36,000 Kilometers Bike Review Royal Enfield Himalayan BS4

Good afternoon Internet it is three o'clock in the afternoon kind of like that I don't have my phone with me at the moment.

let me introduce you my bike, this is Basanti and she is a Royal Enfield Himalayan and I bought her in Delhi in India and together we rode for 36,000 kilometers through 25 countries and we spent a total of eight-nine months on the road   So now I am in the Netherlands,

I'm actually recording this video in front of the house of my brother and today we're going to talk about two topics. The first topic I'm going to talk about is the general performance of the bike How did she do over 36,000 kilometers and the second topic is basically my review.

So what do I like about the bike, what do I dislike about the bike. As you can see she now has thirty six thousand two hundred and eighty six point three kilometers on the meter.


I've already recorded a video after ten thousand kilometers so that is called the "10.000 KM Bike review" video which you can find on my channel and in that video I already discussed quite a lot of topics and so I'm gonna try to not make the exact same video and discuss some other things,

so if you find something missing in this video, then check out the other one then probably I've already covered that topic over there. So let's start with the main topic - performance.

What went wrong. So on this entire trip Basically, I only had one major breakdown and that was a problem with the clutch plates. I burned the clutch plates after about seventeen thousand kilometres, which was pretty much my own fault I got stuck in mud and rocks on a steep hill in the middle of nowhere.

I just came from down there. It is not easy, it is not easy, it is the super-slippery.

I did not expect this off-road part, but I, i've a long way to go still. And I desperately tried to get out and by doing so I burnt the clutch plates. So I take the blame of that, it was my own fault. It wasn't such a big problem in the end because I had spare clutch plates with me. So it was a pretty easy fix in the end.

So I can't really plain blame that on the bike.

One other thing that I can blame on the bike and I think it's a bit of a weak point on Himalayan and those on the bearings here at the front I had to replaced them twice, the first time after 11,000 kilometers and I thought that it had to do with, you know,

power washer and and water coming in But the second time I've been very careful with water and again the front bearings went after about 9,000 kilometers and actually after that time I got them replaced by some Kazakh bearings, that some guys found for me on the market and those have lasted until now, so I haven't had any problems with those.

So that makes me think that the original royal enfield bearings are actually a little bit weak or I don't know what's going wrong but it seems to be a bit of a weak point on the bike.

Oh, yeah, and then I've had one problem I had an oil leakage which was discovered - when I did it first big service at 11,000 kilometers it wasn't a lot of oil but there was a leakage and they applied a liquid gasket and what I've been hearing is that it is a regularly occurring problem.

So that seems to be basically together with the bearings. Those seem to be the two types of problems with this type of bike that tend to happen and I've been hearing it from other people as well, but after that got fixed the first time.

I never had any other problems She's not being consuming oil or any other oil leakages. And then I had a couple of what I call small things. Once the fuse of the battery went, so the battery light went on and that was really immediately after it had a big service


so I was literally riding out of the workshop and after, I don't know 50 meters 100 meters their battery light went on and it turned out that it was the fuse. I highly suspect it had to do something with the service because I never had the problem before and during the service, they had a lot of things open,

so my guess is that there was a sort how you call that short-circuit somewhere which caused the fuse to go. There was a small problem. I have spare fuses with me,

so it was matter of change the fuse and ready to go again. Now one other thing that happened is that so I have this top box, which is sitting on a plate here and actually pretty soon after I got this top box.

I put it in in Bangkok in Thailand They reached out to me and said that this plate was not actually good and it could break and they wanted to send me a new one But yeah, I was like, I'm on the road.

I don't know where you can send it I don't know where we're gonna be, so whatever, let's see what happens, it lost very long But then at some point I noticed that my top box was moving quite a bit And it turned out that there were two small cracks in this in this plate Which I got welded when I was going for a service.

So yeah, it was also quite a small problem Um, yeah, and that was actually the big things that kind of yeah went wrong.

So I was really not that bad So let's go to the next topic which is what kind of parts did that change during the maintenance of the bike So let's start with the tires on this 36,000 kilometers journey,

I've tried three different types of tires I started with the Ceat tires, which are standard if you buy the bike in India then I had twice a set of Pirelli MT60s which are standard if you buy the bike in Europe or the States and Then at the moment,

I have Mitas Terraforce tires Which I bought in Croatia because they didn't have the Pirellis And I knew I was going to mostly Road from Croatia to here to the Netherlands. So I thought that's fine. The Ceat tires I can be pretty sure about them.

