Hi. I'm new here. Thanks for a great board that is chock full of useful info. I have a pressing issue in regard to buying a bike in Delhi. If anyone can help me that would be absolutely great.

I am from the US and ride a Honda Shadow 750 there, and I've also done motorcycle touring in Thailand and Indonesia. I just arrive in Delhi, and this is my first time in India in 10 years. I plan to buy a new Enfield 350 Electra 5s from a dealer for $1650 and tour for 2.5 months in India and Nepal, store the bike, and come back to India in Jaunary 2010 for some more riding. The problem is that all the dealers say that I cannot register the bike in my own name, since I only have a tourist visa and am not an Indian resident or citizen. But a very reputable new bike dealer offered to register the bike in his own name and give me a blank bill of sale signed by him, so that I can sell it to whomever I want. He also said that I can insure it in my own name. And he would give me a receipt from my purchase in case the police have any suspicion about my riding a bike registered to someone else. This seems fine to me, and I spoke with Mr. Lalli Singh and he also agreed that this would work.

But I am concerned that this will prevent me from getting into Nepal. I will have all of the papers for the bike with me, as well as the receipt, but it will still be registered in the dealer's name. Is this going to give me a problem at the Nepal border? It would ruin my trip if I couldn't ride into Nepal. Does anyone have experience with this or something similar? Please PM me or reply here if you have any info that could be helpful. I need to leave Delhi by Monday so this is getting pressing.

Thanks,
Todd Powers