Fixing a few issues on a BS4 Himalayan; Battery, headlights & others

The battery problem was in the BS4 model and was corrected in the BS6 models.

BHPian advstreakrecently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I am bike-sitting my friend's 2019 Himalayan 411. As the bike is used less frequently it seems to have a battery drain issue often requiring a jumper/charger to start it after a couple of days standing idle.

A couple of Google search links lead the issue to be the gear position sensor which is always on as it is directly connected to the battery.

Here are the links I referred:

https://motohimalayan.wordpress.com/...ayans-euro-iv/

https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/r...#post-43420123

https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/r...#post-43423864

Going through the links I checked the current drain across the F1 fuse with the bike being off ( the key is not even in the ignition). It is at 6.13 mA in neutral and 9.37, 10.29, 10.24, 9.30, and 10.22 mA in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th gear respectively. This confirms that the leakage is caused by the gear position sensor design.

As per the links, this problem was in the BS4 model and was corrected in the BS6 models. The solution is to give power to the gear position sensor via a connection that is controlled by the ignition key. This can be done by splicing up the harness yourself or getting an off-the-shelf harness by Hitchcock or RE themself:

https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorc...page=Himalayan

https://www.bike-parts-royalenfield....rts/RAC00679_A

I was able to get the RAC00679_A add-on lead for Rs.150 and the installation was simple. This disconnects the gear position sensor from the battery and draws power from the rear brake switch.

After getting the add-on lead fixed the current drain is now at 0.01 mA fixing the problem. I will update the thread after some time in case I notice any other problems with the setup.

My friend has fitted a generic headlight which frankly was not the best in terms of spread and cut-off.

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01F6YGQLG?...kipTwisterOG=1

This is the low beam spread.

And this is the high beam one.

I got the original reflector for him and put the Novsight N35 H4 bulb which I had lying around as I was using it previously on the KTM ADV 250 and the Hornet 160.

Here is how the low beam compares:

As one can see proper cur-off and beam spread are maintained.

Here is the high beam comparison.

It might be not that apparent in the image but the Novsight N35 bulb's lower beam is not active when a flash/high beam is used. That is personally fine by me as I hardly use the high beam in actual road use and only use it for flashing pass signal.

Now the next steps in the bike are to get the cone-set fixed along with a general service.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.