Himalayan 452 ease of maintenance?

[JMFLHUSA]

Will the new Himalayan 452 be as easy to self maintain as the Himalayan 411? The price of routine maintenance has risen dramatically here in North Florida. My local RE dealership did my first maintenance but I've done the next two services because it costs more than $550 for oil filter, valve checks. I doubt the new 452 will be user friendly for routine maintenance, especially valve adjustment. I enjoy my 2022 411 as much as my other bikes, Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports, MOTO GUZZI V85 TT, Honda Rebel 1100 and several Harleys. No, it's not as fast, comfortable as the other bikes but it's a blast to ride the back roads of North Florida and South Georgia.

 

[Andyb]

All a bit of a guess until the exact details are known, but the only more complex job will be valve adjustment. Valve checking should be straightforward enough and bucket and shims maintain their settings better than valves opened by rocker arms so actual adjustments may not be needed too often. There is an YT video someplace here where the RE engine designer gives the valve checking interval, I think it was 10,000 km?
If you like your 411 then why not stick with it?

 

[REHima]

i saw a video where they said you need to remove the fuel tank to reach the air filter- so based on this its a No from me.

seems they have now designed the bike where you need to go to the dealer as much as possible.

 

[Doboy]

Been riding bikes since a teen had hundreds of them over the years and live by a well tried and tested rule ..I NEVER BUY A NEW BIKE TILL ITS AT LEAST A YEAR INTO PRODUCTION ...I've be stung too many times

 

[JMFLHUSA]

All a bit of a guess until the exact details are known, but the only more complex job will be valve adjustment. Valve checking should be straightforward enough and bucket and shims maintain their settings better than valves opened by rocker arms so actual adjustments may not be needed too often. There is an YT video someplace here where the RE engine designer gives the valve checking interval, I think it was 10,000 km?
If you like your 411 then why not stick with it?

I'll stay with the 411 at least for 1-2 more years. I have a three year warranty and by then it may not be worth much for trade in so may keep for many years. I agree with Doboy about buying a bike the first year or two in production.

 

[Andyb]

I also tend to buy bikes once they are proven - back in 1995 I bought one of the very last R80R BMWs and by then the BMW boxer must have had at least 50 years development. But it still leaked petrol onto my boot on day one! Over 85,000 miles it never did that again.

Having to take the tank off to get to the air filter on a 452 is no big deal, simply change the filter when checking valves…..and as it is at the front and high up it may stay dry and clean. Hopefully induction roar will not make the bike too noisy for the rider.

 

[Overdrive]

Having seen and sat on the 452 in the flesh yesterday at the NEC show and I have to say I’m impressed, more than I expected. Build quality looks good, neat welds and wiring routing amongst other things. The underside of it is now flat, with the centre stand well tucked up out of the way and no dangling suspension linkage (it’s on the top of the swing arm). Lovely sitting and standing position (for me at least) with a nice narrow ‘waist’. The only question mark for me is how wide the foot pegs stick out compared with the waisted centre section of the bike - it seemed a bit odd, although no doubt you’d get used to it. Really good shaped seat, and comfortable. The round tft seems smaller than in the photos, and is well positioned.
If it’s priced well and proves reliable they’ll sell loads, and according to someone on the RE stand who was involved in the development they’ve done thousands of hours of real life measured testing which bodes well for its future reliability imo.

 

[Spoody]

The first valve check interval is at 6000 miles, then 12k, then it's every 12,000 miles after that. I read where someone bemoaned the shim under bucket valve adjustment saying they have taken a 20 minute valve adjustment at home and turned it into a $200 dealer adjustment. Kudos to you if you can do that valve adjustment in 20 minutes I never could. I believe a lot of riders will not put 6,000 or 12,000 miles on their bikes in a year and I'd gladly pay my local dealer to check the adjustment every 12,000 miles instead of me having to do the adjustment every 3,000 miles.

 

[Andyb]

The first valve check interval is at 6000 miles, then 12k, then it's every 12,000 miles after that. I read where someone bemoaned the shim under bucket valve adjustment saying they have taken a 20 minute valve adjustment at home and turned it into a $200 dealer adjustment. Kudos to you if you can do that valve adjustment in 20 minutes I never could. I believe a lot of riders will not put 6,000 or 12,000 miles on their bikes in a year and I'd gladly pay my local dealer to check the adjustment every 12,000 miles instead of me having to do the adjustment every 3,000 miles.

There is a big difference in the workload between CHECKING bucket and shims and ADJUSTING them. To check them it is simply removing the cylinder head cover and using a feeler gauge. Easy for an owner to do. All the valves will be measured at the same crank position so just one TDC position to find.
Adjusting the gap will mean removing the camshafts to access the buckets in order to replace them to get the right gap. RE may have a clever solution to simplify how to remove the camshafts but this job usually requires opening the cam chain - and then having to rejoin it and check cam / crank alignment. Not too much of a job but not something to do on the roadside as it will take a little time and the correct size of bucket will be needed - so some will prefer a dealer to do this.
This is all very similar to the Triumph 955 triples.
As Spoody has said, valve check intervals are quite long apart - and adjustment may not be needed at each check.

 

[Eatmore Mudd]

Untill one of us tears into one for a valve check we won't know if the cams come out for or stay in for adjustment.
Let's hope the cams stay in and use a simple bucket depressor tool to change shims like UJM and D/S style.

Yamaha V Max for example. UJM four bangers and DOHC singles same game.

 

[Spoody]

Even with shim under bucket you can check the valves at home . If in need of adjustment I'd pay to have it done . For the average rider that's once a year or year and a half or even more .

 

[Eatmore Mudd]

Im hoping for shim over bucket for reasons of ease of maintenance and for logistics simplicity when out in the world.