Looking for info on India

[K75duck]

To date, my touring has been limited to touring North America on my BMW K75Rt. It now looks as though I may be heading off to India for six months to a year for employment and am looking for any advice/insight from those familiar with India.

As I'll be working, I doubt I'll be going on any mutli-week sojourns but while I'm there, I'd like to pick up a bike and do some adventure riding. What I'll probably be doing is heading out from wherever I end up living on relatively short 2 or 3 day trips trips. (Although I do plan to make some time for a trip up to Kathmandu sometime while I'm there as I love Nepal.)

Looking for advice in the following areas:

1) Where to live for good riding. I may have a choice as to which major city I live in. Since I may have a choice, I may as well pick somehwhere where I can find some two-wheeled adventure.

2) General advice on riding there. I've rented 250's a couple of times in Kathmandu so I'm somewhat familiar with avoiding cows during rush hour, honking constantly and the general mayhem of riding over there but any other India-specifc riding tips would be helpful.

3) What's a good bang for your buck approach to picking up a bike over there and what bike? I'm tempted to go with a 250 since I'll probably be just taking short trips but am not averse to advice on what else might be a good short trip adventure bike over there. Are there any half-assed bikes for a good price anyone would recommend? Obviously, reliability would be a nice thing and I'm willing to cough up a little extra dough to get it. I'd kind of like to go for a BMW F650 but it's probably too much bike for my needs.

4) Licensing: What's it take to get a MC license there? Do I really need one if I've got my US license with me?

Answers to my questions and any other advice is much needed and most appreciated.