Home
Bike Reviews
Royal Enfield Himalayan Review
Post received 24 May 2020
By Crofty (aka Steve)
I bought my Himalayan new and kept it for about 18 months during which time I did about 10,000 miles. I went around the top of Scotland twice and a Lands End to JOG with Nathan's Garbage run.
I enjoyed riding the bike. The low seat height made it easy to ride and the sedate performance didn't get you into too much trouble. The bike was cheap to run with mid 70s to the gallon. The front tyre and chain were still good after 10k so I have no reason to believe it would be hard on consumables.
Services at 3000 miles made the bike for me inconvenient. Dropping the bike off to be left overnight to do the valve clearances every 3k meant I had to co-opt the wife to pick me up and drop me the next day or get the bus to and fro. With no courtesy bike available I did my own servicing.
I had my share of problems.
Misting up clocks, more annoying than dangerous but often it became difficult to read the instruments. I had them apart numerous times to clean them and insert silicone sachets to absorb moisture, I eventually drilled holes in the casing to allow air to circulate but it never really went away.
The timing chain runs on the left hand side of the block and the head at that point is secured by two 35mm M6 bolts. Many examples of oil leaks here, not enough to jeopardise the oil levels but just an annoying spray of oil over the engine. I eventually sorted it with slightly longer bolts and dowty washers.
After the first year and about 6 thousand miles the front brake began to seize. It became apparent when pushing the bike out of the garage, it felt like a puncture. You couldn't push the bike easily. I tried to clean the caliper in-situ to free it off but impossible so off it came.
I tried to buy another from the dealers but no brake spares were available in the UK so I took the bike off the road till I could fix the problem. The dealer in Edinburgh wasn't interested because I was servicing the bike myself, fair enough. I bought a replacement caliper from India so that I could have a working spare.
At 5k the back tyre needed replacing. I changed it to a Mitas 07, a tyre which I have used on other bikes and like. I couldn't get the tyre to seat in spite of using loads of tyre lube and 70 psi so I took it to a motorcycle tyre specialist. He gave me the wheel back and it looked fine. I had to deflate it to add some slime for the upcoming Garbage run and when it was deflated it became apparent that it was till hanging up on the rim.
I changed to an Avon Distanzia and had the same problem and it eventually seated at over a 100 psi with a loud bang. Maybe I just had bad tyres but the thought of trying to fix punctures out on the road weighed heavily on my mind.
This winter it was the turn of the rear caliper and I had to strip that one, by this time the front was getting sluggish and it was becoming likely that this might be a annual event.
The final straw came when the bike wouldn't start and was just dead. The battery was fine, I went over the bike with the multi meter and everything seemed OK. Eventually a dealer on the forum said open the starter switch and spray with WD40, turns out it's common fault and maybe a poor switch design. It happened to me 3 times and you just never knew when it was going to fail, another potential nightmare of worry.
Those are the problems I had, many on the RE forum had as many different ones, failing batteries, seized headsets etc.
They have a reputation as tough little bikes which I think stems from the fact that it might let you down but it will never leave you stranded, as you can always get it going assuming you have the knowledge to tackle all the little faults. In the end it just got too much work for me keeping it going. I got cold this year as I'm getting on a bit and just decided to change it out for a Honda scooter.
Sorry if this reads like a list of faults, they have many good points. Cheap to purchase, very capable off road, you can drop them without too much going wrong. But as for me I'd had enough and as a friend of mine from Yorkshire says "it's a mending bike".
If you want to review your own velocipede then click here.
Reader's Comments
Bogger said :-
Looks like I'll be giving one of these a miss then. Honda scooter eh. Feet forward is the way forward?
Bogger
05/06/2020 22:07:14 UTC
Ian Soady said :-
Interesting. I had heard that Enfield's build quality / reliability problems were behind them but maybe not.
06/06/2020 10:06:36 UTC
Snod said :-
You lost me at 3K intervals for valve clearance checks. Ain't nobody got time fo' dat.
06/06/2020 12:06:55 UTC
Upt'North said :-
Thanks Crofty.
It sounds like it might be a while before I buy an RE.
