A few specific questions concerning a two week ride from Manali this August/September. There is a heck of a lot on the site which has given me plenty of ideas but there are still some questions left unanswered.

Basically time is the constraint I fly into and out of Delhi and have 14 days to get to Manali as quickly as possible, purchase a reliable Bullet (if such a thing exists) ride up to Leh and over to Srinigar or anywhere else that makes for a suitable trip, sell the bike, retreat to Delhi and retiurn to work. Can I realistically expect to achieve this?

How quickly can I arrange to get from Delhi to Manali from the time I land? I have no desire to stay in Delhi - been there for too many weeks on a previous Enfield escapade.

What's a realistic time for arranging a bike? Is there any dealer that can be contacted in advance? I was in Manali previously and while it's a great place my preference is as short a stay as possible.

Any particular specs to look for on the bike? I was aiming on a 500cc machine this time. Previously I had a 350cc and did a workshop tour of Rajastan devouring pistons along the way.

How far can I realistically expect to travel in this time? The theme of the trip is riding and seeing as much as I can rather than chilling out and practicing the didgeridoo. Srinigar? Dharamasala? Where is good for selling a bike?

One possibility I have is buying a bike in Delhi in June during a work trip and riding it up to Manali, leaving it for a few weeks and coming back for it. Good plan or not?

Many thanks for any help. Would be good to meet anyone who has experience of this type of trip at the UK meeting soon.

Cheers.

Matt

Hi Matt,
You are a man on a mission. I think the answer to some of your questions is how much money you want to spend. I believe there is an equation of time divided by money. The more time you have the less money you are likely to spend. To fly in find a bike ride it for 14 days and find a buyer is going to be a challenge and if you’re up against a dead line to sell you are at a real disadvantage, and could be stressful. Finding one in June would be a good idea, but still leaves you with the problem of selling it.
Maybe if you could find a bike before you fly in and know a dealer at the end of your trip would help. Think about hiring
Here are a couple of web sites that may be useful.
Try the hire companies in India; they may have bikes for sale as well and maybe a buy back scheme.

Royal Enfield - India - Tours

The first part is about buying in Delhi

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/gre...00-12-22.shtml

Steve

Matt,
there are a couple of bikes on ebay india, but not in Delhi.

eBay India: Royal enfield bullet model 1965 Excellent Condition (item 300113886483 end time 01-Jun-2007 17:29:14 IST)

I like this one.
eBay India: Enfield Thunderbird Chopper (item 270124169144 end time 04-Jun-2007 23:29:14 IST)

Thanks Steve.

Time limitations are unfortunate and therefore the likelihood of four days buggering about waiting for a bike in Manali would be a bit frustrating..... I would rather spend a little more and avoid this to maximise the riding time.

I am wondering whether buying a bike in Delhi and having it transported to Manali would be a good option to guarantee (in its loosest definition) better reliability. While I can organise the Delhi end a contact in Manali would be helpful.

As chance would have it I will be in India twice on business this year - in June and then October. Perhaps I will need to arrange the bike sale during October. I was hoping not to loose more than $500 on the bike for the trip.

Good links - thanks. But I'm not sure about the Thunderbird!!

Hi Matt,

From the sounds of it you might be set to lose less money and save yourself a lot of hassle by renting a bike from Delhi, you can do it for as little as 10 US a day. I think Lalli Singh in Karol Bagh would be prepared to send a bike up to Manali for you. Also, most of the Delhi dealers do a guaranteed buy-back option if you buy from them. It takes time sure but it might be best to ride to Manali too as it only takes a couple of days and you will be able to make sure your bike is OK as you won't get it fixed so easily beyond there. The ride to Chandigarh isn't so interesting but from there to Manali it's pretty stunning.
Hope that's some food for thought.
Cheers, Richard

__________________
blog: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tst...enfieldtravels

Hi guys

Having been recently invited to join a trip to India with a couple of backpackers I´m thinking of the bullet for a two week escape/extension of my time in India.

Sorry if this gets asked often but are rentals generally easy to arrange without (too many) hidden surprises? $10 USD per day sounds tempting.
Just starting to think about whether it´s justified bringing bike gear as a helmet, jacket, boots etc is a lot to haul/arrange storage.

__________________
The Road To Rio - Locokiwi

Hi,
fly into delhi, head to paharganj. relax
then head to Karol Bagh, go to the gurudwara road and hit the shop called pardesi autos. ask for a person called Raju and take my reference (my name is bunny)

you will easily get enfields there and if you wish he may source you a good indian bike (like the 180cc pulsar or 223cc karizma)

rates will vary around 400-500 indian rupees per day. also purchase bungee cords from raju for typing luggage.
you should hit the roads (NH-1 to get out of delhi) by day 3. as you will be new to india's road, dont exert too much and head to Sundernagar (NH-1 to Ambala, then hit Chandigarh, and finally take the manali highway out of chandigarh).

day 4 : sundernagar to manali
day 5 : relax in manali, meet fellow bikers
day 6,7 : two days for leh
spend 8,9,10 days in leh, around leh, the passes and all.

now on day 11, u have two options: riding back via manali or the other srinagar route. srinagar route will be around 5 days for u, manali will be four. upto u

any thing else?

__________________

Thanks for the ideas and particularly your suggested itinerary Bunny I fear that I might just be a day or two short of the 16 days you suggest. I do like the idea of Lalli Singh sending a bike up to Manali. This does sound preferable to Delhi - I have two work trips to Delhi coming up and avoiding another visit sounds favourable.

I wonder how much transportation to Manali would be? Have to admit I am out of touch with Indian pricing (is the oil filter still 10 rupees?)

Last time I had a 350 Bullet (still in my garage at home!) but this trip I'm tempted with the extra power of the 500. Good move or not? Any other mods that people are fitting these days?

I've been reading your trip report Richard - very good too! I remember my Bullet used to get through pistons like you wouldn't believe - four between Delhi and Reading some years back. It was all caused by some overcharging fault apparantly. They must be fond memories as I am contemplating another Bullet trip!

Thanks. The plan is becoming less murky.

matt

Hi Matt,

Glad you enjoyed the blog. No idea how much Lalli would charge for shipping a bike up to Manali - best bet would be to get in touch with him: Lalli Singh>com or drop in next time you're there. I do know though that parts and labour for Bullets are still dirt cheap for us foreigners in India. 10rps for a filter sounds about right.

As for 350 vs 500, in my experience 350s are a lot tougher but over 2 weeks if you have a reasonably low mileage bike you really shouldn't expect problems with either. A 350 should have enough power for the trip you're planning (remembering that if you top 60kph you are pretty much king of the Indian highways! and faster than that on most roads and you must have a bit of a death wish..), but you know that already! We did a two up trip to Ladakh on a 350 Bullet a couple of summers ago and the bike coped fine. It was a 350 Electra (home market model, basically a standard 350 but with electronic ignition). Wouldn't really bother to mod the bike at all for two weeks, maybe chunkier tyres that's all.

Enjoy! Cheers

Richard

__________________
blog: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tst...enfieldtravels

Matt - have a safe trip. I throw in a Vote for Lalli - got my bike from him.