This is the second post about Yeti, my Royal Enfield Himalayan.
I have been enjoying my rides to work these days, as I ride astride this beast in Yeti. The bike has been to SC twice in this period. First for the mandatory 500 kms service, where Oil was changed. There were few initial niggles that were fixed as well.
First Himalayan service at 467 kms
I had issues with the wind shield vibrating way too much, which was becoming an irritant. The clock on the dash was not in sync with the actual time and I never figured out how to set it myself. There there was an issue with the breaking and clutch being difficult.
There were a few other chinks. Like the gear shift had issues, false neutrals caused the bike to stop midway which in traffic makes it an issue.
Discovering other Himalayan riders
While riding back home astride the Yeti, I saw a fellow Himalayan rider (Devendra Apte), who asked me if I was part of the Himalayan riders group on WhatsApp. Well, I was not of course and he helped me get me added there.
Today the group has more than 200 members and is one of the most active group. I was yet to go for a longer ride (70 kms a day to and from office is already long enough :P) and it only recently happened. A breakfast ride to Himalayan.
Oil Changes
In spite of me being very assertive about changing the engine oil, the service center manager ensured me that there is no need to change oil till 10,000 kilometers. At the best, if I still feel the need, do it after 7500 kms. This obviously has had me thinking about the frequent oil changes other RE products are subjected to. In fact, I used to use my Wego so much that every month and half, it needed an oil change.
Ride and Handling
If asked, the only one thing that I love my Himalayan will be its Ride quality and Handling. It is a breeze to take it through traffic, in the notorious Shil-phata road. It just stand up and ride through the hill everyday, absorbing huge bumps and stones en-route.
Other issues
Yeti had two more trips to the Service Center due to various issues. I am listing down some of them here.
- Clutch cable melting after it touched the hot exhaust. This was because the positioning of the cable and one of the hooks got bent (I do not know how it happened)
- I can smell fuel vapor while riding, and could be an indication that there is some amount of leakage from either the tank of from the flow to the engine.
- The front side emits a peeping sound. Do not think the sound is from disk breaks up front, but they do start after a hard breaking or longer travel.
- Gear shifts get harder as the engine heats up.
India