WIGN would any engine require servicing to that extent at 3000 miles.
No wonder there's a lot of roadside mechanics in India.
Upt'North.
06/06/2020 13:34:32 UTC
nab301 said :-
The misting clocks does seem to be a problem when reading on dedicated forums . I have Japanese bikes with low
mileage recommended valve clearance checks but in general these can be extended. All the newer Japanese/ British /Italian bikes I have owned seem to have problems with brake calipers needing maintenance so i guess it's not just Enfield but in reality it's down to caliper manufacturers and the perception that bikers don't ride in wet/ winter conditions?
Nigel
06/06/2020 14:13:32 UTC
Henrik said :-
Thanks for the review Steve
I was close to get this bike, but went with an GW250 Zuma instadt, for exactly reasons like you described here
Every now and then I ask myself if I should try the RE insteadt, nice to be confirmed that to just avoid it makes sense
The Zuma has now done a milage compared to yours, with absolutely nothing to complain about, and no regrets
When worn out I might likely just replace with a DL250 ,... to continue same way with no problems
06/06/2020 15:13:44 UTC
Upt'North said :-
What is it about motorcycle brake calipers, I think they all stick.
Are cars any different? Perhaps you just never feel that drag in a four wheeled appliance.
I think I probably rode for no more than 4 or 5 wet hours all last year, but, you've guessed it, all three calipers required pre spring cleaning.
I cannot honestly remember the last time a car brake piston gave an issue.
I did go to town with them this spring so we'll see what they're like next year. Stuck solid probably.
Upt'North.
06/06/2020 16:31:50 UTC
crofty said :-
Thanks for the comments, hope it was of some help if your thinking of one. I wanted to keep it for years and do lots of touring on it. My last bike was a NC700X and i did 60,000 miles of touring on it in 6 years and i don,t ever recall looking at the calipers other than to change pads and brake fluid. I didn't run it over the winter to be fair.
I ran other Honda's over the winter though, a Transalp and a CRF250l and don,t recall having as any problems with brakes.
I think the RE Interceptor has better build quality,or perhaps should i say better choice of components. The first Himalayan the BS3 was truly horrendous with faults, so much so that RE rethought the whole bike with the BS4 which is the model most of us have here in the UK. However I think a few things slipped through but by that time RE were on a roll with the Interceptor & Continental GT.
06/06/2020 18:59:56 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Brakes - pfffft! The front Brembo on my SLR650 gave me nothing but headaches and hassle. Damn thing was seizing up the day after a rebuild and it would never bleed happily. The nasty, cheap, overly simple and slack tolerances of the Grimeca on the CLR125 City fly on the other hand could be ignored without issue permanently. The "Blue Spots" on the Fazer were finicky and needed regular care, the CBF125's Nissin is tolerable with some regular strip downs.
Car brakes are not as pretty Upt' (usually) but they live within the wheel which helps keep DIRT off, and brake dust on which seems to prove oddly advantageous. They're much larger and built to slightly less tolerances which as with the Grimeca above seems to help. Also the pistons usually have a full rubber covering so that keeps dirt out from between the piston and barrel and prevents the rusty piston issue.
06/06/2020 20:35:46 UTC
Bob said :-
Thanks for the honest appraisal.
Most of the faults you list sound typical of the result of under-development, which is not surprising since it's an all new platform for Royal Enfield.
The British winter has done for many a brake caliper on many a bike. Some have a reputation for sticking, the famous Blue Spots being prime candidates. I find in general the Brembos are best.
My KLX has Nissin and they're about middling for salt sensitivity, in winter after every ride I spray the calipers down with the hosepipe, I've done this for years and I very rarely need to rebuild a brake caliper.
My friend had an MT03 which regularly misted its clocks, a common fault on those bikes.
The 3K service interval wouldn't bother me, I change the oil on my KLX every 1000 anyway. Fortunately the valves only need a check every 12000, but they are shim under bucket so it's a lot of work if they need changing.
It reminds me a lot of the time I bought a nearly new Ural. It never actually left me stranded but it was just one-thing-after-another, constant niggles and in the end I'd had enough - pretty much as you had with the Himalayan.
