The Royal Enfield Himalayan ,great value.

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Tonibe63
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Re: The Royal Enfield Himalayan ,great value.

Post by Tonibe63 »

Hugh wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 9:52 am Greetings,

Great to read all of your posts, especially as I had considered buying a Himalayan. The weight aspect, and to me heavy clutch, put me off the idea though.

Toni, I hope you will not mind my making a safety point that barbecues and similar should not be used in an enclosed space such as a tent or van because of the deadly carbon monoxide produced.

TTFN

Hugh.
No worries Hugh, I never cook in the tent or van and even have a carbon monoxide alarm positioned on the floor but thanks for the reminder 8-)
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
frenchy3
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Re: The Royal Enfield Himalayan ,great value.

Post by frenchy3 »

Tonibe63 wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 8:36 am Made the decision that there is nothing else I want that would fulfil the job I have for it so I reinsured the Himmy. I've also replaced the steering head bearings+bottom seal and added foam to the seat so it's going to get some use.
Decision made so I cut holes in my van and fitted windows, built a rock&roll type bed and put some insulation behind the plywood wall linings to be used for day trips and overnight stops. The whole bed thing is removable in half an hour and then I can get 2 bikes in the back along with an airbeam tent and gas barbeque.
I can't see us getting abroad on a long trip this year so short 3 or 4 day stuff is on the cards along with weekend bike camping and maybe even fit in some solo wild camping if grandparent duties allow.
I caught my steering head bearings in time and have cleaned them out and put new grease on them. I also drilled and tapped the headstock and fitted a grease nipple to keep fresh grease in the bearings. The bottom seal as standard is useless as when i pumped grease into the headstock and it filled the void,the excess came straight out through the bottom seal. I have a Seat Concepts seat which i purchased secondhand as they are very expensive but if you take a couple of pictures of the seat concepts design to a local upholsterer they will do a cheap version of it SAS autotrim are a company that will do this for around £70.
frenchy3
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Re: The Royal Enfield Himalayan ,great value.

Post by frenchy3 »

Hugh wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 9:52 am Greetings,

Great to read all of your posts, especially as I had considered buying a Himalayan. The weight aspect, and to me heavy clutch, put me off the idea though.

Toni, I hope you will not mind my making a safety point that barbecues and similar should not be used in an enclosed space such as a tent or van because of the deadly carbon monoxide produced.

TTFN

Hugh.
The clutch pull on my bike is no worse than any other bike i have owned including some hydraulic clutches. Maybe the cable routing of one you tried was a Friday afternoon job. The bike is heavy but feels well planted on the road. I have removed a few surplus items already like the toolkit with it,s chocolate spanners :D and the EVAP system with its valve that often does not work properly and charcoal cannister etc has mysteriously fallen off as will the secondary air injection system when i get round to it. An aftermarket pipe will save a few kilogrammes as will a Lithium Ion battery when the substandard lead acid item Royal Enfield fit has failed. I tried many different bikes and tried to turn them into a plodder of an expedition bike like my Harley Davidson MT350 that i never should have sold,to no avail. When i saw the Himalayan there were so many aspects telling me i really shouldn,t buy this bike but never one for convention i purchased a secondhand one with 2000 miles on the clock that was in mint condition and i am so glad i did. They are not for everyone but apparently they are one of the top selling bikes along with the Interceptor at the moment . I think they have captured the market for people of a certain age that want a modern bike with retro looks at a cheap price and easy to work on. I love mine and if i had the money it would have an Interceptor sat next to it.
Tonibe63
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Re: The Royal Enfield Himalayan ,great value.

Post by Tonibe63 »

I replaced the standard bottom seal with a Nilos shield type seal so will see how it lasts. As usual the top bearing was fine but the bottom had areas of surface rust and pitting which I could feel through the handlebars when the bike was on the centre stand.
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
adventure steele
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Re: The Royal Enfield Himalayan ,great value.

Post by adventure steele »

frenchy3 wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 9:03 am
Hugh wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 9:52 am Greetings,

Great to read all of your posts, especially as I had considered buying a Himalayan. The weight aspect, and to me heavy clutch, put me off the idea though.

Toni, I hope you will not mind my making a safety point that barbecues and similar should not be used in an enclosed space such as a tent or van because of the deadly carbon monoxide produced.

