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Used bike for extended roadtrip

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  • #1

    Used bike for extended roadtrip

    Hi all, I'm new here. These forums are a wealth of information!

    So I am planning to start a bike trip of about 4 months, with a 20kg bag tied to the pillion, expecting to ride anywhere between 50-300km a day, mainly through the North of the country. Himachal, Uttaranchal, to the North Eastern States. My budget however is a bit low, 15-25.000, so I am looking at 5 to 10 year old bikes. I am in Delhi, as i was told it is one of the cheapest places to get a bike. I found the bike market in Karol Bagh, but was offered crappy bikes for the price of good ones. Being a foreigner probably has something to do with it. How about olx.in ?

    I am looking for a sturdy, reliable bike with power, minimum 150cc. I have read a lot of good things about the Honda Unicorn, but a lot of the information I find is as old as the bikes I am looking at.

    1) Main concern: How difficult, expensive, and necessary will it be to find parts in the mountains, remote places?
    2) Are they still as reliable x years later?

    Since Unicorns seem to be rather scarce here, common sense tells me to drive what everybody else does. In Himachal that is a Pulsar. I am unfamiliar with what people drive in other states.

    For some reason I don't like Pulsars much. I rode a relatively new one which after a week of riding in the mountains, and only a day on a dirtroad, started to get funny, mechanically. It didn't seem very sturdy to me at all. I do tend to ride a bit rough to be fair.
    But if a pulsar is the most practical, that's what it will have to be.

    4) How reliable is a Pulsar?
    5) Cost and quality of parts?

    6) What other bike would you guys recommend? Anything that is common all over. I am not interested in Enfields or sporty bikes. Also, I am almost 1.90m, so i like the gears and brake to be a bit forward. The Avenger is a bike I haven't looked at simply because to me it looks like a imitation of a real bike (sorry Avengers, no offense! ).
    7) Any other place in or around Delhi to get a bike? I have time and don't mind to travel.
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  • #2
    Re: Used bike for extended roadtrip

    Thread approved.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Used bike for extended roadtrip

      First off, buying a 5-10 year old bike for touring is not a great idea considering the fact that such old bikes would have lost most of their reliability.
      Do note that low displacement bike are not cared for in the same way as high displacement bikes for the simple fact that these bikes are dirt cheap to maintain.
      Hence finding a good reliable old low displacement bike is tough ask.
      The other things that you need to look into:
      1. Do you have International Driving License or Indian Permit?
      2. Even though you buy a bike, ownership transfer will not be feasible and this can cause issues during road checks by cops/RTO. The only way to circumvent is to "borrow" a bike from a "reliable friend" who can then endorse you to legally ride "his" bike (in short, buy a used bike from a reliable guy and get it endorsed).
      3. Try bike rental services and see if they work out for you.
      4. If you must buy a bike, do take a local friend along else you might easily get ripped off.
      5. Get insurance for the ride (if you buy it) and get Pollution test done.

      Now coming to the bike itself.
      150cc would be too less to cruise comfortably on the highways. At least look for 200cc and above. Pulsar 220 is a good option. Ensure to get a ride with tubeless tires as punctures will only slow you down with tube tires. Avoid buying old bikes with low mileage and something with very high mileage. Low displacement engines generally need to be rebuilt after 50-60k kms (depends on how its been ridden and cared for). Avoid such bikes like plague.
      If you are planning to ride to very high altitude places, ensure that you have proper jets for the carb else you will face stalling and starting issues.
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      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Used bike for extended roadtrip

        Search for HH Karizma R ... its a tested one for long trip...

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Used bike for extended roadtrip

          Hey bro, welcome to India. If you can come to Ludhiana for the bike, I can arrange an old P220 for you, will cost 15-20k.
          Originally posted by Ekim View Post
          Hi all, I'm new here. These forums are a wealth of information!

          So I am planning to start a bike trip of about 4 months, with a 20kg bag tied to the pillion, expecting to ride anywhere between 50-300km a day, mainly through the North of the country. Himachal, Uttaranchal, to the North Eastern States. My budget however is a bit low, 15-25.000, so I am looking at 5 to 10 year old bikes. I am in Delhi, as i was told it is one of the cheapest places to get a bike. I found the bike market in Karol Bagh, but was offered crappy bikes for the price of good ones. Being a foreigner probably has something to do with it. How about olx.in ?

          I am looking for a sturdy, reliable bike with power, minimum 150cc. I have read a lot of good things about the Honda Unicorn, but a lot of the information I find is as old as the bikes I am looking at.

          1) Main concern: How difficult, expensive, and necessary will it be to find parts in the mountains, remote places?
          2) Are they still as reliable x years later?

          Since Unicorns seem to be rather scarce here, common sense tells me to drive what everybody else does. In Himachal that is a Pulsar. I am unfamiliar with what people drive in other states.

          For some reason I don't like Pulsars much. I rode a relatively new one which after a week of riding in the mountains, and only a day on a dirtroad, started to get funny, mechanically. It didn't seem very sturdy to me at all. I do tend to ride a bit rough to be fair.
          But if a pulsar is the most practical, that's what it will have to be.

          4) How reliable is a Pulsar?
          5) Cost and quality of parts?

          6) What other bike would you guys recommend? Anything that is common all over. I am not interested in Enfields or sporty bikes. Also, I am almost 1.90m, so i like the gears and brake to be a bit forward. The Avenger is a bike I haven't looked at simply because to me it looks like a imitation of a real bike (sorry Avengers, no offense! ).
          7) Any other place in or around Delhi to get a bike? I have time and don't mind to travel.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Used bike for extended roadtrip

            I saw this 10 year old P220 getting repaired at my mechanic's place. And I was like this is good to simply take an old bike and get it overhauled. And he was like, this one was done recently, and the only thing remaining ia cha ging clutch and timing chain, and the tyres needed to be changed too.

            Yesterday, my mechanic told me that bike was up for sale. So if you want to, I can arrange it for you. And I'll also arrange a buy back option for you, as my cousin was interested.

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Used bike for extended roadtrip

              Welcome to the forum, to reply to your question- Actually you will not get any decent bike for that amount, you can only get very old or badly used ones with no reliability. There might also be the problem of whether you can transfer ownership to your name, and as somebody said, it is best to rent or borrow a bike. But if you still want to buy one then any used Unicorn/splendor/Avenger with <25k kms should work for you fine provided you don't do long rides on it every day.
              Best would be to consider a long term rent for a used Bullet in good condition, even if old, and you can enjoy the trip.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Used bike for extended roadtrip

                In the mountains of Uttarakhand and Himachal, you can only find spares for Bajaj, TVS and Royal Enfield.

                Pulsars are reliable, my 150 stands at a lot of kilometres covered in last 10 years and hasn't left me stranded anywhere. These are also very simple and the parts cost as much as a pack of Doritos usually.

                For any more questions, please comment.
                I am from Uttarakhand.

                Goodluck for your ride.

                Comment

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