Car brake calipers don't tend to seize because they have proper rubber gaiter seals on them, in the same way that car suspension units have rubber gaiter seals. Bikes used to have covered fork stanchions and early bike brake calipers had proper external piston seals - I remember changing them on a 70's Honda.
Fork stanchions became uncovered some time in the 80's because it looked cool and sporty, I don't know why the brake calipers lost their seals. Too many design decisions on bikes are taken on the basis of needing to look cool, rather than needing to be reliable and long lasting.
The first job I do on any bike I buy is to fit fork gaiters, but I can't do anything about the brake calipers.
07/06/2020 09:43:43 UTC
Upt'North. said :-
Bob, when you're right, you're right.
My 750f2 1978 vintage had piston boots, had that bike for about 15 years and never touched the calipers or pistons other than lubing the slide pins at pad change time. I wonder if with a lot of modern multi piston designs it would be difficult to find room for the boots. I can only remember seeing boots on the single piston sliding calipers.
I know someone will chime in to say the other fitments.
Upt'North.
07/06/2020 09:59:10 UTC
Womble said :-
Interesting bike report Ctofty and seems very consistent with what I have read elsewhere. The Himalayan is one of those bikes I would really like in my garage. But there is always that worry about the build quality. A couple of times now I've gone to the dealer with the aim of buying one but refused at the last hurdle ie putting my hard earned down on one. I've got 4 bikes at the moment and am trying to get down to just the one that will do everything I currently need from a bike but finding it a difficult process. But think maybe that the Himalayan is now off that list.
07/06/2020 13:00:29 UTC
Upt'North said :-
You all know in about 10 years time someone will chime in with, "I've had one of these for ten years and never laid a spanner on it".
Upt'North.
07/06/2020 13:32:09 UTC
nab301 said :-
For me, Brembo gold type bike calipers have always been good and Nissin type calipers have been bad , obviously some bikes have rear calipers mounted "upside down " under the disc and this can be a bad thing too , Suzuki Bandit , Guzzi Breva being two that I've owned.
I work in the automotive (cars) aftermarket parts area and we sell plenty of calipers and discs . I was only having a conversation with a garage owner recently and he agreed that in recent years Discs on cars have become consumables , whether it's pad material is harder on the discs or Disc material is poorer I'm not sure . 30yrs ago you would change pads , but rarely discs. We do get requests for calipers for some relatively new cars ( maybe 3yrs old ) and then older popular models maybe with malfunctioning electronic handbrake systems.
Guzzi underslung caliper in photo after a dry summer..
07/06/2020 14:02:33 UTC
Jim said :-
As I understand it when they stopped putting asbestos in brake pads the pads got harder, and so they made the steel in the discs a little softer. Certainly discs used to last a lot longer than they do now. It's rare I don't replace both.
08/06/2020 08:22:17 UTC
Upt'North said :-
Likewise Jim, can't remember the last time I didn't change pads and discs together on a car. My Pan still has its original fronts at 67,000 miles but the rear was replaced at 50,000 because of possible cracking issues. It gets hot back there and I had experienced rear brake failure.
Does anyone remember the "Good Old Days" when Japanese bikes came with very hard and shiny discs, they never wore out, you couldn't stop either but they never wore out. If there was any water on the disc, which obviously rarely happens in the UK (?!?), the disc would make a lovely sizzle noise with no accompanying braking effort. Sweet memories.
Upt'North.
08/06/2020 08:55:28 UTC
Ian Soady said :-
It's decades since asbestos was used in brake linings / discs. And generally my cars only need pads unless the disc has been scored due to a sticking caliper or similar. But I'm one of those folk who don't use the brakes too much....
Yes, early Japanese discs were horrific. But the one on my Commando wasn't much better in original form. If it was pouring down you'd apply the front brake - nothing would happen - so you'd pull it harder. By which time the water had been swept off and the brake came on and locked the wheel. The best discs in those days were cast iron but had the annoying tendency to go rusty.
08/06/2020 10:03:32 UTC
Bob said :-
I rode a CB200 once, it had a stainless front disc and cable operated brake caliper.
