[loungefly]

I was really considering buying a BS6 Himalayan or a BS4 one used but this and reports of other niggles keep putting me off from buying one. Esp considering I already have an Impulse with a big bore kit and the Himalayan was to replace my trusty old 2018 Duke 390 which has had zero niggles over the three years I've owned it.

It's a shame because I really like the Himalayan but I don't want to buy something that's potentially a ticking time bomb. Hope RE gets their business in order.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by LoneTraveller

Update: RE agrees to replace the chassis and all damaged parts, free of cost

That is good from Royal Enfield. However this does not negate the fact that the Himalayan is unreliable and this can happen again to many Himalayan users.

Originally Posted by amvj

RE should recall all those old Himalayans (BS3?) and replace the chassis free of cost. Why are they waiting for the customers to bring their bikes with a snapped chassis.

Yes absolutely. However laws in out country are not that strict and automakers can do what they want.

Originally Posted by HTC

Just few days back, I referred Himalayan for my 6 foot friend. Today forwarded him this link and asked him to consider used kawasaki 650 or bmw GS 310.

Good choice. Other bikes are far more reliable. Even today I consider my 16 years old Pulsar 150 more reliable than my RE Classic 500.

[am1m]

At least the RE fanboys haven't jumped on this thread and diluted the seriousness of this shocking incident defending the beloved brand they have wrapped up so much of their self-esteem in. Yet.

In a country like ours with such pathetic consumer protection, forums like TeamBHP are the ONLY resource individual consumers/owners have to air their grievances and warn other potential bakras. As such if you've had a good experience with a particular brand, great, but don't devalue someone's bad experience just to justify your brand loyalty.

And something like a chassis snapping is downright shocking!

I own an RE too and I love the bike. But for something terrible like this, the company deserves every negative reaction and bad press. And I support anyone who highlights their bad experience. (I own a Maruti too, I bought it because it fills my requirements, and I enjoy the car. But that doesn't change the fact that they are unsafe tin cans and I don't take it personally when someone points out the obvious!)

These multi-million rupee brands can take care of themselves guys. They have advertising budgets, PR, paid articles in the press, paid auto reviews, armies of lawyers. All we have is independent forums like this. Let's give them hell here at least any time they take the Indian customer for granted and give us rubbish.

[LoneTraveller]

Update: Chassis and Damaged parts replaced

My friend got his Himalayan back yesterday (1st September 2021). He is thrilled and wholeheartedly thanks everyone for their active support! Special mention to the folks at Koramangala Royal Enfield Service Center for delivering the bike ahead of the promised delivery date



Regards,
LoneTraveller

[thepilgrim1424]

Originally Posted by LoneTraveller

Update: Chassis and Damaged parts replaced

Nice to see the company act swiftly on the issue. Happy and safe motoring to your friend!

Wanted to check, was there any assessment done to identify probable damage to the engine or other parts? And, has the warranty been extended for the bike or any part post the issue?

[vj_torqueaddict]

Glad to hear RE acting on it.
Just a question - what about RTO registration? Will RE get that done too? I remember my friend getting his RC 390 registered again with a new Chassis after an accident.

[MaheshY1]

That's great news. Thanks for your update.

OT: I remember visiting Jawa dealership, where they refused to give me a solo test ride on the open roads even when I was ready to hand over the Bullet 500 bike and keys as collateral.

Meanwhile, I remember reading on this forum that RE dealer gave the Himalayan to a potential customer for a weekend when all he expected was a test ride. He returned the bike the next day and paid the booking amount.

I have tremendous respect for RE and Himalayan and if not for the weight, I'd happily recommend the Himalayan to pretty much anyone looking to upgrade from a pair of commuter class wheels.

[Mafia]

Originally Posted by LoneTraveller

Update: Chassis and Damaged parts replaced

That is good work by Royal Enfield to replace the damaged parts for free. Now the registration has to be updated too to reflect the new chassis number.

The best situation is this incident had not happened at all. I do hope the chassis issue is resolved in this bike and in general too.

Himalayan is simply a very nice option to have and such basic issues of chassis integrity should be taken care of in design and production.

[neil.jericho]

LoneTraveller, thanks for sharing the update and photographs. Great to hear that the issue was sorted to your friend's satisfaction.

vj_torqueaddict, Mafia - In my case, the new chassis from Royal Enfield had the same number as before. So there is no change in the registration details and no need to update the RC book / smart card.

[RT13]

Originally Posted by loungefly

I was really considering buying a BS6 Himalayan or a BS4 one used but this and reports of other niggles keep putting me off from buying one. Esp considering I already have an Impulse with a big bore kit and the Himalayan was to replace my trusty old 2018 Duke 390 which has had zero niggles over the three years I've owned

Out of curiosity, given that you’ve had the Duke and clearly a great experience with KTM, why would you pick the Himalayan over the 390 Adv? Seems like the perfect replacement to me.

Also, new BS6 over used BS4 fo sho!! I would never take a chance on this model in it’s earlier avatars. Apparently the BS6 has finally ironed out most of the problems.

[DrvSafe]

Happened to see another Himalayan chassis break issue in YouTube. Not sure about year of manufacturing or if its duplicate video.

https://youtu.be/zZ6g9Gy-82U

[loungefly]

Originally Posted by RT13

Out of curiosity, given that you’ve had the Duke and clearly a great experience with KTM, why would you pick the Himalayan over the 390 Adv? Seems like the perfect replacement to me.

