Royal Enfield upgraded the Himalayan 411 to Himalayan 450 with a completely new engine, chassis, body, features and electronics. While the new Himalayan 450 is not only better in terms of design and features. The new motorcycle is also more rugged and robust than its predecessor.
However, an incident where the Himalayan 450’s chassis has snapped emerged on the internet. So what has happened to the off-road friendly Himalayan 450? According to pictures, a Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 with a broken chassis can be seen with its engine almost hanging down. But before delving further and making any speculations, let us find out more about the Himalayan 450’s chassis.
Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 – Chassis
The Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 uses a steel twin-spar frame with the engine as a stressed member. The twin spar frame has been designed to offer a balance betweel handling, stability and balance as well as the stronger and stiffer is narrow between the legs to improve comfort.
By observing the pictures, we can deduce that one of the chassis centre post, which also acts as the rear engine mount has snapped. However, the top tubes and wishbone tubes appear to be unaffected. But the engine appears to have been dislodged from the front hangers. The event could have strained the bolts fastening the engine on the front hanger leading them to snap and hence we can see the engine hanging down, however, the left side centre post appears okay.
How It Could Have Happened?
Looking at the pictures it is obvious that the motorcycle has not been into a crash. But, sources reveal that the motorcycle could have been installed with a non-approved crash guard. If this is true, the crash guard could have been mounted on crucial points such as the engine mounts on the front and the centre post of the chassis. This could have led to weakening the twin-spar frame, if the bolts were unfastened and then re-done without proper torquing technique or under a trained RE technician.
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