[NTab]

Originally Posted by gypsyFreak

This is my second charger, first one was from Adishwar Ryder's Arena, which went kaput in about 8 months.

Handlebar is from RE. It's the Adventure/Touring handlebar for Himalayan with cheapest handlebar risers again from RE. It's made of aluminium, weighs much less than stock (steel) or AOM handlebar. It's a story on how i got the handlebar, will post it later in my touring thread. But it's very good and comfortable.

I have got those cheap handlebar risers. I have changed my handle 4 times. Once you realise that you can do the job yourself, you start fiddling with the bike just out of curiosity . I changed first to AOM handlebar, didn’t feel satisfied. Then changed to stock with RE risers. It was ok. Then switched to ThunderbirdX handlebar with RE braces. It was satisfactory but as I started mounting stuffs on handlebar, the real estate was running out. Finally changed back to AOM. But I am sure I will be buying/sourcing an angled handlebar risers just to check how it feels.

1. 3-4 months. Once while washing the guy blasted it with water gun, causing the water to enter inside the charger as the covering caps were open. It stopped working, i thought it went kaput. But after it dried completely it's back to normal. So quality seems better than my previous charger
2. External fuse, it is in the wiring, near the terminal. It comes below the seat when installed.
3. Yes, i have Grand Pitstop tyre inflator and have used it from 12V socket few items. Ensure that your engine is running when using the inflator.
4. More than enough
5. It says so, but not sure. It is good enough to charge 6000 mah battery phone in 1.5 hours. That's enough for me.
6. No, this is straight to battery. But through ignition should be possible as i have the Maddog lights through ignition without any wire cuts. Depends on your FNG installer.

In most of the cases there is no need to slice any wire. A good mechanic will simply tighten the wires in one of the sockets. Generally one wire goes to the battery and another to either ignition switch or front brake light switch so that it works only when ignition is on.

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Originally Posted by gypsyFreak

1. 3-4 months. Once while washing the guy blasted it with water gun, causing the water to enter inside the charger as the covering caps were open. It stopped working, i thought it went kaput. But after it dried completely it's back to normal. So quality seems better than my previous charger
2. External fuse, it is in the wiring, near the terminal. It comes below the seat when installed.
3. Yes, i have Grand Pitstop tyre inflator and have used it from 12V socket few items. Ensure that your engine is running when using the inflator.
4. More than enough
5. It says so, but not sure. It is good enough to charge 6000 mah battery phone in 1.5 hours. That's enough for me.
6. No, this is straight to battery. But through ignition should be possible as i have the Maddog lights through ignition without any wire cuts. Depends on your FNG installer.

Originally Posted by NTab

In most of the cases there is no need to slice any wire. A good mechanic will simply tighten the wires in one of the sockets. Generally one wire goes to the battery and another to either ignition switch or front brake light switch so that it works only when ignition is on.

Thank you so much! I'll try this charger out

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Update: Second Service and Switch to Motul

Hello All! I had the second service done today at 4100 odd kms. It was a fairly basic service, but nevertheless decided to document it. I had booked an appointment for the 9am slot at the Company Service Centre at BTM layout. I reached at 8:25 am and there were two people already waiting


No sign of life when I arrived

The technician, Mr Ashwath arrived at 9 am and I promptly told him the problems I had and he took the vehicle inward immediately. Considering I didn't want to come back to collect the bike later as I didn't live nearby, I decided to wait.



Ashwath told me that I can watch my bike being serviced but the technician, who seemed like a senior person didn't like me watching as he said "customers in the service bay will cause a jam" although there wasn't really a big crowd today surprisingly. nevertheless I stood at the doorway the entire time and watched him perform the service. I had only two complaints, firstly, that the rear brake felt a little weak and secondly, that the infamous "tik tik" noise had creeped up. Ashwath told me that the noise is normal and I needn't worry about it.

The following procedures were done:

1. Chain Cleaning and Lubing
2. Air Filter Cleaning
3. Brake Pad Removal and Cleaning (Front and Rear)
4. Electronics Bay Cleaning
5. T Stem Greasing (Although they just removed the cap and shoved some grease in there, followed by some chain lube)
6. Oil Top Up
7. Washing (I specifically asked them to exclude polishing. If you had read my post about the first service, you'd know its an abysmal waste of money)

I have also noticed that there is an extremely wide use of Chain Lube by the technicians for multiple purposes. Not just at this SVC but even the Electronic City SVC I had visited before. They use it to clean panels, remove dirt, lube the chain and so on! I have no idea whether this is good or not, other members please advise.