Also, new BS6 over used BS4 fo sho!! I would never take a chance on this model in it’s earlier avatars. Apparently the BS6 has finally ironed out most of the problems.

I think as I grow older, I'm veering towards heavy, torquey, low revving motorcycles for that relaxed ride experience. I miss my old Bullet CI 350 but I don't miss the issues it came with. Himalayan seems like a good middle ground. Pillion comfort on the Himalayan is also unbeatable in its class, so the wife approves (she hates bikes). And I like the looks of it more The Adventure 390 seems too similar to a Duke to me.

I did pick up a 2019 BS4 Himalayan in December last year, 10k run, dual abs and sold the Duke a few months ago. So far it's been good but it's too early to say.

[winsto_keny]

Hi guys, Winston here.

I ride a BS3 Himalayan from 2016. Also this is my first post here.

Coming back to my Himalayan. As i mentioned it is from 2016 which also means I own the first batch of himalayan which had all the issues everyone has been mentioning about here in the forum. I got the bike when I was in my final year of my engineering. The bike has clocked a whooping 72k odd kms and I have had numerous memories with the motorcycle.
If you ask me are you happy with the bike, I would say ofcourse yes and I could not get that torquey engine else where in the same category and budget. During the free service schedules, I understood what kind of unproffesional brand RE is when it comes to customer satisfaction and understanding from customer POV or issues. They just never cared about their customers to be honest. So after the free services were done, most of the repairs and regular maintenance were done by myself. Except for the big issues where the magnetic coil would fail and wood ruf key had to be replaced. Such major scenarios I would get it done from RE. Believe me or not the vehicle still runs on the same clutch assy from factory which means I have not replaced it in my entire 72k kms clocked on the motorcycle, Recently just for my satisfaction I asked the RE technician to take a test ride to find out if there is any issue with the engine and he said Engine is A class. Thats exactly what he said.

Now lets get to the main reason why I am making this post.

While I was washing my bike, It came to my notice that near the footrest there is a crack which is extending back to the swing arm area.Since there was no rust on the crck area I confirmed that this was developed very recently. Thats when things went hay wire in my life and I started looking up for solutions regarding this, I took it to RE knowing that they are not gonna do Jack S**t. Anyways I went there not to claim any warranty or get the chassis replaced for free, I am not interested in running behind for their empathy on my situation because I know for the fact that its not gonna happen nor do I want to waste my time on waiting for them to do something.

I straight away went to Service manager and an advisor came along with the SM to check. They started explaining about the warranty procedures and I stopped them half way to tell I am not interested in their warranty claim and wait a long time for it. I will pay for the chassis and I want to know in how many days will I get the bike in running condition, if I leave it rightnow.

A week to receive the chassis, 2 days to punch the chassis no and 3 days to swap parts to new chassis. Two weeks is the ETD given to me.

Chassis cost- 22400(without the chassis number punched on it)
Labour charge- 4500( additional 600 for getting the chassis no. punched)

I left the bike yesterday and paid 5000 as advance amount and made them order the chassis standing right there in front of them, because I dont trust them even a bit. Because of how I behaved with the SM and service advisor they themselves are following up with me and updating.

Thats how it is and I miss my bike as it is also used for my daily commute to office. That himalayan is a part of my life and because it is not with me currently I feel the emptiness in my life. Some connections just cannot be explained.

I have been attending rider mania from 2017 and never have I had any sort of hiccups on the way and back. 90% of the rides are solo in the entire 7 years and except for the few like first Rider mania I tagged along a riding group from one of the dealership in Bangalore(I joined them only because I found them on my way) and another ride to Mangalore with the home boys which had different brands of bikes.

Overall experience with Himalayan is great but with RE as a brand - worst.

Maybe if Himalayan was manufactured by some other brand it would be respected more than how it is being treated now. But that bike is one of a kind if it had 0 issues. Ether ways it is one of a kind because of its rare and unheard issue. All thanks to RE. Attaching some photos of the ride to Goa Rider mania 2022

Adios Amigos!. Winston signing off

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by winsto_keny

While I was washing my bike, It came to my notice that near the footrest there is a crack which is extending back to the swing arm area.Since there was no rust on the crck area I confirmed that this was developed very recently. Thats when things went hay wire in my life and I started looking up for solutions regarding this, I took it to RE knowing that they are not gonna do Jack S**t.

winsto_keny, as a fellow Royal Enfield owner who has also experienced a chassis damage issue, I can understand your frustration. However, the reality is that Royal Enfield is usually extremely proactive when it comes to chassis damage replacements and covers the entire cost of the new chassis and labour. In some cases, the dealership might try to talk its way out of it (as it occurred with you) but if you were firm but fair, the company would have covered everything from their side.

There was no need for you to insist on paying Rs 22,400 + Rs 4,500 + Rs 600 for all the work.

[iron.head]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

winsto_keny, as a fellow Royal Enfield owner who has also experienced a chassis damage issue, I can understand your frustration. However, the reality is that Royal Enfield is usually extremely proactive when it comes to chassis damage replacements and covers the entire cost of the new chassis and labour. In some cases, the dealership might try to talk its way out of it (as it occurred with you) but if you were firm but fair, the company would have covered everything from their side.

There was no need for you to insist on paying Rs 22,400 + Rs 4,500 + Rs 600 for all the work.

Totally agree with this one and the fact that this is the first generation Himalayan that we are talking about, the approval would have been quick. In fact, it's not impossible that the dealer with or without the assistance of the RE service manager sends in your frame for a warranty claim while pocketing the money that was paid for the repair job.