[Shur'tugal]

Rode back from Pune to Mumbai today morning. It was so much fun.

There was a light drizzle in parts, the weather was beautiful, and the bike had completed its first service and could finally be opened up on the highway.

Somewhere in the middle of the ride, I finally felt that click with the bike - and finally had the satisfaction of knowing I made the right decision to upgrade from my CB350.

This bike is made for the highway - can do endless kilometres, cruise at your comfortable speed (whether that is 90 or 120) and keep up with any bike on Indian roads.

Post ride rose tinted glasses aside, started to see what people mean when they complain about RE's service. Took me four hours to get the first service done, and then they forgot to tighten the fibre cap for chain slack adjustment, which I discovered after getting home.
Sitting with and talking to other riders in the lobby was the only thing I liked about the service experience.

On an aside - the buffeting on the helmet at high speeds is too much. Is the only solve a longer windscreen? Does that become stuffy in the city?

[sinharishi]

Finally got Moto Torque crash guards installed from Riderz Planet - Naraina. My colour of choice was Red, the guard was ordered and took a week to arrive.

Also moved the maddogs to the crash guard. Got the moto torque GPS mount installed as well.

Love the contrasting colour

[IamAsHter]

Took the Himalayan through the treacherous roads in ML of the Silchar - Guwahati route. The motorcycle is a gem for these roads and the suspension is pure love worth every dime spent on this machine.

However, the mud accumulation is on a different level. Even the headlight is covered up

The last 2 pictures are from the aftermath and side-effects from this entire session

[ebonho]

https://youtu.be/OPbQkCcsyjo?si=lji1froJ4lh3ZJLo

You guys should seriously go the Tenere way. A high fender is simply poseur nonsensical on a highway bike. Very much like a motocross helmet with a beak is.

What you guys have currently is the BMW "innovation" of a split fender. Low at back, for the bike. High in front for you. From rhe photos, its very obvious that it's not working .

Cheers, Doc

[bhansali_hardik]

All the fenders need mending .

At the slightest of water on the streets the bike takes in all the water and splashes it all over the body, from headlights at the front to the seat and chain. Every inch gets covered in muck!

The joints on the fenders are too shabbily done and they give a way to more splash, however the bike fun and looks cooler with the muck!

Not sure, how long will this be sustainable though, can't even get a wash in Bangalore right now due to the water scarcity.

[neith]

A simple fix is to put a fender extender on the front. This one costed around 80rs from RE parts bin iirc.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by neith

A simple fix is to put a fender extender on the front. This one costed around 80rs from RE parts bin iirc.

If you see the BMW GS310, its front low fender extends to BEYOND the top beak. Which in itself is quite substantial and wide (the sides are where the water comes up from).

Instead of giving this roadside garage level fix (with the big silver bolts on top), RE should have known this basic flaw of the bike in terrain and weather it is meant for (in testing itself) and provided a (much) more full cover front low fender.

If you see the earlier set of NE photos, even the radiator is caked in mud. So what exactly are both fenders shielding.

Cheers, Doc

[rookieraj]

Tubeless tyre update

I recently converted my Hanle Black spoked rims to tubeless by using Sikaflex-291i, a marine grade sealant which has been used by many in the US and Europe for similar conversions. A 300 ml can of Sikaflex-291i, which was sufficient for both the rims, cost me Rs 874/- on Amazon and thus it worked out to be much cheaper than the 3M 5200/4200 and Way2Speed alternatives while having similar properties of being elastic yet having very strong adhesion.

As this was a DIY project, I had the satisfaction of getting the rims trued, spokes tightened and wheels balanced myself.

I finished a short 570 km ride to Kanha post the tubeless conversion and the tyres held up very well. In fact, the cold tyre pressure remains unchanged despite riding with a pillion and exceeding the ideal gross weight by some margin.

The bike performed admirably throughout the ride and I truly enjoyed every bit of riding it.

[Shur'tugal]

Hi, needed some urgent input.
Was hearing some noise from the front of the bike again today on my commute.
Stopped and checked once I reached office - it seems the engine crash guard has come loose on the RHS.

Can I fix this myself with the toolkit? Should I call RSA for a fix?
Worried about it falling on the way home.

Also, this is terrible finish by RE.

