2022 Intercepor 650 major throttle hesitation

[MB650]

Hi all. I bought my new 2022 Int 650 about 6 weeks ago. Breaking it in, from day one, I noticed that up to about 3000 rpm it runs fine. But between 3 and 4000 rpms if I open the throttle, it hesitates badly, and won't respond at all. Then, without warning it will respond unexpectedly and surge forward like the afterburners just kicked in. I should add that the MIL is on. I took it to the dealer and explained the situation. They completed the first service including the valve adjustment. The problem persists, and the check engine (MIL) light is still on, which indicated a fuel management issue. The bike starts fine, runs fine up to 3000 rpm, but doesn't want to accept throttle normally after that. As per the break in, I have not given it full throttle. The bike now has about 510 miles on it. The dealer has ordered an O2 sensor and new throttle bodies, because the throttle position sensor is part of the throttle body assembly.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I checked all the relays as a matter of course and found no traces of the thick white grease others have found on their bikes. I cleaned them off anyway and applied a good quality dielectric grease to the connectors. This did not have any effect on the problem.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[fog rider]

I'm assuming the dealer's computer indicated a TPS malfunction. It sounds like a possible TPS issue. Most FI systems switch from Speed-Density mode (CKP/MAP) to Alpha-n mode (CKP/TPS) at around 15% throttle opening.

 

[MB650]

Thank you for responding. Actually, the bike's computer recorded an O2 sensor fault. However, the dealer want to replace the O2 sensor, AND the TPS which is part of the throttle body assembly.

 

[Lost in the 60's]

I just noticed that my check engine light is on. The bike has 797 miles on it and seems to be running just fine, so I'm just assuming it's something minor and continuing to ride it. The nearest dealership is 150 miles away so I ordered the diagnostic tool from Hitchcock's and will try to resolve the issue first by myself.

 

[MB650]

Well, here it is September 16, 2022 and my 2022 INT 650 still is not fixed. Beware, the Royal Enfield 3 year warranty, at least in the United States is pretty much worthless. I say this because my bike has been back to the dealership 4 times since late May (I purchased this bike brand new in April). Royal Enfied does not even have a phone number that the dealership can call to speak to a rep, they have to do it by email. My dealer placed a request for warranty service and needed an authorization to order a new throttle body from RE back in early June. It took RE three full months to respond, literally. I had to bring my bike back in so they could go through checking it out again to appease RE, and actually get the throttle body ordered. Even then, the dealership has not heard back from them and it has been 10 days since I brought the bike back in. Also, this bike was defective from day one, so beware of the rumors that RE checks out their machines thoroughly before leaving the factory. I personally do not believe that. So, my bike is almost un-rideable because of massive hesitation. Twist the throttle even a little bit, and there is zero response from the engine, then several seconds later it shoots ahead. Makes for a very unsafe and frustratin ride. Imagine if you were driving your car and every time you stepped on the accelerator nothing happened, and then after 5 seconds or so it shoots ahead unexpectedly. This is how it is on my bike since day one, and the check engine light is on constantly.
I am waiting patiently on the part to arrive, but I have little faith at this point that RE will actually get it to the dealership in a timely manner. It seems like they are really good at dragging their feet.
It is amazing to me, that a company that wants to expand into the USA in a big way, treats their customers this way.

 

[MB650]

Oh, I forgot to mention. I purchase brand new O2 sensors a couple of months ago in July from Hitchcocks, and the local dealership installed them. It made no difference in the way the bike runs. I paid for the O2 sensors myself, because I was so tired of waiting for Royal Enfield to actually do something. Customer Service with RE does not exist. At least, that has been my experience so far.

 

[Cobbler]

One check many overlook is checking the female connections in each of the relay sockets they can move out of position causing a bad connection when pushing the relay back, this can be the reason for intermittent problems, regardless if new relays are fitted.

 

[MB650]

One check many overlook is checking the female connections in each of the relay sockets they can move out of position causing a bad connection when pushing the relay back, this can be the reason for intermittent problems, regardless if new relays are fitted.

Good point, but I pulled the relays apart and cleaned them up, and reseated all of them. In fact, this was one of the first things I checked. Unhfortunately, it did not make a difference in the way my bike runs.

