What have you done to your Himalayan today (or yesterday, or this week ...)

[RotorWrench]

Installed a new switch for my aux lights this evening. With an overwhelming selection of waterproof two and three wire switches available I lost a lot of time researching and trying to decide which one would work best for my use, needing it to be lighted, reliable and weatherproof.

I ended up going with the same switch I used on one of our 4wheelers that I use for snow plowing and other chores. It's a bar mount and has been on the atv for three years now, in summer heat and - 38F, in sun, rain and snow, with no failures. I chose the red backlight, other colors being available.

During my search I came across another one I liked because of its compactness and versatile mounting bracket. I ordered it as well. The combined cost was around $21.

I had a hard time deciding which to mount because both are well made and each has their advantages depending on mounting and space. While I was already familiar and trusting of the bar mount model, I did hook up and test the other one. It worked fine and I liked the subdued backlighting when on. I can't vouch for its reliability but it appears to be well made and has a positive switching action. No problem activating either with gloves. I'm going to mount the other on my wife's 4wheeler for her backup light.

What I like about the silver one, which I'm going to paint black, is the mounting bracket. As you can see in the photo where I'm holding it up, it would easily mount on the clutch perch bolt where it would be closer to my grip.

The point of this post is to share other possible switch options for anyone looking or planning future installs, especially if you don't already have a favorite or can't decide. Both on Amazon. FWIW

 

[BruceH]

Installed a new switch for my aux lights this evening. With an overwhelming selection of waterproof two and three wire switches available I lost a lot of time researching and trying to decide which one would work best for my use, needing it to be lighted, reliable and weatherproof.

Now that you've gone and done all the nice research for us: could you provide the links?

 

[Metalsnacks]

had a mate modify the pannier rack so the the bolt holes would match up with the dodgy weld on the frame.

Had to cut my rack in four places. Three of the cuts were three quarters of the way through -- this facilitated twisting the frames so that they could be brought into alignment. And probably similar to yours, the bottom left-hand mount had to be cut right off and re-welded completely.

 

[RotorWrench]

Now that you've gone and done all the nice research for us: could you provide the links?

Oops! Sorry, I thought I had.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L1WSZ4R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_6WK9PTRZKR49J4BGNY7B?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Amazon.com

 

[Metalsnacks]

CLEANED THE CONTACTS IN THE IGNITION

Somewhere I heard or read that the ignition barrel contacts can have corrosion or dirt on them making them act up. I've had the bike cut out on me once, so I decided to have a look.

I unbolted the two hex socket bolts that hold the ignition assembly to the triple clamp, undid the electrical plug and removed the assembly from the bike. On a table with the unit upside down, I carefully undid the three phillips head screws and removed the bottom piece that has the wiring connected and contains the contacts. This piece is slightly spring loaded, so take that into consideration when you undo it.

I was somewhat disappointed that it looked pretty clean in there , but since it was apart I took a couple of cotton tips soaked in carby cleaner and cleaned everthing metal. Then I rubbed on a very light film of dielectric grease before reassembling.

 

[grymsr]

Just installed. I've never used hand guards before. Was surprised that they kind of keep air stream from blasting up my sleeves.

 

[RotorWrench]

CLEANED THE CONTACTS IN THE IGNITION

Somewhere I heard or read that the ignition barrel contacts can have corrosion or dirt on them making act up. I've had the bike cut out on me once, so I decided to have a look.

I unbolted the two hex socket bolts that hold the ignition assembly to the triple clamp, undid the electrical plug and removed the assembly from the bike. On a table with the unit upside down, I carefully undid the three phillips head screws and removed the bottom piece that has the wiring connected and contains the contacts. This piece is slightly spring loaded, so take that into consideration when you undo it.

I was somewhat disappointed that it looked pretty clean in there , but since it was apart I took a couple of cotton tips soaked in carby cleaner and cleaned everthing metal. Then I rubbed on a very light film of dielectric grease before reassembling.

View attachment 6585

No labor wasted there. You now know the condition of your ignition switch and have preemptively prevented potential corrosion and associated issues by cleaning and protecting with the dielectric grease. And you have effectively isolated the switch out of the troubleshooting process.

Based on reports of bad or poor electrical connections from other owners, checking the switch is well within the scope of potential problem areas.

This winter once our roads are ice or snow covered, I plan to to start systematically going through every electrical connection on the bike I can. It would help me get to know the bike better as well.

