Royal Enfield Addresses Himalayan Reliability Issues In India

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f you’ve read any comments online after reading reviews of the Royal Enfield Himalayan, you’re likely to have come across some complaints about reliability that plagued the initial run of Himalayans in India. In fact, an initial web search brings up a pretty cringe-worthy array of testimonies detailing gearbox failure, paint chipping inside the gas tank, and other quality-control issues that led the Chennai-based brand to issue a “proactive service recall.” Remember, the Himalayan is Royal Enfield’s first clean-sheet design in, well, a really long time. Now that the Himalayan is coming to the US, I wanted to give Royal Enfield North America the opportunity to address the elephant in the room. First, however, I spoke with Pradeep Mathew, the Himalayan project lead, to get an idea of what Royal Enfield is doing in India to improve at the design and manufacturing levels in order to prevent the same issues in the future. “We have gotten customer feedback in certain areas, and we continuously improve,” Mathew admits. “We’ve been at it all this while. The emphasis is more on the manufacturing process and the kind of raw materials and processes we follow. We have state-of-the-art machining, manufacturing, and welding processes. The quality-control processes have been upgraded and have been meeting customer inputs. There’s a direct connection between the service team feeding back into the plant team, so they understand each other.”

In addition to improving communications with the supply chain and retailers and instituting better processes on the assembly line, Royal Enfield has invested millions in two product development centers.

“On the design side, we have this new technical center in the UK and [one in] India. On the design side, quality-control side, manufacturing side, and also from the supply side, we have always been emphasizing quality and continuously improving it,” Mathew reassures.

To be competitive in the North American market, reliability must be a given. To that end, Royal Enfield NA opened a pre-delivery inspection center in Dallas "to ensure a standardized and quality motorcycle is delivered to dealers." Each machine goes through something like a 100-point inspection before being sent to US dealers. Royal Enfield NA says the initiative has reduced product inspection-related warranties by 90 percent.

Rather than be dismissive of Royal Enfield because suspect quality required the North American subsidiary to invest in such a center before even allowing the machines to hit American streets, it’s interesting to consider the viability of the inspection center as a concept. If/when its machines begin to live up to the “made like a gun” slogan, standardizing the inspection process takes one more thing off the plates of local dealerships’ busy service departments, freeing up techs for other tasks. In other words, as a short-term solution it’s been necessary, but it may have a permanent, long-term benefit as well. Time will tell.

Royal Enfield NA has also established two technical training facilities for dealers. Service techs attend free of charge. The Himalayan, like all Royal Enfields, comes with an unlimited-mileage, two-year warranty.

Royal Enfield NA's inspection initiative clearly indicates the seriousness with which it's approaching the market. Certainly, many highly regarded manufacturers have shown far less support to their dealers over the years. Regardless of previous issues with the Himalayan in India, Rod Copes and company are definitely making a concerted effort to establish a reputation for customer care that extends through the local dealer.

Breeann Poland, Royal Enfield NA’s senior marketing manager, reiterates, “We want everyone who rides, or is interested in owning a Royal Enfield, to have a fun and positive experience. Royal Enfield has doubled-down on efforts both globally and in North America to ensure the quality of each motorcycle meets expectations. This means immediate action for customer service inquiries and the investment in a pre-delivery inspection center in Texas to ensure motorcycles meet expectations prior to being delivered to dealers.

“In the near term, we’re excited that the forthcoming motorcycle models will feature enhanced quality and incorporate upgrades,” Poland says. “We’re passionate that the best way to experience the joy of pure motorcycling is on a Royal Enfield, and we’re excited to share that with any and everyone.”

So are they doing enough in India and America to reassure potential Himalayan buyers? For what it’s worth, given Royal Enfield NA’s approach under Copes’ steady hand, I’d say failure isn’t an option. They know if you buy a lemon, they’re in trouble. Which is why it seems like they’ll go to great lengths to make sure that won’t happen.