chuzzlewit...
 

....really appreciate the info. I see no advantage of the 500 for my purposes so I'm pretty much determined to go with the 350. Yeah, I expect to do some daily inspection, maintenance and tinkering, I just want to be sure to spend more time enjoying my trip than wrenching.
You are the first to have feedback about Tony Bike. Lalli Singh is expensive, but I've never heard a bad word. I think at this point I'm just going to have to inspect a couple of bikes and trust my experience and senses.
I anticipate leaving Delhi for Leh on July 2nd or 3rd.
Cheers, C.

Just searching for Indian bike hire info and found this thread - how did the trip go ? Any recommendations ? And what availability is there for simple Jap bikes - 250/350 trail bikes ?

Hi Wheelspin,

You're thinking "big". 250/350s Asian/Indian bikes aren't readily available here. 100/150/180s are and I think it's the 180 that provides difficulty if you break down outside of a city because they're uncommonly large. Bikes are built by Bajaj (who also do the Indian Vespa) and Hero Honda, which is Indian built Honda, are common. Some Yamahas, Suzuki, and a few others. But for most of the roads and the insane traffic, small bikes are fine. I haven't seen many trail bikes. One was a Honda Transalp 250 owned by a super nice Indian who rode it through Burma/Myanmar. I've seen a few trail bikes in Nepal complete with knobbies, but they're still rare.

The Enfield 350 powers over most everything except the Enfield 500. It's crazy to think that a 350 is King but it's true.

If I screwed up anything, someone correct me, but I think that info is correct.

-Dave

Lahli Singh Contacts
 

Hi,

does anyone know the correct email of Lahli Singh ? The email on the website doesn't exists anmore:

<lallisingh@vsnl.com>:
203.200.235.142 does not like recipient.
Remote host said: 550 5.1.6 recipient no longer on server: lallisingh@vsnl.com
Giving up on 203.200.235.142.

No idea, but I'll be selling my Delhi plated Enfield 350 in November.

Enjoyed your blog -witty and well written..............

Lalli Singh
 

Hi.
I can reccommend Lalli Sing for the rental.
He can sort out spares for you to take on the trip and charge you only for what you have used when you return.
I found him very hepfull.
Allow a whole day to sort the particulars/bike out though as they are in no rush there.
David.

Enfield rental in Vashisht / Manali
 

I know a guy who can rent you a great reliable Bullet for a reasonable price, he will give you a spares kit and help you on your way. He is just outside Manali on the way to Vashisht. If you want to rent a bike from him, get in touch with me and I can put you in touch. He can rent one bike and has enough to be able to rent up to 15. Occasionally he will pick a bike up from Leh if you want to fly back down to Delhi for example but you have to pay a bit more obviously. my email: l.e.webber@gmail.com

Lalli Singh is very good when it comes to keeping up his promises. Though i have personally been dealing with another guy named sunil @ PardesiMotors.com
He has experience of renting, exporting and repairing bikes of RTW riders.
Dave smiths bike is currently being repaired there. :thumbup1:

go with lalli
 

i have dealt with this man a few times and he is nothing but reliable.
he prepped, crated and shipped my 350 to florida for me in 2003. a very professional job and all worked out well.
i took that bike from kolkata to darjeeling throgh nepal, ladakh kashmir and rajastan. 11k in 5 months.
only normal wear and tear as problems...most of which i fixed myself.
yes a pulsar will blow an enfield away in speed but what can you pack on it for a trip? not much more than a toothbrush.
lalli uses the 500 mainly now because thats what the foreigners want. they think bigger is better. my 350 did well all packed up and i would prefer the kick start cuz if the electric goes bad in the wilderness...!
later

Lalli's email and REnfields in the South
 

Hi, I seem to be having problems with Lallis email as well. Does anyone has exchanged emails with him recently? It's the email at his website working? I tried emailing them but had no reply; I was surprised because everyone says they are very quick to respond and business like.

Has anyone deal with Sonimotors in Delhi -Karol Bahg?

We were planning to travel to the south but there isn't much info about buys/rentals in Chennai. Strange, don't they make the enfields there? Any info re buying or renting in Tamil Nadu - Chennai much appreciated.

Last, we are two yet I still think a 350 will be good enough for a two up in the south which is flatter country and slightly less busy than the North. Or Im I wrong?

Why it makes a difference the state or city license number plate? I understand you need extra papers to seel outside the state the bike's registered, is there more to know about cross border travel there?

Thanks a lot, ride safe and have a very Happy New Year

A 350 is fine for two up. When I showed up, I went on a ride with a bike group around Delhi and Rajhastan. I didn't have a bike so I rode on the back and there were a few other bikes with passengers.

The roads in the south are much nicer and easier to ride than the roads up north. The traffic is better too which will be hard to understand when you end up riding through what seems to be a crowded shopping mall.

They only do tours of the factory on Saturdays. I think you need to be there around 9:30am. I spent almost a week in Chennai waiting for the tour. I visited lots of bike shops but didn't find any that were renting. If I was asking, I might've been pointed out to one.

Soni motors - He has good collection of bikes, but i have never dealt with him. Lalli Singh is a little expensive but has good service. Sunil at pardesimotors.com is good. He's reasonable and will help you any way possible. A few hubb and adv members have had good dealings with him....

I don't know about Lalli Singh or Tonu Bullet Centre but I had a very great & satisfactory experience with Stonehead Bikes. They have a very good & quality of bikes in their fleet. I have taken the bullet 350 for around 10 days for Leh & they charged me $80 (Rental) + $10 (One time service charges). Top of it, they deleivered the bike on airport free of cost & offcourse bike was in damn gud condition (it was 2009 model)

They are somewhere in east delhi based.

Thanks
Khomen.

Thanks for the link to StoneHead Bikes - their rental rates seem pretty reasonable - but I'm confused. You say they only charged you $80 (+ $10) for a ten day rental? Is that a discounted rate or was the conversion on the Indian Rupee a lot less in December?

Also - what was your route into Leh and do you have any route recommendations?