AnkitChauhan
Member
Hello BMCTians,
I joined BMT somewhere back in 2010 or 2011, couldn't recall exactly, remained a silent but frequent reader of what's happening here. The reason was simple.....i was already bitten by touring 'bug' but lack of good touring machine and overwhelming load of then master and now doctoral thesis gave me no other option other than watching/reading other's travelogues on BCMT and similar sites. Now I am in stage where i can no longer stop myself and planning to get one decent touring machine & kill that touring bug of mine. The budget I set is upto 2 lac.
The best machine I thought was Thunderbird 500 as the previous one, Karzima R got discontinued & updated one looks ugly.
So, couple of weeks ago i went to Ess Aar motors@Jhandewalan to book a TBTs500. As it happened with most of the potential TBTS customers in past two months...the looks of Himalayan possessed me.
Previously, it appealed to me as a road-side mechanic's fantasy in all the leaked images that RE was deliberately circulating on the internet. But in reality it was much better and bigger, specially in white color.
I ended up test driving a white Himalayan. I found it to be totally different that all the machines I have driven so far. It was way much comfortable than a Thunderbird or any other RE, in all terms. That day I booked nothing and returned home with a grin on my face but a confusion in my head.
On reaching home, I started digging the internet about Himalayan, and within a short period of time I realized that people already started commenting on the quality issues with Himalayan.
Last week, I again went to a RE dealer. This time, South Delhi Motors@Kailash Colony. I went there to clear some doubts and issues with the Himalayan that I read on internet but they offered me a test drive. I paid attention to details on this test drive and things that I noticed goes like this:
1. The exhaust note of test drive Himalayan was totally different than that of the Himalayan waiting to be delivered. The exhaust note of test vehicle was heavier and more profound while the actual vehicle sounded like a canister.
2. The exhaust on the delivery vehicle was also backfiring a lot.
3. A more closer look into details and I found that test and delivery vehicles has different silencers. Later, salesman @ South Delhi Motors confirmed me that RE will be offering an aftermarket exhaust for the himalayan, the one featured on all of the test drive Himalayans.
4. Ugly welds were everywhere, from vehicle frame/chassis to the luggage rack.
5. On idle rpm engine clatter coming out near the handle-tank joint section is too much too bear.
6. Rear view mirrors are useless and offers very limited view atleast to a 5'6" rider like me.
7. A 45K motorcycle has a better paint job than a Himalayan.
If I keep the bare bones ugly look of Himalayan aside, it appears to be a good overall package at Rs 1.73 lac when compared to the 1.98 lac TBTS500 even with all its flaws. (For example, just compare the saddles of these two machine and you will notice the clear difference.)
So before I book one for my touring needs, I want to take the opinion from experts here.
Is it too early to get a Himalayan?
Yesterday, I stumbled upon a video made by Himalayan owner on Youtube, (Gonna share the link once I get home, Youtube isn't accessible from here) he too have similar exhaust backfiring problem with Himalayan.
Is it possible to resolve the issues like exhaust backfiring by carb tuning without changing to the aftermarket options?
I joined BMT somewhere back in 2010 or 2011, couldn't recall exactly, remained a silent but frequent reader of what's happening here. The reason was simple.....i was already bitten by touring 'bug' but lack of good touring machine and overwhelming load of then master and now doctoral thesis gave me no other option other than watching/reading other's travelogues on BCMT and similar sites. Now I am in stage where i can no longer stop myself and planning to get one decent touring machine & kill that touring bug of mine. The budget I set is upto 2 lac.
The best machine I thought was Thunderbird 500 as the previous one, Karzima R got discontinued & updated one looks ugly.
So, couple of weeks ago i went to Ess Aar motors@Jhandewalan to book a TBTs500. As it happened with most of the potential TBTS customers in past two months...the looks of Himalayan possessed me.
Previously, it appealed to me as a road-side mechanic's fantasy in all the leaked images that RE was deliberately circulating on the internet. But in reality it was much better and bigger, specially in white color.
I ended up test driving a white Himalayan. I found it to be totally different that all the machines I have driven so far. It was way much comfortable than a Thunderbird or any other RE, in all terms. That day I booked nothing and returned home with a grin on my face but a confusion in my head.
On reaching home, I started digging the internet about Himalayan, and within a short period of time I realized that people already started commenting on the quality issues with Himalayan.
Last week, I again went to a RE dealer. This time, South Delhi Motors@Kailash Colony. I went there to clear some doubts and issues with the Himalayan that I read on internet but they offered me a test drive. I paid attention to details on this test drive and things that I noticed goes like this:
1. The exhaust note of test drive Himalayan was totally different than that of the Himalayan waiting to be delivered. The exhaust note of test vehicle was heavier and more profound while the actual vehicle sounded like a canister.
2. The exhaust on the delivery vehicle was also backfiring a lot.
3. A more closer look into details and I found that test and delivery vehicles has different silencers. Later, salesman @ South Delhi Motors confirmed me that RE will be offering an aftermarket exhaust for the himalayan, the one featured on all of the test drive Himalayans.
4. Ugly welds were everywhere, from vehicle frame/chassis to the luggage rack.
5. On idle rpm engine clatter coming out near the handle-tank joint section is too much too bear.
6. Rear view mirrors are useless and offers very limited view atleast to a 5'6" rider like me.
7. A 45K motorcycle has a better paint job than a Himalayan.
If I keep the bare bones ugly look of Himalayan aside, it appears to be a good overall package at Rs 1.73 lac when compared to the 1.98 lac TBTS500 even with all its flaws. (For example, just compare the saddles of these two machine and you will notice the clear difference.)
So before I book one for my touring needs, I want to take the opinion from experts here.
Is it too early to get a Himalayan?
Yesterday, I stumbled upon a video made by Himalayan owner on Youtube, (Gonna share the link once I get home, Youtube isn't accessible from here) he too have similar exhaust backfiring problem with Himalayan.
Is it possible to resolve the issues like exhaust backfiring by carb tuning without changing to the aftermarket options?