I didn't like them very much at all It didn't give me much grip and they didn't last very long.

I changed them after 11,000 kilometers but by the time they were pretty finished and I actually would have wanted to change them a little bit before but That was just a way my travels were going and I could do it in Kuala Lumpur so I had to make it until there. The MT60s were a lot better.

I loved the performance Off-Road, On-road like in general I thought they were very good tire for the purpose that I've been using them for Both sets of MT60s I had them for 11,000 kilometers So you would say but that is as the same amount as the Ceat tires But after 11,000 kilometers on the MT60s, a cell had quite a lot of profile to still look pretty good They could have lasted a bit more Especially first set but I still chose to change them.

So in my travels, this is a personal choice I don't ride my tires or any consumables until they are completely finished. I change them before that and the reason is just because I don't want to run that risk if you are riding in your own country and you can easily get parts and you can easily. Get to a workshop.

Yes. You would ride it a lot a lot more But since I'm riding in countries that I don't know just to prevent unnecessary problems on the way, I tend to change my parts a little bit before and with the tires I don't ride them until I have no profile length, and it's for the reason of just safety I prefer to always have profile for better grip And also because if you run it until they're almost completely finished you have a much bigger chance to getting a tire puncture Of course, if you hit a big nail, it doesn't matter.

How big your profile is You always get a puncture but in my experience There's a lot of like small pieces of metal on the road which can cause a puncture if you don't have much profile Because ultimately in 36,000 kilometers.

I had one tyre puncture which was the day before I was changing my tires So at that moment,

I had very little profile on those Ceat tires And then I got a puncture from some small piece of metal One other time I pulled out a piece of metal and it didn't cause a puncture yet because

I still had profile on the tires So for me changing the tires a bit earlier is also a matter of just reducing the risk of getting a tyre puncture Because the tyre puncture is not very nice to have it's it's solvable but if you can prevent it or reduce the risk by changing your tyres a bit earlier than.

i'm more up for it! And there's two other parts, which also kind of happen to be changed at the kind of 11,000 kilometers interval and that's the chain and sprockets and the spark plug so the spark plug I've also been changing every 11,000 kilometers and the chain and the sprockets all that's a bit of a different story.

I have to say I could have done a lot better in terms of chain maintenance I have not been doing it enough, especially in the beginning.

I was cleaning it too much And not creasing it too much Which highly reduced the longevity of the chain and sprockets? So yeah, I should take a lot more care But yeah with the distances that I'm riding I pretty much would have to loop the chain every riding day which I haven't been doing, cuz, i don't know, I have no excuse. Well, yeah, I was busy. But yeah, there's no excuse.

I could have taken a lot better care of them I'm considering getting like this automatic, I don't know how you call it, automatic greasing system thingy There are downsides of that as well What I've heard is actually very hard to find the right fill-up if it's emptying after filled up That's kind of, the kind of stuff.

That is not available everywhere And if you fill it up with the wrong stuff, it will break.

That's what I've heard So anyway, I'm still thinking about that or I should just be better with greasing the chain So that also lost longer So yeah,

I could have been better with that So but in my experience and it has to do with I think it depends on a lot of factors Also where I could find a good place for big service,

but it basically comes down to that I've been doing big services every 11,000 kilometers.

So I'm not saying that that's what you should do But it's kind of just been working out for me With the distances that I've been riding and the places where I did, did the maintenance. And then I'm almost Forgetting probably the most important maintenance part, which is the oil change in the oil filter I have been doing that a lot a lot more even that is recommended So.

I've been changing the oil and the oil filter every 3,000 kilometers There've been maybe once or twice that I stretched it until 5,000, but all the other times I did it after 3,000 kilometers which is more than is recommended and Yeah, there's probably people saying that it's not necessary where it's too much but in my opinion.

It's just better for the engine and that's it And I'm asking a lot from this motorcycle while I'm riding (???) rely heavily on this motorcycle so I Took very good care of the engine by doing that that kind of interval of changing the oil and the oil filter and I think it's just It's just better for the engine and it just last longer.

so I didn't mind doing this It's just part of taking care of the motorcycle and the brake pads is also a funny story Because I changed the brake pands the first time after 11,000 kilometers at that moment, it wasn't necessary it's all really I just did it because I was gonna ride in Central Asia next and I just didn't want to have any worries on my mind about the bike.

