Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

Since you will be purchasing the bike to tour so availability of service center and spares will be extrmely important

Himalayan - Availability of spares is not easy from what I read in various ownership threads. The plus point being you will find an RE service station everywhere

Same for CBR250 although the reliability will be very high.

Coming onto KTM, is the KTM Duke 250 available in Nepal? If yes then it should become your immediate choice in the KTM range

Between the Dominar and Mojo although the first one is relatively new but you will get support in almost all places in India which won't be the case for Mojo as the service centers will be less

If I were you among the options will choose one between Dominar or Mojo. Considering the fact that my primary usage will be touring

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

i just got a message back from MAW in Nepal, and they are getting FZ25's in. "Will handle bumps effortlessly." Yamaha reliability and it can take bumps? Even if I have to buy MAW's tester bike they already have in, or wait a month and rent during that time I will. I am sold on the FZ25.

"Mojo pogos..." I read this in a review as well, that it was due to chassis flex. Nope, no Mojo for me then! I am keeping the Dominar in the back of my mind in case the FZ absolutely cannot happen, but it looks like it will!

I want to move to India, but I doubt I qualify for a long term Visa; although I've heard qualifying for a student visa is actually pretty easy. My plan was to spend six months a year in India, six months in Nepal, and just live like that for at least a few years. I have some problems with a number things happening in the US right now, and paying $40,000 USD a year to deal with problems is something I can't take anymore; I will deal with problems, but at $20k usd a year tops! Even if it's only six months I'd rather own than rent.

I want to be able to pick the model of bike, and take it on potentially long, like across the country, trips. At $30+ usd/day for the types of bikes I want to use for six months renting would be pretty expensive too. If I buy and end up being unable to handle life in India / Nepal for some reason I can also get some of my money back. Additionally if I am able I'd like to move there permanently; if I can swing a visa in India I wouldn't even have to spend half of each year in Nepal.

The KTM is out due to the stiff suspension, although the older models can be had fairly affordably, and all KTMs seem to have decent reliability, and good power.
The Dominar is probably now my second choice, and if things don't work out on the FZ25 I know there is a Dominar for sale in Kathmandu for 4L.

Thank you guys for your responses! Without them I would have probably gotten a RE Himalayan, or a Duke 200, or perhaps even a Honda Unicorn or something. All of those bikes have been eliminated due to your inputs.

I've been reading the touring reports, and I am so excited to catch a plane out of here! I see many people using R15s, FZ150s, REs, Pulsars, CBRs, whatever, you name it, you guys are touring with it! The Indian touring community is truly inspiring, especially coming from the US, where people are reluctant to ride anything under 600cc on the highway, let alone across states, and people here would never take a street bike off-road! Thanks again for all the excellent advice!

James Boatwright

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

Just one last point. FZ25 might feel a tad underpowered for your requirement.

The newer 2017 KTM's are more roomy and suspension setup on a tad softer side and hence I suggested the 250

My suggestion to you will be to take test ride of atleast 3-4 bikes that is in your radar before finally purchasing one

Btw when are you landing in Nepal? Do keep us posted with your progress

And yes we are touring in India in our 150-200cc bikes for quite some time now. In the last 3-4 years things have moved to 250-400cc class

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

Idea is to tour, not on which bike.. many people completely Leh / Ladakh with their 100 CC bikes / scooters. It's all about what we to do with what we have

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

Sound advice. I will pop a leg over the FZ, KTM, Dominar, and maybe something else as well before handling over my cash. I've riden a bike with only 26 hp here, so I have always been an odd bird amongst the liter bike majority here; point is I may be able to tolerate the FZ25's low power better than some. That being said I wish it was a 4 valve developing 30 hp rather than 20.

I fly out of Seattle on June 14, and land in Kathmandu on June 15. I will certainly post again and let you know what trouble I've gotten myself into; thank you very much for your interest!

Cheers!

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

From my experience, if you're going for Bajaj, I suggest don't go for any with fairing. It will make your life a hell. I have one and every time I go for long rides and hit bed at night, I hear the fairing vibration even in my sleep. If you wouldn't cross 6 or 7k rpm then go for it but the rough terrain will make it happen anyways. I heard my brother saying the non-faired one is also equally pathetic. But not really sure about Dominor. Have a deep research on Dominor once again. May be after a month as its very new.

RE -none of my friends who owned is happy. So it's based on your luck.

I read your recent post but if at all you finally have to rethink and bring back RE and Bajaj (except Dominor) .

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

In India, we touring folk follow an adaptation of the age old motorcycling adage "Wrung what ya brung"

Here, riding with a larger capacity motorcycle brings its own set of challenges. People are generally more curious and privacy isn't a much honoured word! It's a different world from the west. You will experience it shortly

I have a doubt. Are Nepal registered vehicles allowed to be ridden in India for extended periods of time? Even if there is a provision for such, you might face unnecessary harassment from cops, in every part of India which isn't close to the Indo-Nepal border. Since they just won't be used to seeing Nepal registered bikes so far away from the border! Do check this out. You wouldn't want to be stuck with a bike which cannot be ridden because of red tape!

