Thanks Jenny, I guess you are right. I have seen you giving said bike a good workout on ebay. Especially the touratek version with wheels, suspenders etc.
Do you still have it? What mileage has it or had it done?
Many thanks

Just to put it into context.

I did a 20,000 mile service on a kids Suzuki GSX-S 125 yesterday. Valve clearance check. This kid is a food delivery rider and rides this thing like he stole it. Cold starts, red-lining, zero craps given.

100% in perfect spec. The top end looked new. The motor is quiet, crisp and tight. It purrs away in perfect balance.

That's a £4000 bike. Brand new.

A Royal Enfield sounds and feels like a Skeleton pleasuring himself in a biscuit tin. The techs I know who have worked on the R.E tell me of valves needing regular attention and head gaskets leaking. That is either poor assembly or poor manufacturing of components. Neither I want anything to do with.

No comparison whatsoever.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

At the risk of self-promotion... Some soulful riding on a CB500X. (Left my panniers at the hostel for this...)

Skeleton and a biscuit tin I've never heard that before. Thanks Ted you've just made me laugh out loud!!!

Hi Ted

What sort of Enfield was it that they were working on? When I went for a test ride on one of the "new" models - the Interceptor 650 - it was really smooth and was pretty well silent valve wise (well compared to my old airhead BMW most things are quiet, but I have developed an ear for valve noises). When I have seen the Himalayan running out and about they have been pretty quiet too, not just demonstrators either.

__________________
You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.

These won't have been new ones. But not the early frame snappers.

I don't think they've had valve problems per se. They just need adjustment a lot. And head gaskets have been known to leak.

I've had very little to do with them mechanically wise. I've ridden a few and could not understand why anyone would fall in love with one. It feels like something out of the 80's.

These bikes cost under £2000 BRAND new in India. You just can not make anything of quality for that price.

They are firmly in the category of "Cheap Asian shit" in my book.

That doesn't mean you can't buy one and ride it around the world. Many people do just that with even worse bikes.

Just manage your expectations.

With no disrespect to their owners, many people who rant and rave about them do so with very little experience or no other bikes to compare it against.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

"Have very little experience or no other bikes to compare them to",

Who weeded on your fire Ted?.

Are you saying Himalayan owners are thick?

Price and geography have nothing to do with anything is this globalised world. Triumphs are made in Thailand from Chinese parts. BMW engines are made in China from Chinese parts, or Germany from Chinese parts using Polish and Rumanian labour. No one casts anything in mass numbers outside China or India and even forgings will use metal from these places unless its way above automotive spec.

They all charge more in Europe because if they went with £2000 they'd have lower margins and lower sales because of the crazy assumption anything they sell for less must have cost them less.

On this logic, are Honda parts that sell for less in the USA lower quality?


I'm no Enfield fan, my 500 EFI was too similar to by Iron barrel 5 speed, but I think you have to look at product not brands. One day the Chinese will make a decent bike. This is where brands might be useful, they won't call it an AJS or Norton.

Andy

I have done a testride on a Himalayan and liked it very much. The test I have seen from a Dutch bike magazine was very possitive ( https://www.motor.nl/motortests/moto...yan-2018-test/ in Dutch but you have google) and I have seen reports of people riding from India to the Netherlands with almost no problems at all. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6sPF1PYPW8)


So I do not think you can compare the Royal Enfield Himalayan with the old Bullet. It is a completely new bike.

__________________
Jan Krijtenburg

My bikes are a Honda GoldWing GL1200 and a Harley-Davidson FXD Dyna Super Glide

My personal homepage with trip reports: https://www.krijtenburg.nl/
YouTube channel (that I do together with one of my sons): motormobilist.nl

Valve clearance check (and adjustment every 5000 kms) on the Himalayan versus every 24 000 kms on the 500X - so indeed a lot more hassle with the valves on the Himalayan compared to the Honda. Basically 5 times as often.
From my understanding the Honda has shims but the Himalayan has screw adjustment of the valves which makes it easier to check and adjust the tappets on the Himalayan (maybe Ted can elaborate on this...?) - but still a lot more work and hassle with the Himalayan.

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

The Himalayan is tank off, screw out a cover then feeler gauges, spanner and screwdriver. Call it an hour the first time 30 minutes after that. My 1973 Honda has a very similar system.

The CB500 has the tray with the coils in the way after the tank is off and the head cover has to come off after that. Took me three hours. I was OK, nothing to adjust, but if you did have one out you need to remove, measure (add a micrometer to your tool kit?) and order a shim. The removal has the easy if scary looking Honda system of pulling the follower shaft. The shims are a standard size, so a workshop will have a set to exchange, at home you'd be waiting for the Postie. I would not want to do this in the car park of the Holiday Inn Express in Marakech, but then again I'd be pushed to do 16000 miles and not pass a Honda dealer or my own workshop.

It's the shaft versus chain argument all over again, do you want to do a simple job often or a big one less often.

Andy

Hi Floyd - oh yes, I certainly do have my bike still - which is why I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else of course as I've been very happy with it's all-round ability over the years...



