Hey guys I'm heading to India from the USA and looking to buy a local motorcycle in India to travel around on for the next year or two.

Out of the available options in India the KTM 390 seems like the best fit since I'm 6 ft 5 and 260 lbs before I put any gear on myself or the bike.

Also interested in any other dirt oriented adventure bikes like a Suzuki DR650, HONDA XR400 OR 650, OR YAMAHA WR250R ECT ECT ECT

I REALIZE MOST OF THESE BIKES ARE NOT AVAILABLE OVER THERE

Thanks for the help and looking forward to connecting y'all!

From my understanding imported bikes are insanely expensive in India compared to locally produced bikes. For example the Honda Crfs 250/300 and the Honda CB500X that are made in Thailand seems to be twice the price as similar bikes made in India.

The KTM 390 Adv are made in India - so for sure that would be a good option in India. There is also a KTM 250 Adv available in India.
All models of Royal Enfields are also good options as they are made locally and such are cheap and service and spare parts are readily available.
Bajaj 400 Dominar - a locally produced bike could also be an alternative: https://youtu.be/BcfyyFDQVzg

Honda has a 200 cc Adv bike thats made in India that also could be an option if you can tolerate a low cc bike: https://youtu.be/aeYdQMsVIew

Also a locally made 200 ADV bike that could be an option - the Hero X-pulse 200. (I think it looks stunning btw….) https://www.zigwheels.com/newbikes/H...orp/xpulse-200

Jawa - an old european brand has been relaunched in India nowadays and have some half interesting models:
https://www.jawamotorcycles.com/

Another indian made option: https://www.bikewale.com/yezdi-bikes/adventure/

And I almost forgot the baby GS, the BWW 310 GS

Just to give you some ideas of whats available in India. Maybe some indian members could step in and give more info.

Also my understanding is that its quite complicated to purchase a bike in India as a foreigner. Maybe others could shed some light upon that subject…?

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

My choice would be A RE Himalayan, however they have very low seats (I’m a similar height to you). I’m sure you could get the seat reupholstered to be level with the rear seat and bar risers fit without problems.

Take a quality chain and sprocket set with you and some sintered pads and you’ll be good to go.

Oh, if your worried about speed, it’s very difficult to travel over 30mph there. In fact it’s strange to watch the business men travelling in the back of their £80K Mercedes’ at 25 mph

Enjoy whatever you choose

Take a look at the Hero Xpulse 200, a smaller engine than you specify but one of the taller bikes available in India and having toured on the previous version the Impulse 150 will say it is also one of the best bikes for India.

Hi Mark
That Hero looks good. Just wondering what the suspension is like, the OP is nearly 18.5 stone without kit and luggage. I know the suspension on the Himmie is good out of the box as we ride around 2 up (just pottering to the shops or sights etc no long journeys but some of our accommodation has been down very rough tracks) with a combined weight of 27 stone.

I wonder if a good plan of action would be to arrive in India and rent for a while before buying, then try a few different bikes.

I can only speak for the Impulse suspension which was fine with me and a passenger with our rucksacks strapped on the back, as long as the op is not planning to carry a passenger it should be fine.

Hey man I really appreciate the input and recommendations! Really at this point the KTM 390 Adventure is on top of the list. I actually just made a post on my Instagram about four of the available motorcycles that are somewhat Adventure Worthy and the ones you mentioned are all in that post with videos describing what I liked and disliked about each bike.

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The 390 is definitely not an exciting Motorcycle by any stretch of the imagination but I would say adequate is probably the best way to describe that lil guy

Thanks again for the Post and links! I like that hero 200 I'm just afraid that'll be too small of a machine as I'm 6 ft 5 and 260 lb before I put on my riding suit or put any gear on the bike

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Hey man I appreciate the recommendation for the himalayan. I'm not really a fanboy for that motorcycle since they're pretty overweight and super underpowered. I have written three of them on three different continents and each time got off the bike a bit disappointed. They're cheap but that's about their only good note as far as I can see. Thanks again for the recommendation man

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Man I don't think I would recommend the hero 200 for two up riding. I saw one in Istanbul at a motorcycle show and it would be maxed out pretty much the whole time going down any terrain or highway sections with two people on board. If you just want things something to scoot around on one up with the occasional Adventure ride it would probably be a great budget-friendly option machine. I'm 6'5 and 260 lb without any gear on... That bike would struggle with me for sure. If you're in the UK man maybe you could try to take some test rides on a few bikes? That's what I did here in the USA last week with the available options that are over in india. If you want to check out my thoughts on that post and in the videos you can see it on my gram:

