Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 engine seizes after rider goes through waterlogged roads

The monsoons in India bring waterlogging on roads. This creates a lot of problems for commuters and travellers who get stuck for extended hours on the roads. Here is an incident where a rider on Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 enters a waterlogged underpass and tries to cross it. Here is what happened next.

The short video does not have much information. However, the video shows the rider entering the waterlogged underpass while someone makes a video of the incident. The video shows that the rider enters the waterlogged area and we can see the motorcycle almost drowning.

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In the video, the water level almost reaches the seat of the motorcycle. In the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650, the air intake and the air filter are located just below the seat. The water level is much higher than that, which means that the water entered the air intake easily and also reached the engine.

While the video does not show the motorcycle stopping in the middle of the way in the underpass, it does show the mechanic emptying the engine oil compartment. The muddy fluid coming out indicates that how badly the engine is damaged. It also shows the mechanic using a small cup to scoop out the water from the air filter compartment.

The video does not reveal what happened to the engine exactly but it has definitely seized and may require a rebuilt too. In less aggressive flooding cases of the engine, they can be repaired by simply replacing the spark plugs, changing the engine oil and drying the engine properly. However, we believe that this engine must have required some extra effort.

Taking vehicles through water

It is important to know the water wading capacity of a vehicle before venturing out in such conditions. The seat height of the Royal Enfield Continental GT is 790mm and the air intake is located at least a couple of 100mm below that. Riding through water depth that is higher than the location of the air intake in any vehicle will cause the engine to flood and seize.

Even in cars, the water wading capacity is dependant on the location of the air intake of the vehicle. That is why serious off-roaders install snorkels to increase the height of the air intake to increase the water wading capacity of the vehicle. In fact, it can be done to motorcycles too. There are modified motorcycles with modified air intake to ensure that they can go through deeper water crossings.

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