Hello!

I live in France and I would like to leave from September to December for a motorcycle road trip in South East Asia. Departure ideally in India or Nepal going to Vietnam (to see depending on where I am).

I have a motorbike here in France, but the prices are expensive to put it on the plane and the deadlines are too short for the boat (we are already almost at the end of June...). I wonder if the best idea is to buy a motorbike directly there?


So I ask myself questions:

- is it possible to buy a motorcycle in Nepal or in India, and cross the borders to resell it at the end of my trip in another country further east (Laos, Vietnam...)?

- it is easy to find RE Himalayan in India... is it possible to find something else? Honda CRF, 650 Suzuki for example or a motorcycle in style?

thank you friends
Sorry for my bad English

Hi Alexis and welcome,
It is possible to buy a bike in India with the help of an Indian who will register it in their name as foreigners cannot do this and I believe some dealers who are used to dealing with foreigners will offer this service.
As for crossing borders with it this is not so easy or even possible, it can depend on the atitude of the customs officer at the time, although taking one into Nepal is not a problem and I have done it.
I do believe it is possible to buy in Nepal but do not know the process and believe they are more expensive than in India, again crossing borders with it may be problematic.
As to you choice of bikes something that is popular with the locals would be best, Royal Enfield are a popular choice with both locals and foreigners, I have a Meteor here in the UK and it is a good, well built bike but for touring in India, Pakistan and Nepal I have used a 150cc which are perfectly capable of keeping up and often ovetaking traffic even with a passenger, you can ride all day and rarely reach 80kph, my favourite is the Hero Impulse.
I doubt you will be able to sell it out of the country, the buyer could face difficult questions if stopped buy the police or at borders and the best way to travel in South and Southeast Asia by motorcycle is to rent in each country avoiding such problems.