Himalayan excessive tappet noise

[Jerk]

Update: 8 months at the dealership with no end in sight. The dealer is saying that RENA won't communicate with them. I'm going to start escalating with a lemon law attorney or pushing for a replacement Himalayan.

 

[caferider48]

I think Jerk has a few Himalayan's and this is one that makes more noise than the others so probably not normal.

HA, The squeeky wheel gets the grease

 

[Roy Gavin]

Sams site has a list of mods and there was a problem with some which was rectified on later bikes, so there should be no problem with RE.
Unless the dealer is on the nose with RE.
Or------!

 

[Seakuv]

Update: 8 months at the dealership with no end in sight. The dealer is saying that RENA won't communicate with them. I'm going to start escalating with a lemon law attorney or pushing for a replacement Himalayan.

Nobody will be able to say that you haven't been more than patient. Eight months seems a little excessive! Good luck! I'm heading over to Missoula tomorrow for my first look at a real, live Himalayan. (Missoula is closer than Billings for me)

 

[caferider48]

Update: 8 months at the dealership with no end in sight. The dealer is saying that RENA won't communicate with them. I'm going to start escalating with a lemon law attorney or pushing for a replacement Himalayan.

If it was my choice I would swap heads which would have new valvetrain. Then if the problem goes away, you knew it was the original head that was the problem. If it continues, then it is something else, plugged oil journal, cam chain, chain tensioner etc

 

[caferider48]

also a flat spot on the cam lobe will make adjusting the valves next to impossible, this could have been caused by a plugged journal at some time preventing oil from getting to it and causing it to wear. So when you adjust the valve to factory spec, you are still off due to the flat spot

 

[NegativeNigel]

Had this same noise after valve adjustment. Compared my video to yours. Re-adjusted the valves to make it a bit tighter and the noise went away. Guessing that is not your issue though if the dealer has had the bike that long...

 

[Jerk]

Had this same noise after valve adjustment. Compared my video to yours. Re-adjusted the valves to make it a bit tighter and the noise went away. Guessing that is not your issue though if the dealer has had the bike that long...

The dealer told me about 10 days ago that the piston and cylinder were scored. That's a new one...

I contacted RE customer support in India and demanded that they swap the bike out for a new one. They promptly replied that they would be handing the request off to the dealer. Dealer (Beartooth Harley-Davidson/Royual Enfield) is now unresponsive for past week +, so I will proceed with a lemon law suit tomorrow. Really ugly situation all around.

 

[caferider48]

The dealer told me about 10 days ago that the piston and cylinder were scored. That's a new one...

I contacted RE customer support in India and demanded that they swap the bike out for a new one. They promptly replied that they would be handing the request off to the dealer. Dealer (Beartooth Harley-Davidson/Royual Enfield) is now unresponsive for past week +, so I will proceed with a lemon law suit tomorrow. Really ugly situation all around.

Why don't you go for a compromise and just ask for an engine replacement? Send the old one back to the factory where the engineers can evaluate where it needs improvement in the design.

 

[Roy Gavin]

Could it be that your attitude has pissed off the dealer so much he is just stuffing you around for fun?
As caferider has said perhaps a more conciliarity approach may bring better results, as some might think that demanding a complete new bike because of excessive tappet noise is a little OTT.
There was a problem with some valve guides, if your bike is one affected there should be no problem with a warranty repair!
A scored piston and cylinder are extremely unlikely to be manufacturing faults, more likely to be a maintance failure, so if you were to be offered a new head, barrel and piston I would grab it!

 

[Jerk]

Could it be that your attitude has pissed off the dealer so much he is just stuffing you around for fun?
As caferider has said perhaps a more conciliarity approach may bring better results, as some might think that demanding a complete new bike because of excessive tappet noise is a little OTT.
There was a problem with some valve guides, if your bike is one affected there should be no problem with a warranty repair!
A scored piston and cylinder are extremely unlikely to be manufacturing faults, more likely to be a maintance failure, so if you were to be offered a new head, barrel and piston I would grab it!

My attitude is not so great at this point. The bike has been there for 9 months with no end in sight. The dealer claims that RENA will not communicate with them. They can't get any help from RENA on valve guides, so what makes you think they can get a head, barrel and piston approved?

In the meantime, this Himalayan has been on their work stand for 9 months. SMH

 

[thresher]

I'm on my third Himalayan in two different countries and I've never had any issues anywhere. Corporate has treated me well. India corporate has treated me well. I'm not going to suggest anything as I don't know the circumstances. All I know is they have been exemplary to me and that includes three dealers

 

[Eatmore Mudd]

I'd like to suggest calling RENA and RE corporate. That might get some results.

RENA and the previous importer-distributor have a very good reputation for handling warranty issues.