 

[LIGuy]

I hope I'm wrong but I think that the RE support is going to be very minimal stateside.
This post is starting to confirm my suspicions. Ultimately its on your dealer to make it right

 

[MB650]

Here is the latest: Today, my dealer installed a new throttle body which includes the throttle position sensor. Royal Enfield did not supply this part. I again purchased it myself from Hitchcock's in England, even though my bike is a new 2022 and only 5 months old. I paid $575.00 for it. So far Royal Enfield has done nothing but make the dealer check my bike out 3 times now. Anyway, the bike runs better now, not perfect though. There is still some slight hesitation, but at least now it is rideable and will respond to throttle much better than before. I will reserve final judgement until I get the full 1200 miles on the bike which is considered the break in period. I have about 950 miles on it now. Stay tuned.

 

[MB650]

Oh one other thing: The MIL (fuel injection malfunction) was reset when the part was installed and has not come back on. The MIL was on ever since my bike was brand new. Finally, hopefully, it is gone for good. We shall see.

 

[Markl17]

This makes for sad reading,are you going to try to claim your money back from Royal enfield.
it may be worth starting a thread on peoples experience of Royal enfield after sales service and warranty claims.
good luck
mark

 

[MB650]

My dealer told me today that when the part actually does arrive from RE (heaven only knows how long that will take), they will give me the new throttle body, and send the defective one from my bike back to RE. I guess I could sell it on Ebay, perhaps.
RE has some good products, but when one of them has severe issues like mine had from day one, they really should step up and make it right, and do so in a timely manner, not do what they are doing. My issue started almost 6 months ago on the first day I took delivery of my bike. And, even after almost 6 months, not one part has been provided by RE to fix my bike. Totally absurd, and not what we have come to expect from motorcycle manufacturers doing business here in the USA.

 

[gtmn]

NHTSA, national highway traffic safety administration
post it.
people need to know, and they do make things happen
me and a few other posters made Suzuki make a recall on the computers on the 2014 and up vstrom 1000
the second the bike started you could tell the bike ran better

 

[MB650]

So, here is the latest on how poor Royal Enfield customer service is. It is now December 14th 2022, and still to this day not one single part has arrived from Royal Enfield for my Intercepter 650. After the new throttle bodies were installed with the new TPS sensor (that I paid for, not RE) the bike still did not run correctly. It still had major hesitation and only worked correctly if you gave it full throttle through the gears. Roll on? Forget it, was dead throttle, then would accelerate seconds later when you didn't expect it to. Very dangerous. Obviously, the dealership I bought the bike from could not figure out the problem, and RE doesn't care enough to do anything about it. My experience with Royal Enfield is a joke, and as far as I am concerned this company does not deserve to sell their products in the USA. I do plan on filing a complaint with the NHTSA.
For the record: At the end of October (my bike was 6months old) I couldn't take the inept customer service of Royal Enfield and the inept ability of the technicians at my dealership to figure out the problem. I hated riding the bike because of the way it ran, and RE doing nothing was eating me up alive. I ended up trading the bike in and getting it out of my life for good. It was traded at another dealership, and the RE dealership is not aware of this, but still has not notified me that any parts for my INT650 has ever come in. Pathetic.
I leave you with this: BEWARE OF ROYAL ENFIELD'S WARRANTY! iT DOESN'T EXIST!

 

[MB650]

And by the way, the MIL light did come on shortly after the throttle body was installed and never did go out. The dealer that accepted the trade-in didn't care. He was confident the bike would be repaired appropriately before being sold.

 

[Dabrakeman]

That is an awful story, so sorry to hear it. Don't know if it would have made any difference in your case or not but just over a little thing like getting new relays my dealer was getting no response for weeks (not months though...). I finally called the customer service number myself :
Royal Enfield Customer Service

For assistance on all things Enfield, contact us at:

1-866-600-1122 (9am - 6pm CST)

u.scustomerservice@royalenfield.com

They told me some stuff about warehousing and all but miraculously my dealer heard from the very next day and got the parts the day after that. Could have been just coincidence.

 

[nmroadrunner]

The dealer must have searched his soul and decided to do the right thing, right?

 

[gtmn]

NHTSA let them know
sorry to hear about the shitty experience

 

[Markl17]

Al companies have problems it is how they deal with them that makes good companies.this looks bad and I hope my bike doesn’t have any issues as life is to short to be dealing with this.
mark.