I would like to buy a motorcycle in the sub-continent and then ride Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran and Nepal (not necessarily in that order).
Which country would I have the least hassle in buying/owning a larger road/trail bike (preferrably Japanese) and then selling it at the end of my trip?
Which country can I easily find one of these bikes?
I have been to most of these countries before I can’t remember actually seeing anything I liked on the road but there may be soemwhere. I would prefer a 500 or 600cc bike but a 250cc bike may do.


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Hi there,

As far as I know you won't find a trailie anywhere in India (and I doubt
you'll find one in Nepal, Bangladesh or Pakistan, but you might get hold of
one in Iran - there's a BMW bike dealer in Tehran).

Import tax is so high here and most of the people are so poor that it's not
financially viable for manufacturers to import big bikes. Most bikes here
are 125/180cc machines made under licence - the only 'real' motorcycle is
the Enfield(!). 95% of the roads are paved in Asia, so unless you want to
do some desert riding, or you're planning to come during the monsoon, you
don't actually need a trailie and a road bike will be fine.

The other problem is that no one will issue a carnet for an Indian
registered bike and it would be very difficult to get inot Pak or Iran
without one. The RAC will issue a carnet for a Nepalese bike, but I don't
know about the other countries.

I think your options are:

Buy an Enfield in Nepal (not too much hassle, but Enfields aren't hugely
reliable and lose about 50% of their value as you ride them out of the
showroom).
Buy a bike in Thailand and ship/fly it over and then back again at the end
of the trip (expensive).
Buy a bike in Istanbul and ride through Turkey into Iran.
Buy a bike in Oz and fly/ship it out for the trip.

Whatever you do, you'll need a carnet, which means you'll need to get back
the bike back to the country you start in or pay some import duty somewhere.

Hope that helps and that you don't think I'm being too negative, it's just
that big bikes don't exist here.

If you have any other queries, drop me a line.

Harvey

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no pipe, no slippers
www.chasingthesun.org

__________________
no pipe, no slippers
www.chasingthesun.org