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

I likewise have my doubts about the bureaucratic issues surrounding this; I don't want to deal with paperwork, I want to go ride! Still life is what it is, and I will do what I must. I've been looking into it, and everywhere I find any note of buying a bike in the region, people say to buy a Nepalese bike for riding in India, unless you are willing to ride a bike that isn't registered in your name:

On crossing the border:

"Nepal is wonderful for riding. The people are famous for being friendly, honest, and happy. The environment is clean. Roads are much quieter and safer than in India. If it’s your first time in the region, Nepal can offer a gentle introduction for what lies across the border. There’s no problem riding into India; you just need to show your tourist visa and bike papers at the checkpoint."

On Indian bikes:

"As a tourist, the process of buying an Indian-plate bike couldn’t be easier; just swap your money for the bike and registration papers. Foreigners cannot legally register an Indian bike in their name unless they are a resident of India, but holding the papers effectively proves ownership."

On registration of Nepalese bikes:

"It is possible for foreigners to have Nepali bikes registered in their name."

(^from Hearts and Tears, a British company that has been giving bike tours in Nepal, and brokering bike sales to foreigners, for a very long time)
(The whole page on this: http://www.gnd.com.np/hnt/content.php?cms_id=138 )

I found the information on the matter to be the same on Horizons Ulimited, and Adventure Rider as well.

I am still a bit nervous about it, and I have heard the police will give you some grief over a Nepalese plated bike, but I could not find anything suggesting it is illegal. Worse case scenario, if it turns out that there is a time limit I did not find out about, or other trouble, it will be very easy to ride back to Nepal and sell the bike. I have always been an inpatient salesman; I will price the bike two, or five hundred USD below what everyone else is selling similar bikes for, and it will sell quickly. But! I certainly hope, and believe, I should be ok with a Nepalese registration.

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

We ourselves face harassment when we try to ride in different state vehicles. Find out what are the documents required to ride in India with Nepal registration and Ensure all the papers are in order, nevertheless you have to spent fair amount of time with Cops if they stop you

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

Why dont you think of renting a bike in India? Atleast the bike would have an Indian registration and you can hope not to be harassed as much as a foreign registration would attract.

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

I'm pretty picky about bike maintenance, and overall condition. It will be bad enough to be unable to do the work on it myself; at least if I own I get to say what happens to the bike, and when, without dumping money into someone else's' possession. I also wonder about how realistic it would be to rent for six months, hopefully even longer, while riding across state lines.

If it turns into too big of an issue, I'll ride it back to Nepal and sell it, and rethink my plans.

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

The question is at what point (better still at what distance from Nepal) you (if) would face that scenario. God forbid you have a brush with the law in some rural area with a foreign no vehicle. Out here in Bangalore, folks would be more than happy to rent you for extended periods for discounts. I had rented a R3 for more than a week on pretty good discounts.

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The question is at what point (better still at what distance from Nepal) you (if) would face that scenario. God forbid you have a brush with the law in some rural area with a foreign no vehicle. Out here in Bangalore, folks would be more than happy to rent you for extended periods for discounts. I had rented a R3 for more than a week on pretty good discounts.

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

The greater question still is what will they do if they stop me? I mean a) I pull out my papers, show them what I am doing is legal, and the go find someone else to bother, or b) they demand a small "donation".

How often will the police ask for a small "donation"? How much would this be? Is this even what would happen? Would them attempt to seize my bike and arrest me? In Cambodia for instance if the cops stop you it's like $2 US.

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

Contrary to what others are saying I feel you won't face much of issues. Yes you might be stopped at quite a few places but if you have all the valid papers then along passport and visa you won't face much issue

Yes there will be instance where if you are stopped the cops will ask some money but it will be mostly $2-5. Seizing and arrrest won't happen

Make sure you have proper RC, Road tax document, insurance, PUC (Done in India), probably any document of border crissing. Passport and visa

Re: Tourer for rough roads, RE Him. CBR250, Fz150, Duke?

You mostly wont face any issues while you are in big cities and mostly cops there would know about these things. The biggest challenge would be in the interior parts of India. Thats where cops might not be accustomed to such things and can cause harrasment. Getting caught by cops is something that depends on your luck.


Till now, I have been stopped by cops thrice (all 3 times in Kerala).
1. They stopped me to ask why my headlight is on during day. Had to explain to them that its DRL.
2. Was stopped as the cop was curious about the saddle bags.
3. This was a routine check while entering Munnar. They checked my RC and DL and let me leave.


I hope you can speak broken Hindi as some of the cops dont understand English, especially in the interior parts of India.