The whole affair was done by 11:30 am and it cost me 416Rs. I'll attach the invoice below



This was one of the reasons why I chose the himalayan, cheap and easy maintenance. The SVC was above average and definitely miles ahead of the E City SVC and I'd recommend fellow RE Owners to try it out.

The Switch to Motul Engine Oil

Royal Enfield uses 15W50 Liquid Gun, Semi Synthetic Oil for the Himalayan. However, because of the excellent reviews of the Motul 5100, I decided to give it a go. Dropped by HTRZ Mods which was nearby and picked up a couple of cans for 630Rs a piece.



The Oil change process on the himalayan is a simple affair. Here are the items you'll need



1. 22mm Spanner/ Ratchet Wrench
2. 8mm T Spanner
3. A small pair of pliers (Not necessary but will help keep your hands cleaner)
4. A Large Tray/Pan
5. WD40 to clean parts
6. A Funnel
7. Old Rags

You will also have to pick up a new Oil filter. You can get it at RE SVCs for Rs 99


New Filter

RE Claims that its Oil lasts 10k kms. I don't buy that at all. After only 4100kms the oil looked like this and had the consistency of water.


The Internal Mesh Filter however was clean and hadn't caught any debris.


I cleaned it with WD40 and put it back. The disposable paper filter had seen hell. Was full of muck when I pulled it out.


I cleaned everything out, popped in a new filter and filled up 2Litres of the new oil.


Let the bike idle for a couple minutes to check for leaks and took it for a short spin, felt much smoother. It should last for another 4k-5k kms, which is approximately when the 3rd service will be for me so will ppst a long term review later!

That's all for today Folks, Cheers!

[NTab]

I changed my engine oil at 2000kms, and switched to Motul. However my service manual recommends 1.6-1.8L oil. 2L was used in BS4 models.
Any particular reason for using 2L?

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Originally Posted by NTab

I changed my engine oil at 2000kms, and switched to Motul. However my service manual recommends 1.6-1.8L oil. 2L was used in BS4 models.
Any particular reason for using 2L?

No Particular Reason, but I did enquire at the SVC and they said 2L is the quantity they use. I don't think it'll have any adverse effects because the engine can take 2.3L. What do you think? Maybe I'll drop down to 1.8L next time. How has your experience been with motul?

[NTab]

Originally Posted by WhiskeyTangoFox

No Particular Reason, but I did enquire at the SVC and they said 2L is the quantity they use. I don't think it'll have any adverse effects because the engine can take 2.3L. What do you think? Maybe I'll drop down to 1.8L next time. How has your experience been with motul?

My experience has been fairly good. Nothing out of ordinary but you do feel a change from liquid gun. The bike feels a tad bit more smooth, and less heating.

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Update: New Rear Rack Plate

Two of the biggest gripes I had while trying to mount a duffel bag onto the rear rack of the himalayan with a couple of bungee straps was that firstly, the plate was puny, so the bag kept shifting weight mid ride, and secondly, there was no slot or cutout through which I could route the bungee straps, which caused the straps to slide around, thereby making the mounted luggage, unstable

Hence I wanted to get a new rear rack plate. I did check out Viaterra's plates first but as much as I stand by their quality, their offerings were simply too expensive for a sheet of milled out metal which I'd use occasionally.

Saw a relatively inexpensive plate on Amazon by a company called Milachin (Link Below):

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0B1XNJNCF/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_10?smid=ALND01Y4VTPQQ&psc=1

This is advertised to fit on All himalayans from BS3 to BS6 and the Xpluse as Well!

It was packaged well and came to BLR from DEL within a day.

The only tools you'll need are a 4mm Allen Key and a Pair of pliers. I'd strongly recommend everyone here to get an allen key set because it makes life much easier when working on your motorcycles and you don't have to depend on manufacturers to include allen keys with their products, which they mostly don't.


Stock Plate which is pretty small



Size Does Matter

The Kit comes with the Plate, 4 x 4mm Allen Head Screws, 8 x washers and 4 rubber buffers. Fairly straightforward process to fix it and it took about 10 minutes. Here is the finished look!




Does not cover the tail light


I don't think the product is powder coated and may be prone to scratches, but I will update in the long run. It is very sturdy and has dedicated slots to route a bungee cord/ROK Straps through and a ton of holes and a larger surface area to mount a top box onto which I've heard that they do require. Great product for my use case though. Until Next time folks, Cheers!

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Update: Regular Maintenance


While Cleaning the bike today, decided to open up the front sprocket cover and clean inside because I figured it would have gotten dirty inside. I haven't opened it since I got the bike and AFAIK the SVCs haven't as well. I Opened it and was shocked




A HUGE Chunk of Black Goop (Mud, Slush and Chain Lube Combined) started falling out, I'm quite disappointed that the SVCs don't check and clean this part.