 

[Napom]

It was a dreary Sunday here when I took the dogs for their morning walk. It really wasn't raining when I took them out, so I didn't have a rain coat on, but when I got to the furthest point on the walk the skies opened up and dumped on us. Once dried off in the house, I told my wife I would spend a couple hours at the shed taking care of some things on Jipci. The first thing I wanted to do was install the Fuel X Pro I bought on here . . . I told my wife I wouldn't be all day - probably about 2 hours or so, and I loaded up my truck and headed to the shed after making a stop at Dunkin' for some coffee . Once at the shed I looked at some of the things I bought for Jipci that had yet to be put on her . . . The bottle racks I picked up from Twisted Throttle a few months ago looked easy . . . easier than taking the tank off . . . so I went with the distraction . . . It took less than 15 minutes to drill and mount both racks to the saddle bags . . . Once done I was pretty happy with the results . . . Gives me options for carrying fuel, water, whatever!


Riding high the easy success, I tackled removing the tank . . . I just needed a warm up. Speaking of warm up, it was really warming up in the shed the humidity from the rain made it steamy and very soon I was almost as drenched as I had been after walking the dogs. I took the Fuel X out of the box and tried to scan the QR codes and get to the directions, but that didn't work so well, so I hit YouTube. Two videos later I had her done, and I had been at the shed for just over an hour. My wife would be very happy with me returning earlier than promised . . . But . . . the tank is off . . . Time to stop putting off the tappet adjustments and dive in for my first time on these things. Back to You Tube to double check some of the videos I had already watched as a refresher. Digging out my Hitchcock's tappet tool, the exhaust was easy, the intake on the other hand . . . It is in the least accessible place on the bike - especially if you have bug meat hooks like me.

I was sweaty and dehydrated as I only had my coffee and no H2O with me . . . I got a feeler bent and in the intake, and played with the adjustment a little. Putting the feeler back in, holding it precariously in my wet fingers . . . The phone rang, I turned to see who it is and felt the gauge slip from my fingers . . . I looked and was resting in the intake with an end balanced on the edge . . . being in a hurry to grab the thing as my heart was pounding and my mind kept saying "don't let it drop in there, don't let it drop in there!! I try to pinch the end to grab it and . . . DISASTER! It falls in . . . I grab my angled needle nose pliers and try to pull it out . . . it turns sideways and falls in deeper and turns so I can't pull it up through the opening. I try in vain fo a half hour or so . . . I tear the shed apart looking for my magnetic retriever but can't find it . . . I try some more before I tell myself to step away - I ran to Wally World and picked up a new magnetic retriever and some water. I found both items quick and made my way through the lines and headed back to the shed with a clearer head and much needed hydration . . . It still wasn't a quick fix . . . Took another half hour using the magnetic retriever and a pair of hemostats I have. Catching the side in the hemostats I was able to keep it at the opening and use the angled pliers to turn it until I was able to pull it out . . . Once it was Out . . . I was done! I knew if I tried to adjust that tappet any more, I would likely repeat the whole damn situation. The tappet will have to wait until I have a much longer feeler gauge . . .

Buttoning everything back up, I took this opportunity to do one more think I had been holding off on doing . . . I swapped out the plug for the Iridium plug I have had for a while . . . Once buttoned up, I fired the bike up - She started right up and I ran her through the settings on the Fuel X Pro - While the tappet was making a helluva racket, she never stalled out and seemed to be running fine . . . So now I just need to get the longer feeler gauge and tackle that damn intake tappet once and for all!

 

[Caspice]

During a recent ride following Section 5 of the MABDR in PA my GPS battery died 🪫. Fortunately I was a mere 5 miles from the end of the Section. In order to avert similar problems in the future I installed a USB plug on the handlebar clamp just below the GPS mount. It is attached with some Gorilla Tape and a zip tie. Will find out how sturdy that mounting method is over the next few rides.

 

[RotorWrench]

During a recent ride following Section 5 of the MABDR in PA my GPS battery died 🪫. Fortunately I was a mere 5 miles from the end of the Section. In order to avert similar problems in the future I installed a USB plug on the handlebar clamp just below the GPS mount. It is attached with some Gorilla Tape and a zip tie. Will find out how sturdy that mounting method is over the next few rides.
View attachment 6648

Hey, whatever works, right?
I'm driving right now and can't get a photo but made a bracket similar to this one from Hitchcocks.

 

[Bulldogfour]

Fitted HH pads back and front. I am aware that some prefer the OEM pads especially off-road but feel that I could do with a little more braking power on the country roads that I travel most on. Will try them out on some green lanes in a month or so when I know the bike better. One thing on changing the front pads; The pad spring came out with the pads and I tried most vids to try and work out exactly how it fitted correctly but most deal with the old BS4 callipers not the retrofit version. I think I've got it right but if anyone has a diagram of any sort that shows the spring clearly I'd be grateful.

 

[dabs]

If you turn it upside down you will see two clips/claws which slot over a "tang" for a better word, i had to adjust mine to refit a couple of times, it's a tight fit, the rear brake is a bugger when refitting the wheel as one of the pads kept dropping down, eventually i removed them and refitted once the wheel and rear brake where back in place, much easier. No picture sorry.

