In the last couple of weeks, we have seen two isolated instances where two Royal Enfield Himalayan 450’s have suffered chassis failures.
After an in-depth conversation with Royal Enfield's technical team, we can share why these two cases happened and how you can avoid this happening on your own bike .
Royal Enfield says that in both instances, the bikes had an aftermarket crash guard installed.
The bolts that connect the engine to frame are specialised, load-bearing units which are designed to be able to retain the correct torque specifications over a long term period.
When you replace the bolts with aftermarket units that aren’t installed correctly, the chassis is put under unnatural stress.
In both instances, when the customer installed the aftermarket protective guard, different specs of bolts were used and this likely led to incorrect torque settings.
The company says that it acknowledges that on an ADV, people are bound to put these sort of guards on it and it is specified in the owner's manual that doing so can void the warranty.
Royal Enfield recommends installing its own GMA guards as these have been developed alongside the bike. The standard engine guards’ price is Rs 4,750, while the Rally cage is priced at Rs 9,950.
That being said, RE should have been aware of the fact that its bikes are always covered in accessories like this and considered this possibility in the design stage itself.