To clarify it's not Touratech, but Rally-Raid Products (in the UK) which make the upgraded suspension and spoked wheels for the CB500X, and if you've followed my adventures in the ride reports section on here in recent years, then you'll know that I helped John develop their upgrades originally back in late 2014/early 2015 - before taking a US bike across the country from Oregon to Virginia; and then returned following the complete Trans-America Trail which had been newly updated and extended into Idaho that year...

I mention this because I was particularly inspired by that trip, and subsequently proud of that ride report - and if anyone is still twiddling their thumbs during lock-down and looking for something to read and some nice pictures, the blog style ride-report I complied at the time has since been condensed here on the Hubb:

Trans-Am 500 - The Seven Year Itch

...together with a follow-up trip a couple of year's later (2017) on my own bike, where I also explore some of Canada, and Montana/Wyoming etc. too:

Northern eXposure

So all in all, I'd say I've covered at least 60,000+ miles on an array on CB500Xs - from bog-standard versions to various iterations of the Rally-Raid upgraded ones - including 35,000+ miles on my personal bike - and all of which has included a mix of terrain, including a high proportion of 'off-road' riding as you might imagine.

If you're interested in the bike, there is an ever expanding owners/riders community online, one with a dedicated forum - out of respect for Grant & Susan I won't link directly to those, but the name of the bike and dot com ought to see you find one useful resource; plus those 'adventure riders' out there have also created couple of huge threads dedicated to the CB500X - again with plenty of useful information and real-world owners' feedback...

Certainly as the model has become more established (since it's introduction in 2013) there are an increasing number of riders who have posted impressively high mileages from their bikes, and all with very few (if any) issues and only modest maintenance requirements.

Please understand I'm not trying to steer anyone away from the Royal Enfield - all bikes are great fun, and the Himalayan has a certain charm (albeit with an ugly headlight assembly ;o) - but as I always say, ultimately you need to decide what what your priorities are, and hopefully choose something which is most appropriate to your actual needs - or at the very least, something you can live with.

And as I always say, don't forget that ultimately these are only bikes - machines - tools to help you move... You don't have to own any bike forever, well, unless you want to of course!

Hope that helps...

Jenny x

Sorry, yes rally raid. It was a while ago. I remember you changing your tyre. Not easy I remember.
What has gone wrong with your bike Jenny in that time?
Serviced regularly?
Valves stayed in spec!!

I get the basic drift.
Honda all the way.

I still think I would go NC rather than CB

Decisions decisions

Hee hee - if you mean Juan's [infamous] tyre changing video, then yes, that was a struggle - ironically changing the tube was easy (15 mins or so) - but it was a right faff trying to refit the rear wheel (particularly on your own) - although it is hampered by the rather budget design the rear axle adjusters on the 2013-18 bikes, fortunately the latest model CB500X (introduced last year in 2019, which also has a 19" front wheel as standard) has chain adjusters which are integral with the swing-arm now.

Absolutely nothing of any note has happened with my bike - other than one of the front indicator running light filaments burning out as I recall (the US bikes have a second 5w filament in the front turn-signals, which act as daylight-running-lights).

Otherwise all I have done is change the oil every so often (the schedule suggests 8000 mile oil and filter changes, and 12,000 mile air filter changes - note. it is a cartridge paper filter on the CB, and very efficient), and I had the valves inspected at around 16,000 miles (again as per the service schedule) and they were all well within spec - so much so that I've not bothered with getting them checked again yet, despite the mileage being over 35,000 now.

As for the NC [750X] - although superficially similar looking, they are quite different bikes. As I replied to a similar question on Facebook recently, if you spend the vast majority of your time on the road, it is a nice bike - however, physically the NC is appreciably longer, and significantly more heavy... performance wise it really doesn't offer much more than the CB does, other than a bit more torque at higher speeds, for more relaxed overtaking for example.

The economy is a touch better on the NC too, but honestly in real world riding conditions, they are pretty much the same. Where the NC offers more is in potential pillion comfort and a bit more room for hard luggage. Plus there is a DCT transmission option of course. You also have the 'frunk' which is handy for small shopping trips or to stow your helmet when away from the bike, although conversely the under-seat fuel-filler is a pain if you have any luggage over the rear seat.

I'd take a ride on one and see how you feel - if you stay mainly on paved roads and do a lot of high mileage runs, it's a very comfortable bike. But it is very little soul compared to the CB which is basically much more 'fun' to ride everywhere, and much less of a handful off-road.

Put it this way, I enjoyed riding the NC for a the few weeks I had one, but I wouldn’t buy one unless I was specifically looking to commute in and out of a city for example.

Have fun choosing!

Jenny x

Definitely try before you buy on an NC. (I've had one of those as well!)

The engine is like a diesel car compared to the CB. No 7000 rpm in third gear stuff. It goes but the technique is to keep changing up. This is why the press will use phrases like gutless. It isn't, they just can't get past wringing the necks of every bike they are loaned.

Andy