[bobsters bike]

Hello everyone, Just thought i would pass my experience on to you and your subscribers.
i was captivated by the reviews and simplicity of the RE Himalayan had a test ride on one last June and was really surprised. You can easily flat foot it and its road presence is larger than you think, it is under powered but we have a lot of country winding roads and a lot of easy green lanes near us.
Its no Honda but gives you more confidence on gravel roads because if you drop it you won’t damage anything its built like a tractor. I swapped the CB500X for a 2022 second hand Himmy with all the bells and whistles metal panniers, engine Guards,.spot lights with only 147 miles on the clock. At 300 miles i decided to change the oil and filter as suggested in the service schedule made sure i took it easy for the first thousand miles. I went to north Wales with my two sons for a three day tour every time we stopped for a break or get petrol the bike would not start first or second time but would start eventually. After some research on you tube and forums it seems it was a faulty relay switch.So i replaced them all from Hitchcocks and the problem was fixed. The first week in January on the first dry day i went for a spin, about three miles from home i was going uphill at 50mph and the engine just died it would turn over but not start, so i let it cool down a little turned round and head down the hill to bump start it, It did go and got me home but was making a horrible rattling noise. I got in touch with royal enfield they picked it up and took it to the nearest dealer to me. They got in touch on Monday its got to have a top engine rebuild camshaft new barrell and piston total cost £895.00. So for a bike that is only 9 months old and covered 2000 miles is a lot of money. Royal enfield won’t cover the cost because i did the first oil and filter change thereby invalidating the two year warranty.
Foot note ... I passed my bike test in 1972 on a Honda S90 Sport and since then have had many bikes i am no mechanic but have always changed the oil and filter on my bikes at three or four thousand miles weather it needed it or not, in my mind i thought it would prolong the life of the bike. So to sum up if anybody is interested in a second hand R E Himmy make sure it has got RE approved service history for the first at least the two years.   
All the best Bob,
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[Crabsapper]

Did you do the valve clearances at 300 miles?

It'd be interesting to hear what RE/dealer thought was the cause of the issue.
From the list if parts, it must have been something severe. Possibly they think it was exacerbated by continuing to ride the bike when it was making the rattling noise?

[Crabsapper]

Did you do the valve clearances at 300 miles?

It'd be interesting to hear what RE/dealer thought was the cause of the issue.
From the list of parts, it must have been something severe. Possibly they think it was exacerbated by continuing to ride the bike when it was making the rattling noise?

[James.]

Look more into that problem with the warranty.There are many points of view on this but I am led to believe by others that servicing yourself during the warranty shouldn't affect the warranty.

[bobsters bike]

I did ride the bike home but rang the dealer to see if they could collect as i didn't fancy riding it they told me to get in touch with royal enfield and they collected the same day.
I went over to see the Craig the mechanic because i was worried that either i had done something wrong with the oil change or bump starting down hill at about 15mph damaged the engine he assured me that both these were highly unlikely as he put it the engines are over engineered and as tough as nails.
 
The job details as follows: Cutting out while riding -possible fuel pump.. Engine sounds Rattely -- Major service.
During the first inspection the mechanic said there was a spring in the camshaft that failed therefore i would need a new camshaft,.the total for that job was just over £400.00 so i gave him the go ahead
Three weeks later the dealers got in touch Craig told me he fitted the new cam, started the engine and it was still rattling also filled the workshop with smoke. So after this he had to strip the top end and found that the barrel was scored, the advice was to replace the barrel and piston they advised to get from Hitchcocks as the supply chain from India was a bit hit and miss.

[ddavidv]

Look more into that problem with the warranty.There are many points of view on this but I am led to believe by others that servicing yourself during the warranty shouldn't affect the warranty.

True in the USA but may not be so in the UK.

[Going Nowhere]

If the first service, which includes valve clearances, is carried out in accordance with the manufacturers schedule by somebody competent there should be no problem with the warranty. The trouble is in providing evidence that this was done. You can video yourself doing the service or have a qualified mechanic "stamp your book", or even have a good relationship with your dealer. It does sound like something has happened to your engine, maybe before you got it? Do you have evidence of a pre-delivery inspection?

[Andy C]

Starting to think that when you buy a Him, it's the luck of the draw whether you get a good one or not.

At the risk of tempting fate, I have not had any major problems with mine - apart from one front wheel bearing giving up, and having to replace the headstock bearings.

The engine has been sound, and hopefully will remain that way.

