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Engineer sues Royal Enfield over Himalayan

Royal Enfield Himalayan

An Indian court has ordered Royal Enfield pay an engineer an undisclosed compensation payment after he complained of 40 defects in his Himalayan adventure bike.

Owner M Puneeth, an engineer, noticed issues from the first day he picked up the bike. They include a leaking carburettor and fuel tank, engine noises, stalling, oil leaks, idling problems and difficult gear shifts.

Royal Enfield is consulting with their legal advisers and my appeal the court ruling.

The adventure bike has been plagued by issues since its launch last year such as rust, electrical failure and even the promotional video showed a broken footpeg.

It was also temporarily banned in the capital of India because it doesn’t meet their new emissions standards. However, the government lifted the ban because the bike was launched on March 16, which was before the new emissions standards applied from April 1, 2016.

There is no word on whether any of the issues cited by the engineer affect Australian customers as the importers, Urban Moto Imports, have failed to reply to requests for comment.

However, it seems most of the issues involve motorcycles on the domestic market.

There has been no official safety recall for the bike in Australia or any other country.

The Royal Enfield Himalayan 411cc adventure bike sells in Australia at $5990 plus on-road costs.

It is not known how many have been sold here as UMI is not a member of the FCI which releases the official sales figures every quarter.

Meanwhile, Royal Enfield recorded its highest monthly sales in April with 60,142 bikes sold, up 25% on the previous month.

However, all but 1578 were sold in India.

The biggest seller is the Classic 350 which sold 4,16,693 in the past year. Sales of their bikes over 350cc actually dropped 23% in April 2017.

  • Did you buy a Himalayan and have you encountered any of these issues? Leave your comments below.

  1. This seems to happen every time they try to launch Enfield here.I remember about 3 times since the 1970s RE has been imported to Aust.Each time the importers have given up I guess due ti QC and dealer issues.I’d like one.Saw a 350 the other day ridden by an Indian bloke and it looked and sounded nice ,but QC?

    1. Yes Paul I like the look of them but I’m concerned about reliability and customer issues.

  2. I own a Royal Enfield Desert Storm, which has been giving me problems from day one. I brought it in June 2015. The service center has changed every possible engine parts in the bike. There is no consistency in the product and no durability, which makes me feel that I have wasted 2lakhs on the machine. No one seems to care about it.

  3. Even I m facing the same problem..oil leakage,and most irritating the noise of the engine..

  4. Royal Enfield motorcycles are not made for fault finding commuter kind of lot. They better look out of Bajajs and other plastics.

    Royal Enfield makes cult bikes at the fraction of cost ..for similar bikes available elsewhere.

    The problems mentioned are basically non factors before a real Enfielder.

      1. Oh, u want ” iphone 6 ” @ the price of ” Nokia 1100 “…..

  5. I own a himalayan & since day one i also encountered issues with noisy engine, knocking sound in higher gears, front suspension & faulty meter, wherein meter on its own change the distance travelled when the fuel needle hits the red, i must say Royal enfield is manufacturing shitty motorcycles & should be sued, days of Enfield will be soon over with such pathetic product, i am done with RE!!!

  6. Royal Enfield has flawed quality control in place – let’s be direct with this and accept it unconditionally. This year RE has launched their latest bikes with dual disk brakes, ABS, all led headlamps etc, in Europe. However, upon asking about India launch plan of these latest technologies, they even have the audacity to say that Indian market doesn’t need such advanced products. The point is, first, they are not serious about quality development. Second, they prominently neglect Indian market which provides them the bottom line of their business.

  7. The quality indeed is bad… Rusting is common and they need to provide basic safety features viz ABS et al even if they consider LED Lights fancy. Aside they need to extend the same to existing bikes too. The machine has become more synthetic.. you will know this if you had owned earlier versions (so much for the cult). It is a much cheaper version to satisfy u our quest of owning a big machine….

    1. RE produces mid category vehicles which have enough mileage and torque with affordable price…. U can compare it with other mid category vehicle….so it manufacture’s with low quality , I agree…..
      RE entered bs4 recently A vehicle has to be designed as per country’s emission standards and motor vehicle acts….so u can’t say it must have this,must have that,looks odd etc
      The machine became aesthetic than synthetic…the old model had cast iron piston,bore and engine casing which had lot of weight, so there goes ur mileage and pickup…
      But new model engines have almost everything made from aluminum alloy which have lesser weight than cast iron…..
      Yes it’s a cheaper(affordable) version to satisfy your quest for owning a big machine….

      1. RE are not big machines 500cc and less are small and not powerful. If you think that these little bikes are big or powerful, you better stick to one’s with peddles.

  8. I’ve seen lot of rides with engine noise, some will get alright when v change the head and some will not untill v change engine…..nd RE will not give permission for replacement of engine….v do everything to solve engine noise such as-head replacement,tappet,Conn rod bearing,engine bearings,oil pump etc……nd it all comes under warranty if ur vehicle have warranty…….

    Although, if someone seus Royal Enfield then fuck them…..they don’t even know the real motorcycling experience….and if anyone have problem with that pls contact me I’ll teach you….

    I PROUD TO BE THE TECHNICIAN OF ROYAL ENFIELD.

    1. I hate to sound like a dick here but I would hardly say you inspire quality assurance

  9. We have picked up two re Himalayan from dehli rode to the far end of Nepal then to Kathmandu pokhara Varanasi dehli they havnt missed a beat they have been awesome

    1. I did close to 5000 km to leh with the really bad roads and back
      No problem and though yes I would have been happier with a higher powered engine this bike is a plodder and though doesn’t thump as well as the older ones (cast iron royal enfield) does the job well as a stroker should
      Loved the bike and ride quality my wife my pillion for a 1000 km had no issues as well (Sat on a bike after almost 15 years) and 1st time for this distances and bad non existent himalayan roads

      1. Hi,
        After hiring a Royal Enfield Himalayan, and riding the bike from Manali to Leh Ladakh return, I was almost killed when the monoshock and swingarm failed and the rear wheel locked up. Added to this fact, I had to pay 25,000 rupees out of my own pocket for replacement parts and repairs.
        If it were not for the fact that I have a great respect for the build quality of the Royal Enfield 350 and 500, I would not have thought of hiring a Royal Enfield Himalayan.
        The cheap build quality of the swing arm almost contributed to my death on the mountain.

        I am injured(thankfully no broken bones), saddened and disappointed, however some compensation in monies spent for repairs would be welcomed…although no news from Royal Enfield yet.

        I have extensive photos of the failed Royal Enfield swing arm I’m happy to share.

        Regards, Richard

  10. I was looking at buying one of these so went for a test ride. Would have one of the most uncomfortable seats I have encountered on a bike in my 40+ years of riding. It is way too narrow and after half an hour I was glad to get off

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