I just wanted the bike to be pretty much brand-new before entering old stunts. So I decided to change the brake pads as well Which was really unnecessary because now those brake pads that I changed then are still on the bike.

So they have now been on the bike for Twenty five thousand kilometres and they're still not finished They are just still fine But I will come back to the brakes in a later stage of the video as well. So we're now coming to the second part of the video and basically That is my judgment.

What do I really like about the bike? And what do I don't like about the bike. So first I'm gonna tell you what I do not like about this bike One of the main things is the windshield For me the windshield is horrible.

To be honest because it creates a wind stream or air turbulence of wind Right in the face So I've been riding without a windshield for briefly when I was in Kuala Lumpur just before shipping the bike to Oman I removed the windshield and I rode a little bit with it and it was actually so much better. I was riding and thinking Oh, this is so nice.

I don't have all this winds in my face so for me I would actually need either a higher windshield or actually just a lower windshield So my face is free of all this wind turbulence I've been looking for an extension on the windshield here, but on the road I couldn't find anyone that wanted to fit it So I don't have it But I'll definitely look for one For my trip from Patagonia to Alaska because I need to do something.

It depends on your height I guess just but with my height of my upper body, it is right in the face. Second thing I do not like about bike and that is the seat you can see I damage the seat a little bit because I always have to get on and off the bike like that, because of the panniers, that's a minor thing. I don't mind it at all.

But I've also mention this in the 10,000 kilometer bike review video that  the seat is too soft.

i do believe that Royal Enfield actually has a touring seat for the Himalayan I'm not 100% sure But I believe so, so I'm gonna look into that and maybe change the seat for this touring seat and hope that's better Because I spent so many hours on that seat It should really be a little bit more comfortable in my opinion.

Then on to number three of the things that I don't like about the bike And that has to do with the midstand in my opinion midstand is hanging too low And it kind of ruins the ground clearance that you have as I've been hating when I'm riding off-road on a bumpy terrain.

I've been hitting the midstand that was a midstand again which is just a shame because it has decent ground clearance and it's kind of being made undone because of the, because of the midstand.

And then the final thing is the brakes so I promised to talk a little bit about brakes when I was mentioning the brake pads I was saying that the brake pads last a very long time I don't need to replace them But it's fair to be said it's just because they don't get used very much because the brakes aren't.

I'm just very good So basically, it's both the front and the rear brake are not what they are supposed to be doing in my opinion Fare to be said is that in the beginning when I just started riding? I found it much more prominent

I was really thinking oh my goodness, these brakes are not doing anything The more I was riding I just really got used to them So at some point, I mean you really know what you can and cannot do with your brakes So right now I don't find it annoying anymore But it's just because I got used to it.

That doesn't mean that they should be, they should be better than they are now. So I think I've now said enough ugly things about Basanti So it's time to go to the things that I think are really good about this motorcycle the first thing that I would say is good about this motorcycle is that If you're looking for an adventure bike Then this is a bike which will take you on an adventure Because it is light enough to be able to pick it up by yourself.

I've dropped it plenty of times I've picked it up on myself plenty of times and so it's just not something that you have to worry about It's also not a twenty-five thousand euro machine that you're too afraid to drop and have scratched or something like that So it really doesn't matter if you drop it or you crash it or whatever.

It's it's a really sturdy bike.

It really can take it. And nothing will happen to it so It's just really great to take off-road and really to go on an adventure and that's what it's built for This bike is not built for highway cruising. A lot of people say it's an underpowered bike and I agree I would love a little bit more power.

Of course But ultimately this bike is perfect for off-road for riding small roads taking the back roads It's perfect for this and if all you do is highly cruising. It's just not the bike for you It's not meant for that You will not love it the way I love it when I go off-road with it.

Then the second big important thing wich is the big plus on this bike in my opinion is the price so it's a economical bike.

It's an affordable bike I think many people can afford this bike and Especially if you compared what I said before to the big adventure bikes like the "big Gs" you know Costing 25,000 euros or even adventure bikes costing 15,000 euros not a lot of people can afford a bike like that and then still have money to actually Take it for a trip know what I mean.

Whereas with this one I think it's affordable for many people and you don't have to spend so much money on the bike and also the accessories are Affordable the maintenance is affordable.

