Royal Enfield Scram 440 Sales Halted Because '10 Year Old Problem' Makes A Comeback!
The Chennai-based motorcycle manufacturer Royal Enfield has halted the deliveries of the Scram 440 motorcycle it launched back in November of last year. The company has cited the reason that a few units of the Scram 440 have reported engine starting issues owing to the Woodruff key in the magneto. This same issue has plagued other Royal Enfield bikes for over 10 years and is now being seen on the newly launched Scram 440.
Recently, it has been reported that Royal Enfield stopped the sales and bookings of the Scram 440 from April 10. As mentioned, the bike was launched in November of last year, and the deliveries began this year in January. The main issue which has caused this halt of sales and bookings is a component failure — the Woodruff key. At the moment, the company has not announced an official recall.
What is the Woodruff key issue in Royal Enfield bikes?
For those who may not be aware, the Woodruff key is a very small but extremely essential component which, in the Royal Enfield bikes, secures the rotating parts such as a flywheel or magneto to a shaft. Its main job is to ensure that these components rotate together without any slippage. This small semi-circular metal piece slots on the crankshaft.
After which, it locks the magneto from shifting independently. As for the Scram 440, the Woodruff key helps in maintaining engine timing by ensuring that the magneto is perfectly aligned with the crankshaft. Unfortunately, in Royal Enfield bikes like the Scram 440 and the Himalayan 411, which was on sale before the launch of the Himalayan 450, the issue occurred where this Woodruff key would break.
This semi-circular key in these bikes is either faulty, misaligned, or fails prematurely. As a result of this, the magneto loses its alignment with the crankshaft, and this prohibits the vehicle from starting up. Generally, this issue does not occur mid-ride. However, when it occurs, it leaves riders stranded as it does not allow the bike to start.
Presently, this issue has only been seen on 2 percent of Royal Enfield Scram 440s delivered in the country. However, this issue has been on Royal Enfield bikes for over 10 years. It’s very unfortunate that the company, despite all of its progress in development and the launch of many new hit bikes, has not been able to fix this issue.
The Himalayan Jugaad
To show you more clearly what exactly this Woodruff key issue is, here is a video which was uploaded on YouTube over 7 years ago. What happens in the video is that a group of friends who went for adventure riding in their Royal Enfield Himalayans saw the breakdown of one of the bikes. This particular bike was not starting up. So, they first tried rotating the wheel with another bike making contact with its tyre.
However, when this failed, the owner of this bike opened up the engine of this bike and shows the exact issue that had taken place. He shows that a fragment of the Woodruff key had broken down and fallen in the engine. Then, as a “Jugaad,” he breaks off a piece of his number plate and increases the height of the Woodruff key. Finally, he seals back the engine, and the bike turns on, and they start celebrating.