It took a large amount of WD40 and Scrubbing with a brush to get most of it out. I will be doing this atleast once a month to prevent such a build up from happening again. I suspect the Chain Cover as well may have dirt under and and I'll take it off next time I clean the bike to inspect it.

Cheers!

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Update: Motorcycle Throttle Grips

Hey All, I was looking for something on the lines of the Grip Puppies but for a lower cost, because dropping 2 grand on a pair of Foam Tubes didn't make sense to me. Anyhoo, came across this offering from an Indian Company called Route95 Moto:

https://route95moto.com/product/rout...comfort-grips/

Rs 499 with shipping included seemed extremely reasonable and I figured I'd give it a go. I only found a couple of reviews on youtube, but the reviewers seemed to like it. I did check out the Grip Puppies in person once and they felt very similar. Recieved the package in about 5 Days.




Looks very Similar to the Grip Puppies and feels soft to the touch

Good Thickness as well

The Installation process is very simple. Simply spray some soapy water onto the stock grips, and slide it on.

Stock Grip


Perfect Fit for the Himalayan

The installation took all of two minutes and was hassle free. They also included a nice little keychain with the pack.



The grips are nice to hold and seem to have reduced the vibrations felt on the handlebar. I'll be going for a ride tomorrow and will update on how these fare. Until then, Cheers!

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Update: Trip to Hogenakkal

Hey All, went on a short-ish ride today, a 300km Loop Approximately. Although the map shows 285kms, we did around 304 in actuality because we took some diversions to take pictures.



We stopped at Hotel Surya Complex at krishnagiri for Breakfast and continued from there. The roads until the diversion off Krishnagiri were NH Roads, after which we diverted onto State Highways and Arterial Roads. Towards the last 20-25 kms before arriving at Hogenakkal, we went through a beautiful Ghat Section. The Route back also was through the Cauvery Forest Reserve with amazing Twisty Roads.





We averaged around 100-120kmph on the Highway and Around 40-80kmph on the Twistys, depending on the curvature. Was an absolute blast to ride on. I averaged a little over 32kmpl. The ride gave me a chance to test out the Route 95 grips and I must say they are very good. They are extremely comfortable to hold and provide slightly better throttle control owing to their larger size. It has also arrested all vibrations from the handlebar.

I shall leave you alll with a few pictures

[Shobhitsaxena]

Thank you for sharing your experience. The pictures look lovely, especially when seeing from the winter in Delhi. The throttle grips look nice - thanks for the validating feedback, this is going into my wishlist.

[100Kmphormore]

Hey ***,
Great thread! Loved your updates on the bike, especially the grip puppies. Will certainly try them out as am facing friction burns on my palms when I take it out in the city. I shall hijack your thread and share some of my observations on my Rock Red as am just too busy to sit up and share images on the laptop.
My Ghata has completed 11.75 months and is at 10200 km on the odo, few days short of completing a year. it's been my day to day motorcycle. 3 interval services of RE and one outside which I shall elaborate.
My accessories have been these in the same order :
1.RE Hand guards installed in the showroom

2.Portronics mobile holder. Discovered on my first run in breakfast ride to Babu Hotel that the Tripper is extremely useless. It only drains your phone battery and disconnects sometimes. Offline maps usage is not possible with it. A big thumbs down. Worth every penny of 449 bucks. Has endured offroads and even big screen phones like my M51 secondary usage phone has not fallen off the mount. Highly recommend.

2.BSDDP 45L top box as there is virtually no space to carry anything, not even a bottle of water. But it creates a racket on bad roads. My first day ride (450 km) to Male Madeshwara Betta and back brought that observation and the pathetic visibility of the stock light. Looking for a better top box or panniers. Comes with the plate and screws as well, bought it at Autobots Jayanagar. Installed by Praveen, a fellow bikerwhom Vikas recommended and he did a great job.

3.Maddog Scout X aux lights. Couldn't see anything beyond 50 m with stock bulb which is dangerous especially with deviation ridden expressways like NH75 (Mangaluru) and Mysuru expressway (Feb 2022). Credit goes to fellow bhpian KarthikK (his review reinforced my decision to buy the Himalayan) for his excellent words about the Maddog lights. Clamps, Harness and normal switch was bought with it at a shop on JC road and mounted on the forks, later changed to beside the headlight with AoM clamps after limited visibility on the ooty ghats. Go for the Alphas or something like the Clearwater lights on 1250GSAs.