 

[Roy Gavin]

My attitude is not so great at this point. The bike has been there for 9 months with no end in sight. The dealer claims that RENA will not communicate with them. They can't get any help from RENA on valve guides, so what makes you think they can get a head, barrel and piston approved?

In the meantime, this Himalayan has been on their work stand for 9 months. SMH

Apologies, I am getting to be an old grump.
As opposed to a young one!
Had the same treatment from BMW with a F650GS - they almost never did recalls, refused warranty claims flat out even on known faults, insisted that the bike be inspected before and signed off after by the one claims officer who covered the whole of Australia and was sometimes not around for five or six weeks, had little to no spares stock in Oz and only shipped the parts by slipping them in with the next container load of bikes!
So around five months was the minimum even for the rare safety recall, with eight months more the norm.
And that was for breaking fork sliders, self igniting wiring harnessed , self destroying gearboxes and alternators, etc, etc.
Mine refused to run due to an electrical fault while still under warranty, they couldnt fix it and told me to " get that piece of shit out of here and don't bring it back".
That was after they refused to replace the self igniting wiring harness which was a known safety fault but was never recalled in Oz
Luckily a guy in South Africa who had bought twenty bikes for a tours business had the same problem and got the same message developed a code reader for the BMW electronics and was able to help me out.
Cost $40- for a "load control relay " and $200- for a S/H harness but let me get on with my life instead of getting ground down fighting BMW.
They did eventually take the bike back, but only as a token part exchange on a overpriced R100GS.
So when I see someone wanting a complete new bike because his tappets are noisy-----!
But stick with it, I met the BMW rep face to face and had my claims laughed off, you don't seem to have reached RENA yet!

 

[oldphart]

I had a warranty issue. The dealer brushed me off immediately - not a warranty item.
So I contacted a couple of dealers interstate and was told that it was a warranty item. So I got back to my dealer who had a big sook and put in a claim (or pretended to, I couldn't see what he was doing on the computer and this mob have a reputation). A week later, I got back to them and was told my claim had been knocked back. So I contacted RE Australia, plus the importer. Nothing Not even a reply.

It turns out that the importer just flicks contacts through to RE who just flick it through to the dealer who, as we've discovered, aren't interested.

So I posted about my problem on a local forum. Within hours, one of the dealers I'd spoken to earlier contacted my (by PM) and asked me to ring him. I had a long chat. He was furious because he's trying to run a clean business and this sort of thing, which while it wasn't his dealership, gives the brand a bad name. He rang RE and, guess what, that night when I got home from work, I found an email from my dealer saying that 'RE had had a change of heart'.

Riiiiiggggggghhhhhht.
Suspecting the job would be handed to an apprentice, I made other arrangements.

The biggest problem RE have is individual dealers who do the wrong thing. Complaining to RE doesn't work because they just flick the problem back to an already useless dealer. To get action, you're best served contacting a good dealer. For what it's worth, the dealer than helped me out, is 1,000 miles from where I am.

 

[Roy Gavin]

Adelaide BMW as it was then made certain that I was there when the BMW rep inspected the my bike , and took no part in the discussions.
The problem was that at the time BMW had so many warranty problems they just couldnt afford to fix them.
So they just decided to tough it out.
Agency has changed hands since then , and I haven't heard anything bad about the current crew on South Road. Even ordered parts for me for a old Funduro!
But the guys further north on south road were absoloutly unbelievable when I tried to get Yamaha XT 600 parts from them - they really deserved a punch in the mouth for the way they treated customers, would never enter the shop again.!

 

[Jerk]

1 year, 3 months later... still at the dealer with zero communication from the dealer.

 

[Seakuv]

You've been beyond patient. And the dealership obviously doesn't care about your problem - actions speak louder than words. Have you given any thought to talking to the dealership over in Missoula? I haven't had to deal with their Service folks, but the manager there _seems_ to be pretty committed to making RE a success. Might be worth a phone call (if you're willing to haul a sick bike that far). Not affiliated in any way with them - just happy with the Himalayan that I got from them.

 

[TN_twowheeladdict]

1 year, 3 months later... still at the dealer with zero communication from the dealer.

Hopefully you have been communicating with the dealer and you are just saying they haven't made progress. Squeaky wheel and all that.

 

[Jerk]

You've been beyond patient. And the dealership obviously doesn't care about your problem - actions speak louder than words. Have you given any thought to talking to the dealership over in Missoula? I haven't had to deal with their Service folks, but the manager there _seems_ to be pretty committed to making RE a success. Might be worth a phone call (if you're willing to haul a sick bike that far). Not affiliated in any way with them - just happy with the Himalayan that I got from them.

I would really like to deal with another service provider, but its just not reasonable to do 2 12 hour round trip drives to the dealer in Missoula.