It didn't work in the dry, never mind in the wet!
To add to the role call of modern discs, I've just had to change both front and rear on one of my KLX250s at 30000 miles.
08/06/2020 10:55:53 UTC
ROD said :-
Dropped in to a local motorcycle shop yesterday, and had a close look at a Himalayan.
It looked very well thought out and well put together.
14/06/2020 20:06:49 UTC
Jack the Lad said :-
I had one of these for 2 years and 15000 miles without any of the problems mentioned in this test. It replaced an Enfield Bullet that did 30000 miles in the 4 years I had it.
I rode it in all weathers all year round, but didn't do the off road bit. A couple of warranty issues with a leaky rear brake master cylinder and a failed engine temp sensor, but it always got me home under its own steam.
3000 mile valve clearance checks were a nuisance, but I would have skipped every other one if I'd kept it after the warranty expired and just had it done at the 6000 mile service intervals.
Only sold it because my dodgy hips made it difficult to get on and off. I've got a scooter now, but might be tempted by the new Enfield Meteor 350.
17/11/2020 14:08:32 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Cheers Jack the Lad. I can understand perhaps checking the valves every 3k when the bike is new and everything is settling down but you're right, after the warranty and 10k miles every 6k should do the trick.
I'm seeing a lot of media attention to both the Enfield Meteor 350 and Honda's H'ness 350 too. What's not certain is if they are coming to the UK, which country are you in Jack? The Meteor has a fairly low seat and there's an even lower seat option which might make life easier on the dodgy hips. Mind you, is it worth it? There's some cracking scooters out there these days.
18/11/2020 09:07:09 UTC
Badger said :-
I've been tempted by the Himalayan.
The local Harley dealer sells them. (Yea ... I know) :D
The 2021 model has a simple Google satnav on it, and a usb charger, like the Meteor 350.
(The 350 has a 12 month service interval)
The recent reports I've read, and reviews are solid.
One of the things I've noticed is a lot of owners seem to neglect their other bikes in the garage, if they are lucky enough to own a few, and the RE is their go to bike.
Intriguing.
28/01/2021 20:41:18 UTC
Gert-Jan said :-
Thanks for the review, Steve! I own a Hymalayan too (ridden it for 47000km) and I am familiar with the listed issue for starting problem and brakes that seem to clamp untouched. The starting can be solved roadside by short circuiting the outer fixation of the starting motor with the livepole. For the brakes I suspect the slider pins to be in crying need for some regreasement. To me it appears that you see a rising fuel consumption prior to the brake service. Otherwise my bike is comfortable enough for 1000km/day, rocksolid, does handle excellent against the 1200GS, R-nine-T, Monster 900 and MG Breva 850 of my friends
Service cost: 300Eu average @ every 10000km (only). Average fuel consumption over 47000km: 35km/ltr or 2.9 ltr/100 km (no joke).
06/04/2021 13:49:43 UTC
crofty said :-
looks like the Himalayan really suits you Gert, 47k wow some going considering lockdowns etc.
I only did about 16k on mine. I can believe you fuel consumption, I never got that much but if you go steady on bikes you can rack up some great mpg figures. I once had 35 km/ltr on my old NC700 on a very slow touring day once.
06/04/2021 18:41:55 UTC
nab301 said :-
35km/l !! With one tankful on my DL250 I managed 32km/l , generally nearer 28km/l and currently on fulltime urban commuting duties 25km/l
Nigel
06/04/2021 21:30:00 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
My CB500X regularly returns 80 mpg which is 34 kml, if I take it easy then 85 to 90 mpg (36 to 38 kml). You folks must be givin' it large!
All brakes will get somewhat stiff with time but coincidentally Sharon and I stopped to see if a rider of an Enfield Interceptor 650 needed any help. He was kicking his front brake calliper squarely. He was OK, the kicking had freed it off and he only had a few more miles until he was home, he said he'd just use the back brake.
I still keep on coming back to this point with sliding callipers. The sliders' tolerances are too good! The sliders need space to slide but the issue with "slack" sliders is the calliper rattles and modern riders don't want to listen to their brakes rattling because, well, it ain't "perfect".
