Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 chassis snaps. Here’s what you need to know

There’s something about owning an adventure bike! They look good and are ready to take on any terrain or tarmac. Owners, on the other hand, aren’t just happy with what the manufacturer has to offer. They want their bikes to look tougher than ever. In an attempt to do this, most owners go to the motorcycle accessory markets to fulfill their dreams. What happens next is just the beginning of a nightmare.

What happened to the motorcycle?

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The Royal Enfield Himalayan right from day one can be loaded with a barrage of accessories and the new 450 is no different. Everything from auxiliary lights, GPS units, impact guards, hand guards and so on are available. The owner of the bike in question decided to load it with an aftermarket, non-GMA fender. The tube certainly looks sturdy and offers locking coils as well. So where is the problem?

Why did the chassis break?

Modern motorcycles are complex pieces of machinery. Each screw or joint has a specific purpose and therefore should be given due respect. In this case, the bumper was mounted on the engine mount, which is quite a complex piece of engineering. The bracket has housings inside and even the screw needs to be tightened to a specific torque. While the bolt itself was replaced with a different unit, the unit was not tightened to the recommended torque setting. When the unit came loose, the entire top half of the chassis was compromised and eventually the chassis failed.

We were also made aware of a lab demonstration of a similar situation and at some point the chassis started to develop cracks as found on the bike in question. This proves that not all aftermarket accessories are worth investing in, and most importantly, you need to be very careful with installation.

Should you avoid accessories?

In most cases, you should stay away from local operators who do not understand the importance of careful installation. For example, one of the most common aftermarket installations includes auxiliary lights. These high power units require very special wiring so that the power is properly channeled to them. This is also because most modern motorcycles come with complex electronics and a single slice through a CAN bus can create chaos. Similarly, splicing a wire into an existing power supply also spells disaster. Therefore, make sure that the accessories are installed correctly.