TTFN

Hugh.
The clutch pull on my bike is no worse than any other bike i have owned including some hydraulic clutches. Maybe the cable routing of one you tried was a Friday afternoon job. The bike is heavy but feels well planted on the road. I have removed a few surplus items already like the toolkit with it,s chocolate spanners :D and the EVAP system with its valve that often does not work properly and charcoal cannister etc has mysteriously fallen off as will the secondary air injection system when i get round to it. An aftermarket pipe will save a few kilogrammes as will a Lithium Ion battery when the substandard lead acid item Royal Enfield fit has failed. I tried many different bikes and tried to turn them into a plodder of an expedition bike like my Harley Davidson MT350 that i never should have sold,to no avail. When i saw the Himalayan there were so many aspects telling me i really shouldn,t buy this bike but never one for convention i purchased a secondhand one with 2000 miles on the clock that was in mint condition and i am so glad i did. They are not for everyone but apparently they are one of the top selling bikes along with the Interceptor at the moment . I think they have captured the market for people of a certain age that want a modern bike with retro looks at a cheap price and easy to work on. I love mine and if i had the money it would have an Interceptor sat next to it.
Reckon you hit the nail on the head there Hugh one of my bikes is a 1944 Raf Norton 16H from ww2, looking at the Himmy for my next bike an I can really see where the Himalayan nails a spot in the market adv wise where not a lot of other bikes do unless you are looking at classics, been going back an forward between the r80g/s 1150gsa an the Himalayan all week totally different ways of doing it I guess for my trip to Norway an Iceland.

I keep thinking if it had another 10hp an a bit more torque it'd really nail everything inc the motorways an I'd buy one straight away

Having said that our lads an ladies on the ww2 bikes only had 12bhp or so. Guess what I'm getting at is it's all perspectives. How do you find it compared to your mt350 you had?

Be interesting to see what they do in the long run, but I can't think of any other modern bikes that fill the same niche as the Himalayan my last big adv was a gsa 1200te.

What sorta mpg an tank range are you guys seeing in the real world ?
Tonibe63
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Re: The Royal Enfield Himalayan ,great value.

Post by Tonibe63 »

All figures are approximate as I've never worried about mpg on the Himalayan because I don't use a full tank on my rides.
10 litre main tank (150 miles) plus 5 litres in the reserve (50 miles+), 75ish mpg, will pull 30mph to 60mph in third gear (into the red), tops out in 5th at 85mph (just below red), comfy to cruise at 65mph but it is no rocketship and the mt350/ww2 stuff you talk about will have you in the right mind zone.

Like many bikes I think your @rse/bladder will dictate the fuel stops but I can't imagine wanting to use 2 tanks worth in a day, by contrast I have been happy at 500 to 800 miles in a day and feel ok the next day on my 1200gs, for me the Himalayan is not that sort of bike. If I was taking it to Scotland from the Midlands I would put it in the back of my van, knock out the motorway in one hit then take in the views on the Himalayan at a relaxed pace for the next 3 or 4 days. If it was a bike only trip I would take the gs.
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
adventure steele
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Re: The Royal Enfield Himalayan ,great value.

Post by adventure steele »

Thanks mate that's interesting I only ride bikes don't have a car so yeah looking for a new main bike to keep the miles off the Norton's cranking it on the 650ss far to much haha.

That's the only thing that's had me hesitating is Motorway work remember how good my gsa was for Manchester to Cornwall an to Scotland which are trips I'm after doing as well as Norway an Iceland
Tonibe63
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Re: The Royal Enfield Himalayan ,great value.

Post by Tonibe63 »

I always think that a demo ride will give you a snapshot of what the bike does but it can't give you the experience that ownership does.
When looking for a 2nd bike I research them (never test ride one) and then start trying to find a good value example to buy so that I can use it for a few months before deciding to keep or sell. If you 'buy right' you can get out without losing anything.
That's what I've done with eight 2nd bikes in the 12 years of owning my gs and the Himalayan will go the same way eventually.
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
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Re: The Royal Enfield Himalayan ,great value.

Post by nathanm »

Ii've done a couple of John o'Groats to North Devon in a day rides - about 700 miles or so - on the Himalayan and I don't personally find it too bad. It'll easily sit at 65-70mph and pretty relaxing at that pace so I find you can easy do the hours. The screen can give you a bit of buffeting but you can get touring screens etc. I personally don't think it's a bike that needs to go in a van.
Tonibe63
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Re: The Royal Enfield Himalayan ,great value.

Post by Tonibe63 »

nathanm wrote: Sun Aug 02, 2020 10:29 pm Ii've done a couple of John o'Groats to North Devon in a day rides - about 700 miles or so - on the Himalayan and I don't personally find it too bad. It'll easily sit at 65-70mph and pretty relaxing at that pace so I find you can easy do the hours. The screen can give you a bit of buffeting but you can get touring screens etc. I personally don't think it's a bike that needs to go in a van.
Your post highlights the advantage that yourself and 'adventure steel' have over me which is age and stamina, I am a grandparent after all, lol. Maybe I should have emphasised the point that the bike itself is very capable (Godspeed's adventures demonstrate that given the time and right approach any bike can do the miles) but for myself, given the choice, I would select a tool better suited to what I wanted to get out of it.
In summary ... I am starting to feel my age :lol: .
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
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