07/04/2021 11:04:11 UTC
CrazyFrog said :-
Are you sure you haven't been using an online converter for US mpg Mr Ed? My calculation for imperial gallons is that 35 km/ltr = 98.5 mpg and 80 mpg = 28.4 km/ltr.
Incidentally, you will probably be relieved to hear that one of my stink wheels has been replaced by a lovely four stroke Himalayan that has these strange valve things apparently...
07/04/2021 19:39:11 UTC
nab301 said :-
CrazyFrog you beat me to it! Ren, you're selling yourself short there, forget your online calculators 1 imp Gallon = 4.54l and one Km =5/8 mile. So 35km/l = 158.9 km per Gallon=99mpg give or take ...
Nigel
07/04/2021 20:26:57 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Aha!! You may in fact be right Mr CrazyFrog. I just went to Google and assumed I was using real gallons none of that gosh-darn-it Yankee-Doodle nonsense. Well spotted that chap.
So 80 mpg, my usual typical return will be 28.4 kml
90 mpg which is me being extra careful will be 31.9 kml
I shall go into a darkened corner and punish myself. I'm looking forward to this...
Himalayan huh? So you're leaving the dark (cloudy, smelly, noisy) side and coming into the enlightened wisdom of the 4 stroke world. A place where valves open and close to move gases at the right time and in the right direction as opposed to random happenstance and mean averages creating gas flow. To a place where lubrication is considered a matter separate from fuelling. Admittedly it's also a place of tappets and camchains (dunno if the Himalayan is camchain or pushrod) and peculiar rattles that cannot be pinpointed nor truly understood if they are serious or normal. That's the downside of actually being able to hear the engine see.
07/04/2021 20:29:04 UTC
CrazyFrog said :-
Yes, back in the world of big(ish) singles again! The Himmo is OHC, but only 2 valves and screw and locknut tappet adjustment, so should be a doddle to service.
I'm retaining one foot in the camp of sanity though, as I still have the blue Jawa that I went to Ireland on a couple of years ago!
08/04/2021 06:45:11 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Easy peasy lemon squeezy, a man of your calibre will be able to service the machine in half an hour while simultaneously studying muons in quantum fields.
I'll forgive you the Jawa just this once because it's a Jawa which at least has the decency of a good spread of torque.
08/04/2021 08:47:16 UTC
nab301 said :-
A Friend (?) of mine phoned recently in early December 2024 and asked " Fancy a road trip to see a bike for sale "?
Turns out it was a stolen recovered 2019 Himalayan in a recovery yard just off a busy motorway .... My initial reaction was a strong no , and even why ? in the previous 6 months he'd traded in two bikes and added cash to purchase a new NX500 Honda ( he has barely ridden it in that time.)
I checked out the bike online and my attitude didn't change especially as the bike appeared to be way overpriced even if it had those humongous (in size and cost) O.E aluminium panniers.
Eventually I relented although my attitude didn't really change when I saw the bike face to face , Ignition switch missing , milky oil (in an aircooled engine..) head bearings reqd , no front brake, chain and sprockets needed , fork gaiters etc etc. other than that though, for a bike that looked like it had been stored in a hedge it wasn't rusty per se and did actually start with a jump pack!
The standard exhaust has a nice bark off it , was my attitude softening?
I priced everything that I thought was needed (although not the front brake hose) and compared to Jap stuff it all seemed affordable.
Predictably , said friend phoned shortly after the road trip and confirmed he had made an offer and purchased the bike which (with bikes in the past) usually meant one thing , it was coming to my garage for some repairs.
Immediate impressions while stripping ( the bike) was that it's built like the proverbial brick out house. Strangely there were no seized bolts , had it all been apart before?
Head bearings were replaced, front brake hose was the cause of brake failure , apparently it's a Himalayan thing , poorly too tightly routed braided hose , constant flexing , braiding fractures and severs the inner liner. Access for replacement involved shock removal which involves releasing the airbox / combined battery box and pulling back to allow removal of the top shock bolt. (Rectified before reassembly by drilling a large hole in the battery box to allow removal of the top bolt with airbox in situ.)
