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West and South Asia From Turkey to Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Ladakh and Bangladesh
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  #1  
Old 18 Apr 2018
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bike recommendations for india
hi
i will be travelling india and nepal for a few month and want to get a motorbike in kalkutta.
most people seem to go for the enfields and i am not completely rejecting them but on the other hand i would like to go to remote rugged gravel road places. since enfields are known neither for their reliability nor for their supreme off road capability i am not sure if it would be the right choice for me.
my favourite bike would be something like a honda xr 250 but i guess these are hard to find in india.
if anyone has recommondations for good bikes for this journey please let me know.
thanks a lot
frosty
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Old 18 Apr 2018
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Back in 1999 I rented an Enfield 500 in Goa and rode it around for about 2 weeks and a couple thousand KM in southern India. It was a great trip, but the Enfield did give me some minor headaches.

When I got back to Goa, I rented a little Yamaha RX135 two-stroke for a couple of days to ride to the local beaches. In every way, the little Yamaha was a better bike for riding in India: easier to start, easier to handle, faster, less hassle, more reliable, etc.

I have often thought that I would be willing to go back to India for another motorcycle tour, but I would rent a Japanese-designed machine, not an Enfield.
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  #3  
Old 18 Apr 2018
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Baja Impulse 150 should do the job although any of the Indian built 125-225cc bikes will be fine.
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Old 18 Apr 2018
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.If you are thinking just about rugged
Quote:
gravel road places
and you don't need too much ground clearance?
Then why not look at the KTM 390 Duke which is made in India at a very good retail price.
Shitloads of power, lightweight, Good WP shocks, and with a set of 50/50 tyres you will be surprised were that bike will take you?

The duke is a big seller in India so don't be surprised you cant find a good 2nd hand one or even 1 modified for offroad stuff.






Quote:
A street bike can be taken off road with modifications, mainly the tires, you can replace them as long as the knobs does not rub on the fender or you just can remove the fender and get mud all over your face, not to mention the duke 200 has this supermoto like ergonomics. Also check out the TerraCorsa [1] if a naked can, so does a superbike, I really wanted to do this to my Kawasaki since the road i tend to take has a mix of dirt-ish and asphalt



I myself have always considered buying a KTM 390 engine with all the ECU bits and trying to fit into my Honda CRF250L

Now that would be a great bike to have.
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Old 19 Apr 2018
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thanks a lot for your comments folks!

the 150 impulse seems like the perfect choice for me (also budgetwise)
they seem to be offered by different brands.. hero bajaj. whatever i did some research. heard nothing but positive opinions.
cheers guys highly appreciated
frosty
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Old 28 Jun 2018
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what about the Hero Xpulse .Its made in Indian for Indian roads and is a 200cc adventure bike. Sounds perfect to me.I assumed I would use an enfield when I go next year but now I'm thinking about one of these instead.
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Old 1 Oct 2018
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Hi froston

What bike did you choose? Any suggestions where to buy the motorcycle in kalkutta? Did you buy it online or in a shop?
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Old 3 Dec 2018
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Quote:
Originally Posted by froston View Post
thanks a lot for your comments folks!

the 150 impulse seems like the perfect choice for me (also budgetwise)
they seem to be offered by different brands.. hero bajaj. whatever i did some research. heard nothing but positive opinions.
cheers guys highly appreciated
frosty
I have recently bought a Hero Impulse in Mumbai and have so far done about 2,500 km on it two up with luggage and it has proved to be an excellent bike. It will cruise at 80 kph which is faster than most things on Indian roads and does about 100 mpg, yes I know I am mixing my units but I am a Brit.
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Old 16 Dec 2018
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I am going to ride India in March and I think that I will probably buy hero impulse 150 too!

Cheers!
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Old 17 Dec 2018
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Originally Posted by maueli View Post
I am going to ride India in March and I think that I will probably buy hero impulse 150 too!

Cheers!
They are not that common but you can usually find a few for sale in the big cities on www.quikr.com

If you are in Mumbai I can also recommend a good mechanic.
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  #11  
Old 7 Mar 2019
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Quote:
Originally Posted by india1year View Post
what about the Hero Xpulse .Its made in Indian for Indian roads and is a 200cc adventure bike. Sounds perfect to me.I assumed I would use an enfield when I go next year but now I'm thinking about one of these instead.
Unfortunately, these still don't appear to be on sale yet. It was originally due for release in March 2019, but as of yet, no sign, I'm afraid.

UB.
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  #12  
Old 10 Mar 2019
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Best offroad bikes for India
Would suggest you to go for BMW G 310 GS or Enfield Himalayan.
I have been using Himalayan and in love with it. It works good on city streets as well as for off roads.
However, one of my buddy is riding BMW.. and its great as well.
Hope it helps
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