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Not sure which other continents you've ridden in, but assuming at least some of your trips were in developing countries with poor road and traffic conditions, and so you know what type of riding you are likely to encounter and what kind of bike you want to do that on. I haven't ridden the ktm but that's also probably what i think is one of the more interesting bikes available there. I agree the Himalayan is heavy and slow, but on the good side the suspension geometry works quite well absorbing broken pavement, and potholes, and it does off-road work decently albeit not in an exciting way. Enfield also have released a couple of 650cc twin cylinder bikes that also look worthy of consideration. I think those should definitely be looked at as well. I haven't ridden the dominar (400cc Bajaj), but the 200NS, and 180 dtsi Pulsars are pretty decent bikes, in my opinion.Especially for the price. I did a great tour through the Himalayas on the 180 and was pretty content with it. That was before the Himalayan had been released so I was comparing it to the Enfield Bullits and Yezdis which are problematic, heavy and slower than the Himalayan so it wasn't a tough choice. You can manage to ride through snow, an dirt and mud. Not in an enduro style but you can get across safely and reasonably quickly. They are light and well balanced, good disk brakes, and FI. But they are more road biased and possibly still not powerful enough for you. I found build quality to be quite decent and aftermarket and OEM spares are available. Just remembering now you said you are 6'5 so they may be way to small for you. I managed at 6'1 but you would have to check out the marketplace to see what is available and what will suit you best. If you want a western style level of power and performance it's probably going to cost you excessively in terms of time and money, spare parts and repairs can also get complicated. I think in Kathmandu there was someone renting or selling older Japanese dual sports and I am pretty sure in both India and Nepal I have seen the odd tour operator renting out bigger BMW's and stuff like that, but that's likely going to be cost prohibitive. I think the BMW 310GS is probably also worth looking at, but most likely the KTM 390 will suit you more. In Delhi and most major cities there are rental agencies where you could go and probably get a chance to try a few of these different bikes to get some idea of what they are like and if you would be happy with them. Outside of the himalayas (which is also probably one of the best areas to ride) most of the roads I have been on are pretty congested and in poor condition, with a lot of dust, noise, and pollution not to mention wandering animals, broken down vehicles and buses and lorries overtaking aggressively and with very little forethought. There is lots of exploring to do and you can get to some pretty interesting places. Just not likely to manage to do that tearing it up on an Enduro. I am pretty sure there are a couple of more street orientated bikes in the 250-400cc range as well. I dont remember the models but pretty have seen some Indian production models that are sort of cheap imitation super bikes as well as possibly some of the Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda dealers being able to order the more expensive models at a much higher cost than you would pay in Europe or North America

Yeah man I really feel like at 6'5 I need the bigger bike option if it's there which is kind of what the 390 KTM is looking like. I saw a lot of the smaller 180 and 220 Bajaj motorcycles down in South America and they seem like great machines just a little bit too small for my build and probably a little underpowered for my height and weight. Over the last seven or eight years I've been on the road pretty much Non-Stop on a motorcycle through Latin America Europe and Asia and would still be traveling on two wheels if the world was not shut down for coronavirus. My hope and idea is that at least I can travel through India pretty freely for the next year and also get to check out Nepal and quite possibly Pakistan. I appreciate sharing your thoughts and recommendations. Looking forward to getting over to NBA here in a few weeks. I'm still here in the USA about to help my friend racist Ducati in the Daytona 200 as he needs some help in the pits and after that I'll fly over from Florida to India and begin the bike hunt over there in Indiaaaaa

Made it to Florida after a 3 month long road trip through the south east of the USA. Looking at tickets to fly into New Delhi and getting my Indian visa sorted out

Yeah at 6'5" not sure how easy it will be to find something comfortable. Imported bikes are a bit rare and expensive, Enfield makes a couple of 650cc bikes that look potentially interesting. I would suggest checking those out the Interceptor for starters. They are not big bikes by any means but maybe it will be the best solution. There are some places in Delhi that rent bikes and sell and resell used bikes to foreigners so you never know what they might have. Most likely Himalayans, and bullits and things like Pulsars, etc. There are also rumours of a 450cc Himalayan being released in the near future, though I would assume it will be the same chassis with just a bit more power.

Still on the hunt for a local adventure bike in New Delhi! Flying in on the 9th!!!

Thaaaaanks *

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Think I might have a lead on a 390 Adventure here in New Delhi

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