A mate and I are planning (or maybe dreaming) of a big one next year.
Please let me know if you think (or preferably know) if it is feasible:
Planning on renting or buying Royal Enfields in India and riding the Karakoram Highway to Kashgar via Lahore.
Then heading generally west to take in as many Stan countries as possible to arrive in Tehran. From there to Shiraz to Pakistan and back to India.
Like I say it's a big one.
Should I stop now or persevere?
There are a gazillion things to consider and questions to ask but we'd really appreciate your feedback.
I am of course spending a lot of time searching this and other internet site.
Peter The FlyingKiwi

Hi Peter,
A quick look at the map and I think your proposed route will be entirely possible but not bureaucratically easy or paricularly cheap, I presume from your username that you will be using a Kiwi passport which will make life easier than some.
I am not sure whether a rental company will let you take one of their bikes off and as a foreigner you cannot register one in your name in India, although I think it is possible in Nepal, the other problem might be getting a carnet de passage which you will need in Iran and Pakistan, the solution to all of this could be to bring your own bike from NZ.
Iran is sometime enforcing its ban on bikes over 250cc as well but something like a Honda CRF250 or even a 125cc is perfectly capable of making this trip so worth considering.
You will need a guide to travel through the corner of China that connects Pakistan to Tajikistan but there are others on here who are looking for people to team up with and share the cost.
Turkmenistan is not always easy but they do apparently issue 5 day transit visas which would allow you to cross from Uzbekistan to Iran and Pakistan is apparently making getting tourist visas a lot easier.
There are a few things there for you to think about, you can use the search facility to look up some of the points I have raised as they are generally all covered here somewhere and good luck with your planning.

You need a carnet to leave India with an Indian-plated vehicle, which I understand is impossible to obtain for a foreigner in India.

So I think yes, it's impossible. Also, it seems bikes over 250 cc are (after years of false rumours) really banned from entering Iran at the moment.

If you did it starting in Pakistan, buying a small bike, the trip would not be impossible. A Swiss friend of mine bought a car in Pakistan and drove it back to Europe via Iran with no carnet. I would not take this as a guarantee that you can do it, but it's not impossible.

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

Many thanks Mark and EO for your replies.
What you have written confirms what I had read elsewhere.
So a few major hurdles in the way.
Your suggestion Mark of shipping our own bikes is a good one and was one option we had considered but does not over come the Iranian 250 issue.
Flexibility is the name of the game and instead of a circuit we might aim for the UK having friends and family there.
I wonder if anyone knows the consequences of riding a motorbike with Nepalese plates through Europe?

As a non-EU citizen that should not be a problem, you will get six months temporary import with no carnet needed and green card insurance is available through a member of this forum.

A carnet will be required to enter India though. Tibet is the other option, but this is a seriously expensive undertaking with Chinese minders etc

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

Never heard of a rental company that will let you take a bike out of country .

Even though I have read that you need to recidency in India to buy a motorbike there legally - there are several foreigners who have done it - and taken the bike out of India. There was a bunch of finnish guys who bought Royal Enfields in India and rode them back to Europe. Not without hazzle and some greasings of palms as I understood it but...And then a dutch woman aka «Itchy Boots» that just recently bought a RE Himalayan in India and took it out of the country. So in one way or another it is possible. If you can pass that obstacle and get a Carnet for the bike you should be good to go.
Theres this problem with Iran right now that they wont let in bikes bigger than 250 cc - but hopefully it will be solved one way or another...

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

You should check out "Itchy Boots" on YouTube.

She bought a Royal Enfield Himalayan in India, and made her way through Asia, the Middle East, and is now in Turkey (I believe).

Throughout her videos, she does talk about the bike, how she bought it, documentation, etc. not in much detail, but enough to give you an idea.

A foreigner isn't allowed to buy/own a vehicle or land in India. Your option is to either rent or get someone to buy it for you and on the ownership documents you put your name as a secondary owner and stating that the main owner has given you permission to ride.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

I’m taking the bait. I’ve rented a car in South Africa and driven it (with permission) in Namibia, Swaziland, and Lesotho. I’ve rented a car in the US and driven (with permission) in Canada, and I’ve also done the reverse.

This probably has no bearing on the OP’s questions.

Mark

Is it worth taking Iran out of the equation whilst the US foreign policy towards her is so unpredictable, at least until late 2020?