I thought I'd get a hose locally but the connection at the ABS unit near the swingarm pivot has a car type flared steel pipe with a 10x 1.25mm ( I think) female connection on the front hose , local car shop only had 10 x 1 mm . ( cost approx €60 if they had the connection) No problem i thought we'll get one in the new year but the owner was in a rush and ordered from the local dealer , € 160 ... along with a more reasonably priced lock set (including petrol cap seat lock and ign switch although to be fair the Ignition switch is just an on/ off single wire in / out job.
The only unexpected cost so far was a fuel pump , self induced in a workshop accident with the tank off the bike, the plastic output pipe was snapped off...
Calipers were fine, cleaned and greased externally , front ABS connector was ripped off the loom for some reason , available at €1 each in packets of 200 from radionics apparently.... some automotive suppliers seem to list repair sections so I will get one at some stage , for the moment to test the system I did some microsurgery with solder and electrical pins and to my surprise it works! Strangely the system bled easily , most of the air coming back up to the master cylinder while tapping the front brake lever although I did use a vacuum bleeder at the caliper just to be sure.
Luckily the sheared Ignition switch bolts came out of the top yoke easily and the engine was running before Christmas , early in the new year after countless minor repairs, adjustments and an estimated 50 hrs labour! I took it for a test ride , and amazingly It rides and handles nicely if a little softly ( reminds me of an '05 transalp I owned, maybe it's the 21" front wheel) even though it's on old squared off Mitas trail tyres.
The brakes are fine, ( although the front has HH pads which I'm not a fan of in terms of feel ) the engine is a low powered single but will crack along at 60mph or more if required with no annoying vibration through the bars or pegs, feeling long legged if a little gutless on take off , ( possibly removing the cat would sort this). Also I haven't yet checked the valve clearances but the bike starts on the button hot or cold!
Not sure about long term ownership but for me on the 30 odd miles I covered on it this is an endearing bike that is now possibly on my radar with the only query being tubed tyres and the resultant issues with roadside repairs of punctures.
The engine light (MIL) was on at the first start up but disappeared permanently on subsequent starts before getting to diagnose it through the display with its morse code like long and short flashes.
The display / speedo while not perfect has everything and possibly more than Japanese bikes have, Analogue dials , 3 trip meters, charging light, ( although no oil pressure light) Ambient air temperature, average speed etc .
Would it replace my Suzuki Dl250 thereby going in the opposite direction to Crofty? never say never I guess
Nigel
08/01/2025 17:21:53 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I think Enfield quality has come on leaps and bounds. A while back a friend who had a small workshop was doing some work on his brother's recently purchased Bullet and he showed me some of the gearbox parts that looked as though they'd been made using a cold chisel. Sadly for Enfield there's now a lot of competition in the "retro" mid-range bikes such as the Triumph Speed 400 and the Honda GB350.
09/01/2025 10:08:25 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
That Honda GB350 has piqued my interest Ian. I hope it's clear I'm NOT a "more power" kind of rider but I'm curious if I should go with the GB350's 21 bhp or wait and see if the rumours of a GB500 come to fruition. OK yes I have toured all of the UK from Scotland to Cornwall plus Ireland and The Netherlands on an 11 bhp 125 so 21 bhp is MORE than enough.
09/01/2025 12:59:44 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
As most of you know I have a 20 bhp bike in my stable.
I have this criteria:- If I want to ride at over 55 mph or if I have a pillion, I take the bigger bike. The 20 bhp bike will go faster than 55 mph obviously, but it works harder at higher speeds, and full throttle is required much of the time.
Again I have taken a pillion, but the bike is not comfortable two up, and again full throttle is needed much of the time.
As Ren is always interested in the fuel economy, I can report that the 350 HNTR will usually return 100 mpg. The best I have achieved is 126 mpg taking it very easy.
The lowest I have achieved is 74 mpg riding at the national speed limit (60 mph) with some stretches of duel carriage way ,(between 65 & 70 mph). I am sure it would drop below 70mpg two up, so not much better than the bigger bike at these speeds, and I would not be happy pushing the bike this hard for long periods.