4. RacingVision H4 60/55W bulb. I always felt that even with the aux lights, there was something amiss with frontal visibility. While on my recent ride to Dandeli, rode Harihara to Bengaluru in the night, was cruising at 120+ and observed this. Sure it lights up the entire road, but not distance wise. Chanced upon Shyamg28s post on the RacingVision bulb he was using, bought and installed promptly. A world of difference now, visibility is 70% better even on the highways. Highly recommend.

PPF is planned as the glossy red and black colour suffered scratches due to my mesh riding jacket while ducking. Have to find a good charger. Crash guard as well but heard they get too buzzy, especially the Mototorque ones. Zana ones are expensive for me as of now. Please recommend fellow riders.

Coming to the service, first service was at 550 km after 2 breakfast rides on first 2 weekends of purchase. Second service was at 6 month interval at 4600 km. Even asked for oil change video both times. It was done at Kwality mobikes Kadarenahalli center. After that took it to AoM and got the aux lights clamps and chain cleaned.

Bike was running fine, but heating up abnormally and gear changes were becoming tougher. At 8000 km I had enough when I couldn't keep up with other riders on a club ride to Kudremukha due to the lousy leg paining shifts. I then asked the technician of the club by name Ananthakrishna to take a look and change the oil as that was suspect. An excellent mechanic, he immediately changed the oil to 15W50 Motul 5100 (he said even 3100 would be fine but had heard praises of the 5100 doing well) and also added a 3M additive. Rear braking had also become worse and found out that the rear brake pads were about to Crack, completely worn down! Changed to NS200 brake pads and use front brakes more on his advise. I disliked the front brakes as nearly had a couple of spills to the wheel sliding on water/muddy surface. Now both brake pads are fine and braking is very good. Shifts are very smooth though clunky.

Recently got the 10k interval RE service done at 10145 km and strictly asked them not to touch the engine oil or anything else and just inspect and return the bike since I would wait it out. Got it back in an hour and was billed Rs.143 (118 for consumables, really RE? that bankrupt for a few dabs of grease and engine oil 50 ml lubrication? And 25 rupees for the left side chain cap that had fallen off.)

Rear tyre has worn down can see the threads in the center of the tyre at some places, hence recommend the braking style mentioned above,70% front and 30% rear braking. Will have to replace in another 2k km. Front tyre is good and will endure upto 20k km.

My ownership experience only strengthens the opinion that the Himalayan is a capable go anywhere machine that could have been a great cruiser (lack of that brute torque after 100 kmph) and a great city bike (if it had the interceptor gearbox) and a little lighter like the Adventure at 180 kg, it had been at 182 kg in BS3 avatar. Wish it had got the Pirelli tyres like in the US. I am happy with it as its my first bike and it tackles namma Bengaluru roads effortlessly. Might buy a fast sports tourer like the Ninja 650/1000 for my breakfast rides/speed thrills in the future with my Ghata as its touring companion to rough roads and offroading expeditions. Hope my observations can be of use to fellow riders and please excuse any mistakes (this is my first long post). Adios! Will keep updating my experience.

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

Hey ***,
Great thread! Loved your updates on the bike, especially the grip puppies. Will certainly try them out as am facing friction burns on my palms when I take it out in the city.

Haha Thanks! Sure, the Grips have been great so far and are definitely infinitely better value than grip puppies. They are quick drying too in the event that they get wet. Would whole heartedly recommend them.

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

RacingVision H4 60/55W bulb. I always felt that even with the aux lights, there was something amiss with frontal visibility. While on my recent ride to Dandeli, rode Harihara to Bengaluru in the night, was cruising at 120+ and observed this. Sure it lights up the entire road, but not distance wise. Chanced upon Shyamg28s post on the RacingVision bulb he was using, bought and installed promptly. A world of difference now, visibility is 70% better even on the highways. Highly recommend.

Could you share where you purchased the bulb from and for how much? How much of a difference would this make over the sock headlamp alone?

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

Crash guard as well but heard they get too buzzy, especially the Mototorque ones. Zana ones are expensive for me as of now. Please recommend fellow riders.

Auto Engina probably has the best ones in the business. They are expensive though. I myself have the RE Engine Guards which have held up so far, I so plan to upgrade to the AutoEnginas at some point though.

Really great reading about your bike! Do share some pictures too

[100Kmphormore]

Really great reading about your bike! Do share some pictures too

Thanks man. Will do!

Auto Engina probably has the best ones in the business. They are expensive though. I myself have the RE Engine Guards which have held up so far, I so plan to upgrade to the AutoEnginas at some point though

Thanks! Will try it out. I too have the same engine guards but they aren't enough to protect the bike in case of a fall while offroading or a crash on the road.

