Author Topic: G-5 Re-call  (Read 4064 times)

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Kevin Mahoney

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on: June 10, 2009, 12:22:57 am
Last Friday we received a call from Royal Enfield telling us of a recall of some G-5's. We were able to notify all of the owners in the US (only 6) by that evening. While the engineers at the factory were quite certain that only the VIN numbers given to us were affected, after much discussion they decided that to be on the safe side they would recall all G-5's. We got that notice this morning and have been calling dealers who are calling customers as we speak. This is a very aggressive way to handle the problem and will cause some customer inconvenience but it is the "right" thing to do.
    
For the US, any bike with the UCE engine in it will be officially recalled. (See important note below if you are from another country). We want all of our customers to stop riding those bikes right away. The actual official recall will come a bit later. The official notice  process involves the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and requires some paperwork and for them to approve the recall letter. The people from that agency have been very helpful. It is one of those cases where someone from the govt, actually is helpful and not a hindrance. I have been impressed. Royal Enfield and CMW decided that rather than wait for the official notice we would call all of our customers right away to keep them safe.
  
 The problem involves possible insufficient clearance between the mainshaft of the transmission and third gear. Third gear rotates all of the time on the mainshaft. There has been at least one case  where a bike  (not in the US) had the gear seize to the shaft. When they replicated the problem at the factory the failure seemed to be preceded by a screeching noise and only happened at highway speeds when the transmission is good and hot. That is not to say that if you ride it slowly it won't happen. The engineers have implemented a fix which involves more clearance between the shaft and third gear as well as a couple of other improvements. It is a good fix and will solve the problem.

We are now three work days into the process. We have not announced how we are going to handle the repair of these bikes. The reason is simple, when we formulate the final plan we want it to be right, timely and definitive. The fix is a good one so once it is done it will be done for good.

We don't think that we will be judged because we have  a recall , but rather on how   we handle it. Royal Enfield and CMW (as well as Watsonian and the other importers) are acutely aware of this. We are all very small companies but we are very confident that we can do this effectively and efficiently.

If you have any questions you can call us at 800-201-7472 or call your dealer. However we really can't tell you any more that you are reading here nor can your dealer. It has always been our policy to be open and forthcoming with our customers so what information we have will be passed along to our dealers and customers as soon as we know it. Please don't spend time speculating as there is no point. You will know when we know.

The good news is that this recall will not cover any of the C-5's that we have coming.
It also does not cover any other bikes or models we have sold in the past such as Lean Burn models or Cast Iron models with the 5 speed transmission.

IMPORTANT NOTE
This information ONLY APPLIES IN THE US. In  other countries other models may be involved, I can't say and I won't speculate. Please contact your dealer in your home country as there may be different issues and different models.
 
« Last Edit: June 10, 2009, 03:27:49 am by Kevin Mahoney »
Best Regards,
Kevin Mahoney
www.cyclesidecar.com


Kevin Mahoney

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Reply #1 on: June 10, 2009, 09:57:37 pm
Kevin has kindly permitted us to place the following notice on his site.
We at Watsonian-Squire Ltd, the UK distributors for Royal Enfield are also instigating a recall and have issued the following statement.
Recall on EFI gearbox.
A possible fault exists in the gearboxes on all the EFI machines with VIN numbers below those ending in 001116. Machines within this range should not be ridden.
A batch of components has been identified as the cause and the necessary plans are being made now to change these in all the affected machines.
VOSA (the UK Govt agency) are involved and as soon as the paperwork is completed the recall reference number will be published.
We appreciate that this problem will be both disappointing and inconvenient for owners, be assured that we are working hard and with all possible speed to resolve this issue.
Watsonian-Squire
Best Regards,
Kevin Mahoney
www.cyclesidecar.com


Kevin Mahoney

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Reply #2 on: June 17, 2009, 06:35:27 pm
UPDATE FOR THE USA

This update only applies to the USA
We now have a solid plan for the recall mentioned earlier. The factory has assembled repair kits and they are being airshipped from India. We expect that we will have kits in dealers hands within two weeks more or less. Dealers will make appointments with customers and do the repair. Of course there is no cost to the customers. We will also re-set the two year warranty to the date the repair is finished. As I mentioned before long dealers and affected customers will get a government approved letter with all of the details within a week or so. The C-5's and the Military G-5's are NOT affected by this recall as they were manufactured after the last recalled VIN number.

If you are from Europe I do not know what their schedule is. They have a lot more bikes to deal with than we do so it may be a bit more complicated for them. Check with your European dealer for more information, we have none.

Best Regards,
Kevin Mahoney
www.cyclesidecar.com