Royal Enfield — Royal Enfield Himalayan

Address:	411021
Website:	royalenfield.com

This is regarding Royal Enfield's newest product, the Himalayan. This motorcycle has been marketed to take on the Himalayas in the worst conditions. However, I am amongst many other owners who are having various issues with the build quality even when riding in cities. Barely a few months old, only 5000kms, the engine, gearbox, the handle bar assembly, the electrical are all failing. Some are serious enough to be life threatening. Although the company is fixing certain issues as and when they come, it is still up to us, the consumer to continue pursuing again and again and again with the service centres across India to convince them of several problems.

My individual bike has experience the follow, at only 5000kms on the odometer:

Handlebar t-cone set assembly. This affects handling of the bike.

Electrical systems. The bike randomly shuts off. Engine, and all electrical parts, lights, turn indicators, break lights, horn, even the starter motor. You can only imagine how dangerous this can get.

The bike frame has had weak spots, where dropping the bike, resulted in not a minor scratch, but a welded piece of the frame broke off.

The gearbox is extremely hard. At time you miss shifting up or down in city traffic and it can stall the bike.

The engine is sluggish. Even after an oil change much earlier than the service manual recommendation. There is no power under 3500 to 4000 revs. The bike's red line is 6000, so from this ratio, its too high to get any power.

The engine seems to have frequent issues with the tappet setting. This, apparently, controls the valves, and needs adjustment often.

The fuel economy listed by the company is around 30kmpl. most of the riders I have spoken with claim between 16kmpl to 24kmpl best.

The rear suspension after riding with a pillion seems to get stiffer. And it sends jolting shocks up your spine. Remember, this bike is supposed to tackle off-road conditions, but minor pothole patch work and melted tar on the roads can become painful.

The handling has been compromised after the t-cone assembly has been replaced.

The service centres have not been entirely honest about their ability to service the bikes. During my 10 month ownership of the bike, the bike has been at the service centre, or unusable for a good 40% of the time.

The bike was advertised to have gone through a 5 year long R&D process, however, it seems that the first few batches of owners were the test subjects. The newer bikes seem to be having less problems. I think its only fair that we get all the parts replaced, or our bikes replaced due to so many issues that we have faced.