09/01/2025 15:43:53 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
ROD - When you compare the HNTR to the GB350 there's a lot of similarities. What is quite shocking and a BIG sign that Enfield is having a huge influence on the market is the price of the GB350 - £4k. If it weren't for Enfield Honda would be listing this at 5 or 5.5k. After eons of "more power" and "bigger tyres" are we finally reaching a renaissance of motorcycles that are affordable, economical, simple, and manageable?
KTM is on it's knees - mostly it seems due to reliability issues. I ponder though - are there fewer riders who want to see "ready to race" on the dash when they turn on the ignition? How about "ready to gleefully meander down pleasant country lanes" or "ready to get you to work affordably and reliably without popping wheelies". Even the once dominant BMW GS 1100/1150/1200/1250/1300 is less dominant. Heck we've gotten Honda's TranSlap (sic) 750 and Yammy's TenaLady (sic) which ONLY (only?) produce 80bhp give or take.
With motorcyclists getting older give it another few years and the biggest selling motorcycles will be step through scooters as we'll all be too sore in the hip to throw a leg over. BOGGER!!!
10/01/2025 07:51:23 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
Ref : KTM.
Although the demise is due to many factors, unreliability being one. According to an article that I read another major factor was a venture into off road e bikes which they were trying to sell (and failed) for 6 - 7 thousand pounds. A lot of Dosh for an e- push bike.
10/01/2025 09:08:53 UTC
KiwiJeff said :-
Thanks for the comprehensive report on repairing the Himalayan Nigel its always useful to learn about the bikes you are interested in. I bid on a few Himalayans on our local version of fleabay before I bought the Inazuma but they all went for about twice as much as I wanted to spend and I wanted to keep the Bandit as well for pillion work so keeping the accountant happy was important. The Inazumas have been well reviewed on here but I'd like to add they are adaptable little bikes that can tackle the road in the picture below and then come home down the main sealed road at an easy 60 mph with a bit in reserve. I couldn't find a dual purpose tyre that would fit the
110/80-17 front wheel of the Inazuma in NZ so had to put a Bridgestone BT46 on as a compromise, but given Ted Simon rode around the world on a similar tyre on his T100 I decided it would do the job. The earlier DL250 came out as twin with the Inazuma motor in NZ then the latest version has an oil cooled single using Suzuki's SOCS system with a 19inch front wheel and improved styling. I like the new DL250 it has a curb mass of 167 kg so a bit lighter than the earlier version..
11/01/2025 03:00:03 UTC
nab301 said :-
@ Ian Soady , I'm curious what year was that Bullet your friend was working on ?
@ Kiwi Jeff sometimes a roadster like the Inazuma can be better than a pseudo trail bike on gravel although the Himalayan while a little heavy (like my DL250) felt really stable when running over tarmac grooves and ruts, I never got to run it on gravel . In the summer here local authorities tend to repair smaller roads with surface dressing ( a layer of hot tar with gravel spread on top ) needless to say I've run all my bikes on this type of surface over the years which is predictably mainly loose gravel for weeks . Best bike on this type of surface over the years was a CBF 250 and A yr2000 CB500.
I forgot to mention previously that the Himalayan would register 3000 rpm at 50 mph with the throttle barely open in 5th and would accelerate quickly up to 60 mph , no changing down required , redline is I think 6250rpm.
The new DL250 single does look good on paper in terms of weight and power but I doubt it'll appear as an official import in Ireland.
Nigel
11/01/2025 14:52:16 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Nigel, it was a long time ago - probably around the turn of the century.
12/01/2025 09:58:58 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ian , presumably the 4 speed Albion box then , they did look a bit primitive internally but set up correctly they worked fine albeit with long travel at the gear lever.
Nigel
14/01/2025 16:28:57 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Yes, it wasn't the best of boxes even in its Brum made version. The neutral finder was useful though....
15/01/2025 10:00:27 UTC
Name
Comment
Add a RELEVANT link (not required)
Upload an image (not required) -
Uploading...
Home
Bike Reviews