Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Crash Controversy: Design Flaw Claims Debunked
Just a few days ago, a video of a Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 rider went viral on the internet. What happened was that this rider took a small jump with his bike; however, as his front wheel locked up, he had a severe fall. A few of his bones were broken, and he is currently in the hospital. The rider then went on to blame Royal Enfield for having a poor design flaw in the Himalayan 450 due to the brake lines going above the front fender. However, clearing the air, another creator has shared an explanation mentioning that the rider's claim is baseless.
Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Crash Explanation
This new explanation video, proving how the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 rider fell, is baseless and has been shared on Instagram by Masked Moto09 on their page. The creator, who is also an avid adventure motorcycle enthusiast, first shows the original video of the rider who was riding his Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 in the woods, where he fell after a small jump.
Following this, the creator then reads the caption of the original video and highlights what the rider said. He explains that, according to the rider, all Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 riders should not remove their front fenders, and even if they do, they should reroute the brake cables and tie them with zip ties, which is “not recommended.”
After this, the creator adds that the original rider, in his caption, went on to claim that this fall was caused by a design flaw from Royal Enfield. He stated that Royal Enfield has routed the brake lines over the front fender. So, as he removed the front fender so that mud would not get trapped between the wheels and the guard, his brake lines, during the third jump, caused the wheel to lock up.
As a result, he fell down on the road, his bones were shattered, and he had to go to the hospital for treatment. He emphasized that this design flaw nearly made him lose his life. Adding to it, he mentioned that the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 is a death trap.
Baseless Claims Debunked
Following the complete explanation, the creator, in his video, explained that the claim of the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 having a design flaw is baseless. He stated that the Himalayan 450 is not the only adventure motorcycle that gets front brake lines that go over the front fender. He stated that almost all manufacturers use this same design. To illustrate his point, he showed a picture of the Yamaha Tenere 700 adventure motorcycle.
The creator highlighted that many people consider the Yamaha Tenere 700 to be the best adventure motorcycle. He then went on to show that this bike also comes with the same front brake lines, which go over the front fender. After this, he went outside and showed his own BMW GS 850 adventure bike, which also has dual front brakes and front brake lines that pass over the front fender.
He then elaborated that the brake lines in most bikes follow the same route. So, even if the front fender was removed by the rider from his Himalayan 450, he had to make sure that the brake lines were rerouted and secured properly so that they didn't interfere with the front wheel and cause a lock-up like the rider had to suffer.
The creator also highlighted that there are a lot of aftermarket high-set fender kits available for different adventure motorcycles, and all of them come with new brake lines, which ensure that they do not interfere with the new fender and the wheel. So, in this case, the fault was not with the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 or its design—the owner was at fault.