We are couple from australia planning a trip motorbike touring india for 1 month. we would like especially like to visit the Indian Himalayas.

What would be the most scenic time to visit this area as we do not mind the cold.

What are the cc of motorbikes normally avaliable to rent in india? What are the prices in U.S dollars? Is there a website anyone knows of with scenic routes? Should we find rental company on internet or wait until we are there as it would be cheaper?

For a month long trip where would you recomend landing to start trip?

Thanks for everyone help lance and nicole

Hi, I did a tour with classicbikeindia.com a couple of years ago, they were very good and I would recommend them.They do a variety of areas in India.
Price including bikes and back up was around 1400 euros for a three week tour, including accomodation.Search this site for a link.
The Indian people are fabulous and freindly!!!


Good luck

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read through this thread: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ghlight=ladakh

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Rich
www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/richardandlisa
www.youtube.com/richparkie

Welcome to india..it is good hear about your dream to ride a motorcycle in india to the himalayas

What would be the most scenic time to visit this area as we do not mind the cold.

since you want to ride in the himalayas...a couple of pointers
himalayas is too huge to be ridden in one month...since it covers the complete northern boundary of india..the best thing would be to pick up a part of it and ride
if you wanna ride
Jammu & Kashmir & ladakh -from june to early october..since during the other months the passes which lead to the these regions are blocked due to snow
Himachal Pradesh-lahaul & Spiti and Kinnaur & kalpa regions from june to early october
Himachal pradesh-other regions like Dharmshala,chamba & Kullu Manali ,Shimla any time of the year
Uttranchal-Lower regions any time of the year,Higher Regions Feb to November-though may encounter rain in July & August
Sikkim & Darjeeling Hills-March-Mid May & Late September -mid november
Northern Eastern india -regions like Arunachal pradesh,Assam,Meghalaya,Nagaland & Mizoram from Feb-early May and late September to mid november...though there are permission problems and safety issues in some part of this region

What are the cc of motorbikes normally avaliable to rent in india? What are the prices in U.S dollars? Is there a website anyone knows of with scenic routes? Should we find rental company on internet or wait until we are there as it would be cheaper?

The motorcycles available in india are in the range of 100 CC to 500CC the brands available are Enfield bullet i.e 350CC and 500CC and the rest which are between 100CC and 220 CC are Bajaj,TVS,Honda,Suzuki,yamaha etc
I would recomended Royal Enfield Bikes for himalayan touring since it is comfortable...and easily can carry the rider and the loaded saddle bags and extra fuel.

Many operators in Delhi,Manali,Chandigarh and Goa give motorcyles on hire costing around 15-25 dollars a day and fuel is exclusive or the other option is to buy a motorcycle in one of these ..which is quite affordable and you can sell it when you leave the country and used bikes come with a good price approximately from the range 500-800 dollars depending on the year of manfacture.and you could sell it for around 80-90% of the amount you purchased.

On routes:there are plenty of route..but the most travelled route by a motorcycle is the Ladakh you can google and get complete info on the place,writeups on previous rides and distances to travel.
It would be advisable to contact operators when you are in india than through internet since it would be reliable and easier to bargain for good deal and there are people who have been mislead who have contacted tour operators through internet

For a month long trip where would you recomend landing to start trip?

if you are planning to northern india i,e ladakh,kashmir,Himachal & Uttarnchal then landing in delhi would be ideal,since it near to move to all these places,if you want to go the eastern himalayan region i.e sikkim,darjeeling,northeastern india then landing in Kolkatta would be ideal.but availablity of motorcycle could be a problem since not much choices in that city

let me know if you want anyother info

Happy Touring

Peace

Motorcycle-Pilgrim

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Found a recomendation by Damon I'Anson, a British bike jounalist, whilst reading his exploits on Bike High - the search for a motorcycle altitude record for an Enfield rental company in India called Bullet Wallas. Their web site is Bullet Motorcycle, Bike, Bullet Club, Bike Travel, Bike Tours, Mobike Holidays, Royal Enfield Motorcycles, Bulletwallas, India, New Delhi
I can also personally recomend Blazing Trails Tours
I was with them for a couple of weeks over Xmas, did over a thousand amazing miles with no hic ups.
A very friendly and professional outfit. But they only offer fully guided package tours, so you get all the miles in without worrying about route, fuel stops, where to sleep, where to eat and your gear follows on in a van complete with medic.
Hope this is of some help

I fully endorse the above comments regarding Blazing Tails. We had also had a wonderful 2 weeks with them round Goa and Karnataka last October. The organisation and back up is first class. They also run tours round Kerala, Himalayas and Rajasthan.

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