Apart from the warranty services I do everything myself.

I have heard of engines dropping valves, lubrication problems, electrical problems etc - which reminds me the fuel pump relay gave up but since fitting a new one has been fine.

Hoping mine will contiinue to be reliable as I have no plans of getting shot of it at the moment.

[him a layin]

yes, there's some hit-or-miss on the quality control with the himalayan, especially during covid, i.e. 2020-2022.
it's been 30 or more years since i've taken an engine apart, but i'd have been inclined to have the head off and looked at the bores before simply swapping out the cam. where, exactly is this rattling noise coming from? bent valves? damage to the  top of the piston? where are your valve keepers? broken rings? was there a compression test? so many questions. try to diagnose before throwing parts at it.

[bobsters bike]

Hi everyone,
I did not check the valves at the first 300 mile service i thought that the so called low tech easy maintenance engine would let you know when they needed adjusting by the noise they make even when the camshaft failed they said the valves were in good order.
Latest update.. I collected my Himmy from the dealers Smalley Cross last week, My son gave me a lift on his bike so he could follow me home as my previous experience has knocked my confidence for six ( not my riding skills) but the fact that it cut out at 50mph is daunting and in my mind very dangerous.
On that subject (danger) why is it that Royal Enfield has no problem with issuing a recall on all Himalayans in UK and Europe for rust or corrosion of the break cylinders but simply won't address this problem with cutting out. After researching the forums and youtube this problem i had is not isolated to just me it has happened to a lot of owners world wide.
The mechanic said the i have got to run it in again and in order for the 12 month warranty on the work to be valid I must have the oil changed at the first 300 miles. if anybody has problems cutting out could you let me know. Cheers Bob.

[Crabsapper]

Valves get tighter on first running, so it's critical that they're checked at the first service.
As regards cutting out at 50 mph, in your case, wasn't it more like seizing up?
I have to say, I don't think RE were unreasonable in this case.

[bobsters bike]

Correct me if i am wrong but if the engine Had seized could i have still started it?. When i had the discussion at the dealers with the mechanic i ask if it could have been my fault for either bump starting or somehow did something wrong with the oil and filter change the reply was.. Quote "Very unlikely that was a oil issue or bump starting issue". To be very clear i do like the bike i have got it back, it still doesn't  run properly and keeps stalling but i will persevere until the first 300 miles when its in for its oil change.

[AzCal Retred]

" Correct me if i am wrong but if the engine Had seized could i have still started it? " Yup - engines can and do "lightly seize" then cool off enough to run. Two & four strokes can both do this, not every seizure welds the piston solidly to the cylinder. One seizure mechanism is that the piston softens under heat loading and wipes metal into the ring lands, trapping the rings & screwing up gas sealing. Blow-by combustion gas then heats the piston further until it sticks, either permanently or temporarily. My 500 pre-unit did this but was considerate enough to get me home after it cooled off. Another mechanism is that heat loading simply makes it outgrow the cylinder, either by poor airflow (prolonged downwind running...?) or just luck of the draw component fit. A third might be simply lack of lubrication to the cylinder walls.  I don't know that the 411 Himalayan uses special oil cooling jets to the piston underside to carry away heat, I think the piston is just lubricated by spray exiting beside the con rod.

The oil pump would be at the top of my list to check for proper function. Piston swarf/debris could have damaged it internally, reducing oil flow, possibly explaining fragging both the crank & cam and the piston seizure. Maybe the oil pump just suffered "infant mortality" and died early. Anyway, something to look at.

[Andy C]

"if anybody has problems cutting out could you let me know. Cheers Bob."

My 2019 used to do it quite often, fortunately it never did it and put me in a dangerous situation.

I fitted a "booster plug" some time ago, and it made a big difference - did not stop it completley, but is a big improvement.

In the last few thousand miles I dont recall it ever cutting out for no reason, it has neary 12000 miles on it now - perhaps it improves with time / mileage.

[jadofind]

My 2021 Himalayan did cut out at speed when new. The dealership mechanic traced it to a connector pin not locked into the connector shell (intermittent connection). He must have been right, since that cured the stalling at speed issues. It continued to stall when attempting to idle until I installed a booster plug. Later, with about 5000 miles on the clock, it developed starting issues. The booster plug was causing too rich of a mixture for the warm weather starts. I have since removed the booster plug and starting has been much better and the added miles have apparently cured the idle speed stalling issue.