Royal Enfield Pathetic Part Quality Saga

[deelip]

The saga of Royal Enfield pathetic part quality continues. The coil of Altaf Khalifa‘s Himalayan burned for the second time. The first time this happened just after we entered India from Nepal. We jump started the Himalayan using a Tiger’s rear wheel and limped it to Lucknow. Luckily this time the Royal Enfield showroom at Ratnagiri was close by. The Himalayan was out of warranty. But the folks at the dealership sought and received an approval from Royal Enfield to replace the entire coil, magnet and flywheel assembly under warranty.



When the technician opened the part from the packaging to fit it, Altaf noticed something weird with one of the magnets on the flywheel. A gentle rub of the finger broke the magnet and pieces of it came loose. If this part was installed in the Himalayan there is no telling what more damage would have been caused.





Since the Himalayan’s magnet and flywheel was fine, Altaf asked the technician to replace just the coil. We don’t know how long this coil will last. According to Altaf, the coating on the wires of the coil maybe of substandard quality, which is why the wires touch each other causing them to burn. The Lucknow dealership told Altaf that his was the 15th bike whose coil had burned. The Ratnagiri one said that this was their 5th case. Exact same problem.

People reading my blog and watching my videos think that I hate the Himalayan. That isn’t the case. I’m not a fan of it’s looks or it’s heavy weight. But it’s a nice motorcycle. I’ve seen my friends do wonderful things with this bike, on and off road.

What I absolutely hate is the fact that it can and will break down frequently, just like a regular Royal Enfield. But the difference is that unlike other Enfields where you can tweak something yourself to get it back up and running, when the Himalayan breaks down, you are left immobilized. I mean, it breaks down properly. Full and final satyanas. There are no back up systems to fall back on. For example, there is no kick start of the electric start fails. And it will. For more than one reason. The coil getting burned is just one of them.

I will never buy a Himalayan, or any Royal Enfield motorcycle for that matter, until the company gets its shit together. They know that whatever crap they build there will always be fans who will wait for months in line to buy it. So why bother about quality? In my mind Royal Enfield is a marketing company who just happens to manufacture and sell motorcycles.

I hope Royal Enfield doesn’t manufacture too many of the new EFI Himalayans. I say this because whoever had to buy a Himalayan most probably already has. The regular “thumper” fans don’t consider the Himalayan to be an Enfield. It doesn’t look, sound or feel like a classic motorcycle they are used to fussing over.

I feel Royal Enfield should stick to building their regular thumpers which aren’t ridden too far away from civilization. Royal Enfield had one chance at a budget adventure tourer and they blew it.

[brclarke]

I owned a 1995 year 500cc for about 4 years. I found it was actually a decent bike, but I never went anywhere without tools.

[deelip]

I have a 2012 Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350. I rode it to the Himalayas in 2013. It didn't break down. But I could never get rid of the constant nagging doubts. Such is the curse of Royal Enfield. :-)

[Threewheelbonnie]

I view my C5 as what it is : cheap, simple, fun to ride. Neither this one nor the 2004 5-speed I had let me down.

I don't realy get the anti-fan boy stuff. All motorcycle brands design for weekend trips to buy coffee but market as though they'll carry you round the world, winning the TT on the way, cause your choice of sexual partner to fancy you and make the taxman give you money. Treat it as the fiction it is and you'll enjoy the bikes more.

If you want **** parts try F650 water pumps, Triumph coils, XT exhaust headers, everything Ural ever made or looked at.....

Thank you for identifying a problem area though. The aftermarket suppliers will be along shortly to sell an upgrade.

Andy

[oldbmw]

An alternator for my Triumph 900 thunderbird was over £800. They are known to be a problem.

A speedo for the same bike was also over £800 ??? for my Enfield £35
Headlamp 240 euro ( £35 for Enfield)

When the big end on the Enfield started rattling on the way back from Poland I rode it to a RE garage in the UK. They installed a bigger better crankpin, bigger roller big end bearing and a new battery all for under £600

Guess which bike I am getting rid of.

[farqhuar]

Originally Posted by oldbmw

An alternator for my Triumph 900 thunderbird was over £800. They are known to be a problem.

A speedo for the same bike was also over £800 ??? for my Enfield £35
Headlamp 240 euro ( £35 for Enfield)

When the big end on the Enfield started rattling on the way back from Poland I rode it to a RE garage in the UK. They installed a bigger better crankpin, bigger roller big end bearing and a new battery all for under £600

Guess which bike I am getting rid of.

The Enfield.

No way would I want to continue to own a bike that needed crankpins and big end bearings replaced.

[Warin]

Originally Posted by oldbmw

An alternator
A speedo
A Headlamp
a bigger better crankpin,
a bigger roller big end bearing
a new battery

Guess which bike I am getting rid of.

Not ridin with you. Some of that bad karma might rub off.

[Threewheelbonnie]

Spoke too soon

2017 Enfield Bullet TPS failed - Video Dailymotion

TPS failure.

Looks easy enough to fix and the dealer is making positive noises about covering it under warranty.

I'm not struck about how close the ABS pipes are to the connector. Think I'll see how much a spare sensor is and use that to work out how to extend the wiring.

Andy

[Threewheelbonnie]

So;

Sunday the C5 throws its toys out of the pram.
Monday I fit a fresh plug and it seems a lot better.
Tuesday I call the dealer (P&D Wakefield UK)
Wednesday they take a look and watch my video
Thursday RE OK the warranty repair
Sunday it seems happy so I get a short ride.
Monday the part arrives at P&D
Tuesday they could fit it but I can't get there.
Thursday its fitted
Friday I'm back at 100%

to RE and P&D.

My last warranty claim on another brand was on a bike which cost three times more ten years ago. The phrase "They all do that SSSsssir" was used a few times and after a month I quoted the Sale of Goods Act on a registered letter to get their attention. This experience was far superior IMHO, so hats off to RE

Andy