So I think all in all it's a very affordable bike which I think is a very big plus and continuing about that about about the maintenance for example What I really love about this bike and why I take it around the world is because its simplicity Basically, it has very easy mechanics Ok I'm still not a mechanic and I still can't fix everything but in my experience what I've seen so far is pretty much any roadside mechanic Doesn't need to hesitate they know immediately what to do it's easy to open up.

In a lot of countries for example in Central Asia if you come there with a bike full of very modern electronics and all sorts of gadgets and things and something will break If you can't if you don't know how to fix it yourself like me you're having a much bigger problem than me with this bike So I feel very confident that wherever I am I will and if I would run in a big problem, which ok.

I didn't so far but if I would I'm confident enough that there are mechanics in every country That will want to touch this bike and will know what to do and can fix the problem Whereas yeah what I said before if you compare it to the big fancy expensive adventure bikes.

They are so full of all this special stuff that you need like a specialized mechanic to help you out and they're just not available all over the world so when it comes to touring around the world and riding in remote places or Maybe underdeveloped countries.

I think this is a very good choice because it's so easy But I think when you're reviewing a motorcycle, you have to take into account two big things, which is the price of the bike So what can you expect.

For that type of money and also what was the bike designed for and are you using it for that purpose? And I think that's very important If you buy this bike, I mean upwards in India where it's almost half price as in Europe or or the states But even like in in Europe For example still very affordable relatively cheap bike so you can't compare it to a bike Which is five times the price, you know, you just can't compare it so you always have to take it relative Like what do you get for your money.

And also what are you using it for?

Yeah, are you going to do a lot of highways and then you complain it? It's not good on highways. Of course It's not good on highways because it's not meant to be there at all So, I mean that would be like taking my Ducati Monster which I was riding before taking that off-road and complaining that it's not doing very well now obviously not because it's a street bike. So If you take into account what the bike was designed for and the amount of money you pay for it me personally.

I cannot conclude anything else than that this bike is just really good value for money. Now, there are of plenty of other small things that can tell you which I like about the bike But I think I'm covered most of those topics in the other videos as well maybe even the most important thing that it has been so incredibly reliable And when I started this journey to be honest, I was expecting a lot of difficulties.

36,000 Kilometers Bike Review Royal Enfield Himalayan BS4   

I was expecting troubles I was expecting being stranded on the side of the road there, a lots and that just didn't happen and the more I was riding the more confidence I became, and Yeah, was feeling confident to go off-road remote areas by myself No backup no help because I was so confident that.

I would not run into any bike problems, which I didn't in the end She always started and also except for the few things that I said in the beginning she's been doing great and Especially given what I've been pulling her through because I've been riding on all sorts of terrain.

I've had roads full of potholes. I hit a lot of potholes incredibly hard I had awful fuel really really bad quality fuel I had bad quality engine oil. It's just I can't really think of other conditions which are not so good for motorcycle. I went through extremely cold temperatures.

I went through heights I went through desert And she's just been doing everything without a single hiccup basically in my opinion so yeah, and ultimately I do think if you do a ride like this, you will have some problems Pretty much all the riders all the motorcyclists that I met along the way Everybody has had problems on the way You simply cannot expect any machine to do this type of trip and have zero Zero zero problems.

So basically knowing that you have some problems It's just a matter of how many they are and how big or how difficult they are to solve So ultimately with the few things that I had there were Easy to solve and they didn't really get me into trouble at all.

So so yeah to be honest I'm pretty proud of Basanti and that we made it this far and yeah, I couldn't really wish for another bike. I think People ask me before would you choose the same bike again? And yeah I would say yeah because I think for me and the type of trip that I'm doing this is the right bike for me I love it.

So yeah, I'm ready to continue for next adventures I've been mentioning this before a couple of times The next trip is going to be Patagonia to Alaska It's gonna be a huge trip.

It's gonna be bigger than what I've done before. I'm really looking forward I really already can't wait, can't wait to leave I have quite some preparations to do I have stuff to do here in the Netherlands.

So I will spend a few weeks here I'll make some videos in the coming weeks, well, so don't worry It won't be extremely quiet on the channel But maybe a little bit more than what you used to.

So I really hope you like this video If something was missing then check the 10,000 killometers bike review video And I'll probably do another life chat as well somewhere next week, probably So if I didn't cover something then you can ask me there as well and.

I'll try to answer your questions So yeah, that was it for today. If you like this video, please give me a big thumbs up and subscribe down below To stay tuned for the next adventures.