i've been travelling south east asia for a few months now and kinda hated it (the travelling). i had more freedom when i was at home, being able to drive with my car wherever i want...

anyway! for the last few days i rented 100cc and 125cc bikes here in chiang mai, thailand and really loved it! i was kinda anxious since i never sat on a m'bike before but it was no problem at all.

next country in my itinerary ist india... i heard, that it's not that difficult to get a bike over there, so my suggestion was to get one.

or is this a no-brainer?!

i heard that india isn't that easy to travel (esp. the cities), but i'll spare them anyway (resp. get there by bus then).

what bike would be a good choice? maybe something with good handling, inexpensive (used), good mileage aso. i heard that the bajaj pulsar are good ones and on ebay india i've seen that they sell them new for 38000 rps.

i'll arrive in kolkata (calcutta). where is the best option to get a bike?

thanks in advance!

chris

Buy something small, you can't get much thats big unless it's a Royal Enfield, and you don't want the hassle.

I have a friend in Kolkatta who'd help you I'm sure. Email me at tpwalker@mac.com and I'll ask him if it's ok for you to get in touch. He runs tours and is sooooo enthusiastic it's not funny.

Don't worry about riding in Indian cities, just don't take your eyes off the road infront for a second, not even to look in the mirror. Your job is to watch out infront.

You'd be wise to sort out an international driving licence, just incase you get pulled over, there's other threads about that.

hey chrisj,

try to find some locals who could help you out with getting a motorcycle. we dont have much of organized used vehicle sale in india, its mostly through personal contacts or the local mechanics who people usually approach to find a buyer for the motorcycle.
i had a bajaj pulsar 150cc which i sold about a month back for 25,000 rs sept 2004 model clocked 30,000 kms. i now ride a royal enfield thunderbird.

Hadi
Bombay, India

Hadi, besides the 150 Pulsar is there anything a little bigger that you would recommend? Thanks, Chris

dude, dont get an enfield.

the enfield is fun if you know about motorcycles, but since you dont you should buy whatever you see most of the locals riding.

A japanese would be best, but take what looks to be popular, then you can get it repaired easily.

pulsar should be pretty reliable I have heard... (I have heard, I don't know)

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Peter Kongsbak
South East Asia, USA, Central and South America and Scandinavia.

I think they now have 220cc Pulsars and similar.. should go fine 1-up I think. Indian traffic is so horrible that you dont even want to ride any faster anywhere!

The Enfields are beautiful, but require a certain level of technical skill. They can be fixed almost all around India, though.

Look at the sccoters with step-through clutches if you dont have experience driving with a clutch. I will make things easier for you, and yes you will need the extra attention for the road (-:

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Peter Kongsbak
South East Asia, USA, Central and South America and Scandinavia.

One other thing about driving in India, blow your horn all the time. When approaching pedestrians, cyclists, dogs, cows, passing other vehicles, at on coming vehicles, at blind bends, etc.

I'm not kidding, use the horn everywhere, it's not considered rude over there, just part of everyday driving. It seems a little alien to begin with but then it just becomes normal. However, flashing your lights is seen as very aggressive. It usually means you will not / cannot stop so get out of the way.

I agree with the International Driving Permit stated earlier though, could save you a heap of trouble at a police check point.

I rode some 5500kms from north to south (actually my second time riding in India) and sounded the horn as much as I could. But also flashed the lights anytime someone coming the other way was trying to "borrow" my side of the road... which means more or less all the time!!

I also played "chicken" with the bus & truck drivers, and stayed near the centre of the road as long as I dared, with lights flashing, hoping they would give me some more room. They didnt really do that, and maybe that was a bit aggressive, but it helped a bit, as I was not forced to the shoulder of the road so often. They do not think that you have side cases, and a bike can actually be over 1 metre wide, so you will not be given a lot of space.

But anyway that was nowhere near as aggressive driving as what most of the big buses drivers and SUV´s do all the time, they really do think they own the roads, and behave that way.

There was one good reason to have a powerful bike (otherwise all big bikes are way too powerful for India!) Because then you could pass where no-one else dared, so providing you can properly look ahead/around you, you could do it safely, and not when 15 other people are doing the same with you.

Normally I like to ride slowly and play safe, but in Indian traffic it was just not possible all the time, you ended up in bad situations all the time, if you´d try to do that. So I thought its best then to take your own space, which is possible with a bike. Well, for a while anyway... wont take long, when they will again start gathering around you. And you cannot go too fast, or you will get killed.

You really do need to watch out in India, its kind of like a videogame, where you will only have 1 life! Stay VERY alert, every second while your in traffic, that´ll help you survive. So easy to have a very bad accident there, and they do happen, a lot. Dont ride in the dark at all.

Edit: Some of these may not be good advice at all, if youre not totally familiar with the way they drive in Asia, so if your going there for the first time, its better to just step back and watch what they are doing. The whole traffic there is simply an incredible spectacle, so take time to get used to it. It is VERY dangerous, especially for a 1st-timer.