Videos attached:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7HJTEtCJ...qnyZhVaXiKV1Yg

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sAfa_08v...n8eIIC9J62HJk3

[bhansali_hardik]

Originally Posted by Shur'tugal

Hi, needed some urgent input.
Was hearing some noise from the front of the bike again today on my commute.
Stopped and checked once I reached office - it seems the engine crash guard has come loose on the RHS.

Can I fix this myself with the toolkit? Should I call RSA for a fix?
Worried about it falling on the way home.

It's a minutes job, do it yourself I would say. Buy the loctite 243 or the red one which is around and use that to fasten it. You will do a better job than the RSA and the ASS.

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by Shur'tugal

Hi, needed some urgent input.
Was hearing some noise from the front of the bike again today on my commute.
Stopped and checked once I reached office - it seems the engine crash guard has come loose on the RHS.

Can I fix this myself with the toolkit? Should I call RSA for a fix?
Worried about it falling on the way home.

Also, this is terrible finish by RE.

Videos attached:

This is quite common with the bike, yours maybe is third case I am hearing of loosened crash guard bolts. You can tighten it yourself or at the SVC or at your local mechanic by using threadlocker over the bolt so that it stays in place and doesn't undo itself in the future.

Cheers!
VJ

[Shur'tugal]

Originally Posted by bhansali_hardik

It's a minutes job, do it yourself I would say. Buy the loctite 243 or the red one which is around and use that to fasten it. You will do a better job than the RSA and the ASS.

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

This is quite common with the bike, yours maybe is third case I am hearing of loosened crash guard bolts. You can tighten it yourself or at the SVC or at your local mechanic by using threadlocker over the bolt so that it stays in place and doesn't undo itself in the future.

Cheers!
VJ

Thanks. Spoke to a technician on the call and confirmed there is no danger of the crash guard falling. Have not been able to tighten it myself as none of the tools are being able to grip the nut from the back.

Will get it done in the next few days.

My numberplate fell of on my first proper ride after buying the bike. The front mudguard was fouling against the tire for a while, fixed in first service. They left my chain slack adjuster loose post first service.

And now this. Incredibly frustrating and a very poor showing from RE on what is supposed to be one of their flagship products.

[bhansali_hardik]

Originally Posted by Shur'tugal

Incredibly frustrating and a very poor showing from RE on what is supposed to be one of their flagship products.

well you’re set for failure of expectations at this point! This is typical RE from ages, I had my bike running smoother prior to first service!

Don’t have high hopes on the SC, nor on the word that the SEs speak. They will go lengths to hoodwink you. However, please go through basic troubleshooting and mechanical 101. Get your hands dirty

[Sebring]

RE service is very good at their company owned outlet (BTM). I always ensure I have the time to be there during service, so it has always been fine. No issues.

[IamAsHter]

A quick update on fixing the handlebar noise or coneset noise for the Himalayan 450.

I had the handlebar noise “khet khet” sound repeating every 1000 kms approx. This was showing up regardless of the riding conditions as one period of 1000 kms was done in and around city and another close to 1000 was done in a highway route full of off-road elements as seen in the previous post.

The ASS in my place was always quick to respond to the issue and have tried their best to tighten the centre nut or opening it and tightening the coneset nut underneath. There are 2 tightening nuts underneath there - FYI.

Now, during the last iteration I had officially raised a complaint to RE and the service centre team dedicated an entire day to sort out the issue. Finally the issue was identified to be with the tightening nuts.

There is a thin rubber washer between the tightening nuts; it is more like a o-ring gasket which we use with the oil filter cover. Now, this gasket was splitting up whenever the upper nut was being tightened. So since it wasn’t allowing it to be fully tightened, the same was getting loose within a couple of hundred kms.

The solution now is a local jugaad solution. The thin rubber gasket is replaced with a aluminium ring of the same thin size (quite difficult to find one, involved some fabrication work as well from outside). Post that, both the tightening nuts could be set correctly without any issues of washer or gasket moving out of place and upon riding and jumping around on the great indian roads the feel from the handle is absolutely like brand new.

Just wanted to share this. Apologies for the messed up writing.

Since I don’t have the proper pics from my case; here I am sharing the video link of a similar case for better understanding:

https://youtu.be/4uEiuiodxDY?si=TpS6yzfAu1HreKlI

Watch from 3:50 mins to 4:10 mins in the video.