mistakes (or are they "adventures"), apparently Honda can afford to make whatever they want and doesn't care about sales. The goofy stuff just gets funded by the profits from their auto sales. 

And the owners can whistle Dixie when trying to source replacement parts after sales crater and the vehicle goes out of production. 

[Bilgemaster]

If you enjoyed that gorgeous YouTube video by eveRide ADV  that kicked off this thread, then here's a "must-see" followup by the same fellows with LOTS of drama.

Executive Summary:  A Himi and some gumption WILL get you through the rough shit.

[Paris]

This is a great review of the Himalayan, but you have to watch the follow-on video to get the true story, which rebuts all of the critical points the review makes.  After he finished the review video, the reviewer and his friend decided to continue on the trail, which they thought was a loop.  That turned out to be a bad mistake. The trail got worse and worse, and finally nearly disappeared. They became dehydrated and resorted to filtering mud for a few drops.  Finally, sometime in the early morning, they made it to a graded road.  The point the follow on video inadvertently makes is that the Himalayan took it all, it handled and overcame every obstacle. The other bike, which the review praised, was a nightmare.  Without the Himalayan to pull them through, they would have had to call Search and Rescue.

The other point the reviewer makes is one we should all know by now: DO NOT put synthetic motor oil in a motorcycle. It contains friction modifiers which ruin a wet clutch.  Unfortunately, the reviewer did not know this, which cause the Himalayan to develop clutch issues, which later went away when he used the proper semi synthetic motorcycle oil.

BTW, I own an EFI 500, but I want to get a Himalayan.  The only thing that stops me from writing as check today is uncertainty over whether a 650 cc version will come out in the Spring.

[Bilgemaster]

[...Snip!]

The other point the reviewer makes is one we should all know by now: DO NOT put synthetic motor oil in a motorcycle. It contains friction modifiers which ruin a wet clutch.  Unfortunately, the reviewer did not know this, which cause the Himalayan to develop clutch issues, which later went away when he used the proper semi synthetic motorcycle oil.

[Snip!...]

As a true "Rider of the Archaic", I must point out that my old "Iron Belly" with its separate primary drive running about 800ml of Type F ATF instead of the originally-advised 420 ml of 15W40 at the fill hole, has been perfectly content with its engine cocktail of Mobil1 15W50 full synthetic with just a dash of Marvel Mystery Oil and only a couple of ounces of that Lucas Break-In Oil Additive goo for its extra zinc anti-wear goodness: Over 5,000 miles on the clock since I've had her, and I've yet to have had to adjust those mechanical tappets even once running this brew. No leaks, no clutch slippage, no hair loss in beloved household pets.

So yeah, UCE owners should maybe seek out some JASO-compliant spew, but we Pre-Unit Geezers can go Full-On Syntho-Pop as it may please us with no ill effect. Really.

[mattsz]

Aren't there plenty of JASO certified synthetic motorcycle oils?

[Bilgemaster]

Aren't there plenty of JASO certified synthetic motorcycle oils?

Indeed. But what took me aback was Paris' far too blanket statement, "DO NOT put synthetic motor oil in a motorcycle." That is simply not true. My old motorcycle demonstrably LOVES the synthy stuff.

[heloego]

   Absolutely. I've been using Mobil 1 V-Twin full synthetic in my C5 since new and in the ElectraX for over 6K miles and absolutely no problems.

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