Bike trip round Rajasthan

[driventodrugs]

Hi all, looking for any help, advice or must see/places of interest during a bike trip round

Rajasthan in India.

The idea is to fly into Delhi and hire bikes ( probably 400cc Himalayan ) next September / October and

tour Rajasthan for about 3 weeks. So far three of us going and all experienced riders but still

only want to ride 150 to 200 miles daily.

Anyone been there and what gear would you recommend and what places should we plan our trip round ?

Also any places to avoid or pitfalls to dodge ?

Thanks in advance.

[indigochim]

Not a biker but don't under estimate how slow travel is in India. Your 150miles could be 5 hours at the pace of traffic there.

We visited the classic places on the "golden triangle" Delhi, Agra, Jaipur but you get tired of temples and ruins. What kind d of things do you want to see?

Hindi temple Swaminarayan Akshardham wase really impressive in New Delhi, it's a newly built one but looks like an ancient monument amazing that sort of thing can still be made.

[Crudeoink]

driventodrugs said:

Hi all, looking for any help, advice or must see/places of interest during a bike trip round

Rajasthan in India.

The idea is to fly into Delhi and hire bikes ( probably 400cc Himalayan ) next September / October and

tour Rajasthan for about 3 weeks. So far three of us going and all experienced riders but still

only want to ride 150 to 200 miles daily.

Anyone been there and what gear would you recommend and what places should we plan our trip round ?

Also any places to avoid or pitfalls to dodge ?

Thanks in advance.

I went a couple of years ago but further north, Himachal Pradesh, Jispa, Ladakh sort of areas. It's hard to get good bikes, your idea of a good bike will be very different to the hire companies. No brakes, wheel bearings with no grease, engines with no oil etc. I'd try and arrange bikes in the area you want to ride around. Dehli is hot as fk, and chaotic. Get a Minibus out of town and rent your bikes at the destination. You'll not find many rentals in dehli and its not a great ride out of Dehli anyways.
150-200 miles is ambitious if you're doing road work, extremely ambitious if this is off-road. Ive done similar trips in Vietnam, Thailand etc and the heat, traffic and road conditions really hinder progress. You want to enjoy yourselves and absorb the scenery, not be racing to the next hotel.
Do no travel at night, seriously. I've ridden all over the world and the rural Indian roads are the most dangerous I've been on, crazy truck drivers (can be drunk too) land slides, flash floods, extreme weather just to make a few hazards.
Fuel isn't all that cheap but the Himalayan 400 is frugal. You'll need jerry cans / fuel containers.
Kit choice and planning is essential. PM me if you want some pointers. It is all very doable though. Myself and a couple more experienced riders guided a big group some of whom with only CBT's etc and we had a great time. Loads of sights, crazy roads and stories and some of the highest motorable roads in the world.

Edited by Crudeoink on Friday 18th October 21:58

[Caddyshack]

I(think) I wish I was as brave and adventurous as you.

[gareth_r]

If you do switch to the Himalayas these YT series might help.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMdxdkG69CTVYMy...

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeSRn1alDnLI44H...

They seem to have been just winging it, but I don't know if it's possible to do much booking of accommodation in advance.

[FullyReclined]

For bike rental or purchase in Delhi, I can recommend this guy. He's somewhat famous , not trying to rip you off and a lovely guy.

https://lallisinghadventures.com/

[indigochim]

Crudeoink said:

Do no travel at night, seriously. I've ridden all over the world and the rural Indian roads are the most dangerous I've been on, crazy truck drivers (can be drunk too)

You've just reminded me of that. We where unfortunate enough to travel one night, fortunately not us driving, and I was amazed at the state of the trucks. Painted on lights on the rear no mirrors "Honk Please" and the craters in the road that make UK roads look good.

[driventodrugs]

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated and some good points there.

Just Starting to plan so trying to work out what we want to see. May reduce the daily miles by the sound of things though.....