[USBullet500]

Hi,

I have himalayan bs4 2018 model. My motorcycle does not start today after two weeks. I had it connected to my battery charger all the time. I tried two of the following steps and it did not help.

1) I tested my battery and it shows 12.5v. So its good battery and its fully charged.
2)  I checked my spark plug and its good. I have less than 4k miles on it.

Another issue I have recently came across a week ago is my gear indicator does not show the gear number when I switch from neutral. It just shows “—“ gear number for anything other than neutral. I looked up youtube and people who had similar problem told to disconnect the negative terminal of the battery and connect it after some time. But that did not help. Not sure if these both are related. I appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks,

[AzCal Retred]

A fully charged lead acid battery will read 13.2 - 13.8 volts, not 12.5 volts. The plate condition determines ability to discharge current to a load, and is determined by load testing. A battery is fully able to read 12.5 - 13 volts unloaded and yet not be able to push a load.

Spark plugs are cheap, and the ability to throw a spark in open clean air isn't a guarantee that they'll work under combustion chamber pressure. 4000 miles on a plug is about 3x longer than mine run in my Bullet. Put in a new one, no reason to fight it. With a hot battery, kill switch in RUN position, key on, there should be a nice fat spark at your new spark plug. If not, get a good repair manual and start asking Himalayan ignition system questions of the forum gurus.

You don't say how you tested either the plug or battery, so I'd spring for a new plug and hook the charger up to the battery and try again with the kick starter.

I believe the early 2018s had a carburettor. If so, I'd take off the float bowl & check for any dust, water, varnish residue, anything other than fresh clean gas. The petcock strainer just keeps out big chunks, it doesn't really do much. A 10-15 micron range inline filter is actually going to do you some good. If you find solids, go to the auto supply or hardware store & get a filter & install it. If you find solids, varnish or residue in the bowl, try blasting back up the jet passages with some carb cleaner spray. If it's water corrosion, disassemble I clean thoroughly. Hitchcock's carry any needed parts.

If your Himalayan is fuel injected, there are a lot of reasons it might not start. That's an arena for Viczena's expertise. As a "Big Picture" test, put in a new plug, hook up the battery charger, spray some starting fluid in the intake, kick it through and see if it pops a few times. Then you'll know if it's fuel delivery or spark. If it's fuel, get a good repair manual and start asking EFI questions of the forum gurus. Either you learn to be an EFI tech or you'll pay the shop very well indeed.

And all this assumes that the mechanical end is OK. Does the compression feel the same as it used to?

Start digging, and good hunting - ACR -

[zimmemr]

Hi,

I have himalayan bs4 2018 model. My motorcycle does not start today after two weeks. I had it connected to my battery charger all the time. I tried two of the following steps and it did not help.

1) I tested my battery and it shows 12.5v. So its good battery and its fully charged.
2)  I checked my spark plug and its good. I have less than 4k miles on it.

Another issue I have recently came across a week ago is my gear indicator does not show the gear number when I switch from neutral. It just shows “—“ gear number for anything other than neutral. I looked up youtube and people who had similar problem told to disconnect the negative terminal of the battery and connect it after some time. But that did not help. Not sure if these both are related. I appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks,

Since you didn't specify, I'm going to assume your bike cranks but doesn't start and that you are in the US, meaning the bike has EFI. If that's not the case please correct me.

The most likely suspect is the the fuel pump. They've been known to stick or sieze up on a few of 2018's mostly due to debris in the fuel tank.

To do a quick and dirty test, turn on the ignition, but don't hit the starter button, you should be able to hear the fuel pump run for a few seconds as it pressurizes the system. If your not sure, remove the fuel line, set up something to catch the fuel and turn on the switch, fuel should gusher out so be careful. If it doesn't, check the appropriate fuse and relay, just to make sure the pump is getting power. If that stuff looks good remove the pump and either give it a good cleaning or replace it.

I don't think a bad gear indicator sensor will create a crank/no start situation. In my experiance any sensor failure that prevents the bike from starting such as a bad clutch safety switch will also prevent the engine from turing over. But it might be a good idea to read through the appropriate section of the shop manual, as I've been wrong before.

Please let us know what happens. Good luck.

[USBullet500]

Sorry for the late response. I appreciate all the replies posted. I plugged the battery to the tender overnight and tried again this morning and it starts. It was earlier connected to the tender for over 2 weeks. Not sure if it disconnected somehow. But the overnight charging helped. Mine is a EFI. I will also get a new plug and throw it in. Thanks for all your responses.

[AzCal Retred]

Glad of your success! Electronic circuitry ofttimes has "anxiety sensing" or "impatience sensing" circuitry built in, explaining the mysterious failures we experience...

EFI seems to like full battery voltage, and the EFI folks seem to place a lot of emphasis on good grounding as well.  Worth checking, cleaning & greasing all those ground connections, especially the main frame ground. Spark plugs are associated with a lot of voodoo, but fortunately a 4-cycle doesn't seem to be as persnickity as the old 2-cycle engines. But a fresh plug does seem to resolve many issues.

Wishing you continued success, & post some pictures when you can.  - ACR -

[USBullet500]

1) I was waiting for the spark plug to arrive in mail. Today I received new spark plug and plugged it in. The new spark plug did not help. My battery is fully charged with the battery tender.

2) Someone said the gear number not showing up on screen problem that I earlier mentioned is due to white residue on relays. I checked the relays and found lot of grease on it but not really white residue. Not sure whether it is normal. I took off most of the grease and plugged it back in. That didn't help either.

3) Finally I was using powertronics ECU. I contacted their support. They said to remove the ECU and connect it directly to the stock coupler connector. If it doesn't start then it could be an electrical issue. I was told to take it to the royal enfield service center.

But living in USA, the nearest Royal Enfield service center is 150 miles away.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

[USBullet500]

It finally started. The problem was there was a pressure build up the the gas tank. As soon as I opened the tank to check the fuel, it cap almost popped and released pressure. And then my bike starts fine...

[Richard230]

It finally started. The problem was there was a pressure build up the the gas tank. As soon as I opened the tank to check the fuel, it cap almost popped and released pressure. And then my bike starts fine...

That does sound like either a clogged charcoal canister or a pinched tank vent hose, assuming that you have a model with a sealed fuel tank that vents through a canister and not through a hole in the gas cap.  My solution was to remove the canister and all of its associated plumbing and vent the tank to the atmosphere. My 2011 Bullet is a California model that used the sealed tank, unlike the 49-state models at the time. I believe all of the BS4 models got the sealed tank and canister to make them compliant to those newer emission regulations.