India

[gbags]

Has anyone spent much time in India on bikes?

With covid putting the kibosh on longer distance trips nowadays my thought are turning to a large, varied, interesting far country where I could spend two or three months.

I’d probably aim to buy a second hand bullet out there and sell it afterwards. Can anyone recommend a place to buy?

From Leh and Ladakh in the north to Sri Lanka and Kerala in the south, I’d putter about at slow speed, dodging cows.

Any links, photos and suggestions would be gratefully received.

[mark vb]

Whilst in India just before Covid arrived, I chanced upon a guy known as Bobbee Singh who ran Old Delhi Motorcycles, a set-up that specialises in customising bikes, fitting chairs and so on. It was actually in Agonda, South Goa, where I met him where he was taking a break from work, with his 350 Enfield outfit being parked-up outside the beachside hut he was staying in. We had a couple of drinks in a beach bar and he mentioned if ever I was in India again and needed a bike, to look him up. Anyway - and perhaps a longshot - it could be worthwhile contacting him to see if he can help. Google 'Old Delhi Motorcycles' and his details should come up.
Pic below of his lovely outfit, and the place we stayed.... wish I was back there!

[Sanqhar]

Check out Itchy Boots on YouTube. Her first series did precisely what you intend. She had problems registering her bike in India. This was some years ago, things might be different now. Remarkable woman.

Whatever you do she is worth following.

tom

[Cornishman]

Check out Itchy Boots on YouTube. Her first series did precisely what you intend. She had problems registering her bike in India. This was some years ago, things might be different now. Remarkable woman.

Whatever you do she is worth following.

tom

I was interested to see that she had made a comment on Ed March’s video yesterday.

[Snaf MKII]

Sounds like a great idea

I recall needing permits for Ladakh when we went on this trip https://www.vintagerides.travel/motorcy ... himalayan/

It's a militarised area with many check points, our guide had a lot of pre printed details of who we were that eased the passage through these check points. It might be worth you doing the same.

I'm not sure if it was just tour company bike or local rules or something else but we had to swap bikes when we got to Leh.

[gbags]

Thanks for all the comments and tips.

Great things to chase up. You have to love this resource.

[ErikGustav2]

Not I have not been there.
But I loved this book

Simon G.jpg (49.24 KiB) Viewed 1962 times

You can get an Kindle version on Amazon for less than $3
=
In the early 1960s, travel-writer Simon Gandolfi drove a VW from England to Goa where he rented a bungalow on the beach at Calangute. And it was on Calangute beach that Gandolfi met and loved Vanessa and explored with her much of the subcontinent. The 2008 terrorist attack on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai prompted Gandolfi to re-explore the subcontinent on a small motorcycle. Collecting a Honda 125 from the factory outside Delhi, he rode for six months and 12,000 kilometres. He rediscovers the rented bungalow become a beach bar, his and Vanessa's bedroom a bottle store - and he learns of Vanessa's death soon after their parting. Memories of his travels with Vanessa became his companions as he continued his ride and are the connecting link in this chronicle of two journeys in which Gandolfi explores both the changes in India and in himself.
=

[ErikGustav2]

Check out Itchy Boots on YouTube. Her first series did precisely what you intend. She had problems registering her bike in India. This was some years ago, things might be different now. Remarkable woman.

Whatever you do she is worth following.

tom

As a foreigner, you are not allowed to take the bike out of India.
That is way she ans some other persons register the bike an on India friend.
But that means that they drive a bike that they do not own.
And to do that you need a paper of authority and......
=
But as far as I know, you can register the bike in your name, and tour India.
But check the rules.
And do not thrust people that know of someone who has done something.
Rumors are not always true.
(And just because some did something sometime. Does not mean that it is legal)

=
HUBB has a lot of information
But of very different quality

But search and do your home work.
https://www.horizonsunlimited.com

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

See also Guy Martin in India...he wasn't allowed to take the Bullet he purchased out of the country.