I highly recommend the Royal Enfield touring seat for the Himalayan, it didn't seem much different for me at first but long distance comfort was transformed. The original seat would give me a sore backside just on my 20minute ride to work. Yes 89mpg is very real and I was as surprised as you when I first realised how much mileage I was getting. Great vid and glad you're loving the bike.
Hi John. Good observations on the trip and bike. Love my himmy as well. As for the seat, i found it terrible as well. So i bit the bullet and at a lot of expense because of customs duty etc i purchased a replacement foam and cover from Seat Concepts in Idaho USA. It's wider and flatter and is fitted to the original seat pan, big transformation. 8 hour blast back from Land's End was no problem. As i say expensive but for me well worth it. Stay safe.
I too have found that when I’m alone people are more likely to engage with you. I can appreciate you difficulty with the side stand; however, when you load up your bike with as much stuff as you had, you might consider adjusting the preload on your rear. This will fix the sag that makes the bike stand so upright. Another thing you might consider is the side stand from Hitchcock. It has a larger foot for soft surfaces and it’s adjustable, so you can have one length for everyday and another for when the bike is loaded. I too have a problem with the seat, but recently I removed my bar risers because I installed a tank bag that wouldn’t fit otherwise. Oddly enough this improved the situation, I guess because I was now sitting in a different part of the seat. Last week I went on a 9 hour ride which included some very rough mountainous dirt roads and it was not bad. I had to stand up for a bit in the last hour to get the blood circulating again but not bad. It was not as comfortable as the seats on my Harley’s but I couldn’t dream of doing a trip like that on either of those bikes.
Never heard of SW300 until you mentioned it in the other video. Will definitely try it I'd go same route as you to get there, just enjoy the journey and go the back roads.
Hi John - I've been watching your videos for a few months now and enjoying them. Is the battery issue a common one? Have you resolved the issue on yours? And have you done anything about the comfort issue? Finally have you ridden two up on the Himalayan and if so how did it cope? The reason I ask is that I rarely ride solo, usually ride with my partner. Cheers Mike
I think the battery is a common issue, I have put a gel battery on now, I have ordered a cool cover for the seat. I never ride two up. Hope that answers your questions Mike. Thanks for watching.
I am jealous. I would love to ride around Scotland in summertime. Though it might be hard to ride past all those distilleries I saw in central Scotland, while driving an Hyundai i30 hire car. I will have to be content with a lap of Tasmania next year.
Morning John Another interesting video I’ve just purchased a seat cover from Cool covers and it’s made it very comfortable for my Himalayan it’s a bit expensive but well worth it .
I have made a 2.500 km trip crossing Germany and a small part from Austria. The his runs very well. But the stock seat will kill you. I have send my saddle to an saddlery for adding 2cm silikon.
Mainly from a company called Oxford. Jacket has through air ventilation, gloves have no lining, so I keep cool. The helmet is a Caberg Xtrace which is very comfortable.