 

[MikeM]

Installed a CHT from trail tech.

CHTs on the Himalayan this morning were 280 to 320 normal cruise and acceleration. Uphill at 70 mph it climbed to 370 to 390. Needs more fuel at wide open throttle I feel. These 2022 US models are lean runners.

 

[RotorWrench]

Installed a CHT from trail tech.

CHTs on the Himalayan this morning were 280 to 320 normal cruise and acceleration. Uphill at 70 mph it climbed to 370 to 390. Needs more fuel at wide open throttle I feel. These 2022 US models are lean runners.

Good move. CHT gauges are good monitors of the engine power stroke.

Did you use a sparkplug gasket probe? I've had CHT gauges on my last two bikes and will give you a heads up that picking up the temp at that location will give you around 25 to 35 deg F higher reading than actual general cylinder temp. The sparkplug is the hottest area of the cylinder. Nothing wrong with that as long as you know your general average temp is actually a little lower than indicated.

Aircraft cylinders ars the same. Factory and aftermarket CHT installs are usually bayonet probes in the cylinder away from the sparkplug but sometimes we have to use plug gasket probes and will measure the difference, usually averaging 25deg F to 35deg F hotter at the plug.

I like TrailTech gear. Durable and pretty accurate. Good choice.

 

[MikeM]

Good move. CHT gauges are good monitors of the engine power stroke.

Did you use a sparkplug gasket probe? I've had CHT gauges on my last two bikes and will give you a heads up that picking up the temp at that location will give you around 25 to 35 deg F higher reading than actual general cylinder temp. The sparkplug is the hottest area of the cylinder. Nothing wrong with that as long as you know your general average temp is actually a little lower than indicated.

Aircraft cylinders ars the same. Factory and aftermarket CHT installs are usually bayonet probes in the cylinder away from the sparkplug but sometimes we have to use plug gasket probes and will measure the difference, usually averaging 25deg F to 35deg F hotter at the plug.

I like TrailTech gear. Durable and pretty accurate. Good choice.

Yeap it’s the spark plug. They do read high for sure. I have installed several and various air cooled motors and in airplanes (experimental) the spark plug probe is up to 50 degree hotter than a standard head probe. It’s more of a trend gauge to keep track of what’s going on I guess

 

[RotorWrench]

Yeap it’s the spark plug. They do read high for sure. I have installed several and various air cooled motors and in airplanes (experimental) the spark plug probe is up to 50 degree hotter than a standard head probe. It’s more of a trend gauge to keep track of what’s going on I guess

I think they're definitely worth having because CHT is your best indicator of internal cylinder pressure (stress).

Most air-cooled cylinders have a CHT max temp of around 500 + or - 25degF and a recommended target around 350 to 380. I have no idea about these cylinders. Apparently you'll be determing your own "normal".

 

[Pressureangle]

Rode the Cherohala Parkway and Tail of the Dragon at the 18th annual 'South'n Spine Raid' Moto Guzzi meetup.
I made this account for my partner who actually owns the Himmie but she hasn't had time to participate here yet.
The Enfield was flawless and handles wonderfully on all these sub-60mph curvies.

 

[Roy Gavin]

CLEANED THE CONTACTS IN THE IGNITION

Somewhere I heard or read that the ignition barrel contacts can have corrosion or dirt on them making them act up. I've had the bike cut out on me once, so I decided to have a look.

I unbolted the two hex socket bolts that hold the ignition assembly to the triple clamp, undid the electrical plug and removed the assembly from the bike. On a table with the unit upside down, I carefully undid the three phillips head screws and removed the bottom piece that has the wiring connected and contains the contacts. This piece is slightly spring loaded, so take that into consideration when you undo it.

I was somewhat disappointed that it looked pretty clean in there , but since it was apart I took a couple of cotton tips soaked in carby cleaner and cleaned everthing metal. Then I rubbed on a very light film of dielectric grease before reassembling.

View attachment 6585

On my 2017 carbed bike there is only one relay and just about everything runs through the main switch, which may be why mine were in a much poorer condition.
Switch only has two screws on the back so looks like the switch has been changed /improved too!

 

[Metalsnacks]

On my 2017 carbed bike there is only one relay and just about everything runs through the main switch, which may be why mine were in a much poorer condition.
Switch only has two screws on the back so looks like the switch has been changed /improved too!

RE must have made the change when the model updated. Mine is the fuel injected 2020 model.

 

[tom_d]

RE must have made the change when the model updated. Mine is the fuel injected 2020 model.

We never had the carb model in the US. Not sure who all did, but along with one relay they came with an alternator which was a bit lower rated, and fairly certain they had single main fuse for the R/R as well. I believe all those upgrades happened when RE rolled out their Euro4 update to production.