Could you share where you purchased the bulb from and for how much? How much of a difference would this make over the sock headlamp alone?

H4 12342 Racingvision GT200 12V... https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09WJ8GM86?...p_mob_ap_share
Like I said, bright but not that much to blind someone in the opposite direction. Atleast 50% more visibility especially in dark.

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Update: Murphy's Law really makes Sense

Today was the day, I hit a memorable milestone while going about my daily commute in the morning. Uno crossed 5,000 kms I've had minimal to no niggles (Touchwood) so far, and I've documented everything about the bike, down to the most minor mods, on this thread.


Took a picture of the ODO the moment it hit the mark

However, as happy as I was at the moment, little did I know that today was the day that majority of the RE Owners dread, and I had to live through it.



That's Right, a mere 5 mins after taking the picture of the 5k kms mark, a loose screw on the road, decided to throw me under the bus.


This little thing, is all that is required, to bring the mighty Himalayan to its knees, or well, rims.

It was 8:15 in the morning, and no puncture repair shop was open. I checked google maps, and there was one 200m away. Pushed the bike till there (Big Mistake, don't do it). Unfortunately, it was also closed. I had the RSA plan luckily (There was a promo offer when I bought my bike, which I wasn't aware of. Extended Warranty and RSA were provided free of cost). Booked RSA via the App and got a call back within 5 mins. The Customer Care Reps were very helpful but the Technician wasn't as fun to deal with.

Royal Enfield doesn't provide their own technician's from their SVCs to deal with RSA, even if it is within the city. They have teamed up with Europ Assistance India, who has teamed up with multiple local bike workshops around the city. They just assign a technician from one of these workshops to come and fix the issue.

I was assigned "Shabaz Bike Works", somwhere in the Lakkasandra Area. I was stuck in Taverekere which is a 15 min ride. Mr. Shahbaz Khan, the technician initially didn't pick up my calls, and then repeatedly cut my calls later on. He eventually picked up and I sent my location to him. 30 mins of waiting later, there was no news, and I called him up. He said he'll be there in 15 (Which means he hadn't left yet ). I asked him to share his live location with me so that I don't have to keep calling him, which he flatly refused and cut the call. He did turn up around 30 mins later, and had a look at the tyre.



He completely lacked a sense of professionalism and acted as if I purposely went and punctured the tyre so as to wake him up from his siesta. The shop that I had pushed my bike to also opened at the same time and he removed my wheel and took it there to fix it.




They removed the tube (Why doesn't RE have Tubeless even as an Option ) and found that, the act of me pushing my bike for 200m with a flat tyre had caused the joint area around the nozzle to be subject to excessive stress, and had caused it to tear. It couldn't be patched. The original puncture could have but it wouldn't have helped. The only way out was to replace the tube itself. He didn't have the Original CEAT Tube with him and had a tube from a company called Viaz. No issued with the size (It was the same, 120/90-17), but I have no idea about long term quality. Maybe someone here could let me know if you have used their tubes. The tube cost 650Rs + Labour for 150Rs. Meaning one nail and my stupidity cost me 800Rs. I really hope RE rolls out some alloy wheel/ tubeless spoked wheel options for the himmy with the launch of the 450, because this was genuinely ridiculous. A good 3 hours of my day and a substantial chunk of cash wasted because of a nail.

Bonus Update: Luggage Straps

I regularly carry my Gym Duffel bag on my rear rack and use Bungees to secure them, but they aren't very confidience inspiring because well, the hooks do tend to come off and they take a long time to mount and dismount. I was looking for something along the lines of the ROK straps but was not convinced on spending 2,000 Rs on luggage straps. Found these on GearnRide's Website:



Priced at 499 for a pair (Hold up, there's more) I figured they're great value for money, and picked them up. They came in today (1 day delivery in BLR) and the quality is great, no doubt. But there is one issue. Only one of the straps has a buckle and the second strap is an extender to the first strap. Meaning, I need another


End 1 of the Strap


End 2 of the Strap

AKRO doesn't sell an individual strap without the extender, so I ordered a similar strap from the Wroom Website. Link below. They are the same length and are only 299 rs per strap, meaning you can buy 2 for 600 (Free shipping too). I'd recommend you get these traps from them. These straps are called CAM Straps and are extremely durable and easy to use.


Length comparo to the Rynox Grippers




It has little notches that grip onto the nylon

The link to the Wroom store Straps is below:
https://wroom.co.in/products/wroom-cam-strap-black/

Overall, these are a great addition to the list of useful accesories. That's all for today folks, cheers!