Buying a bike in New delhi to go to Cambodgia

**Alexis** · #1 11 May 2005

Hello, i want to go to New Delhi this summer and buy a bike there to make a trip with a friend, we want to ride to Pnom-Penh. I know pretty little things about all kinds of details. I see that the Hero Honda 225cc Karizma is a good bike to do such a trip.
My question is if it possible to ride such a bike without any motorbike licence? I know how to drive a moto, but i dont have the moto licence.
Furthermore, i was thinking perhaps it s better to buy a moto cross?And would it be possible to make this trip with a 125?
Thank you very much

[This message has been edited by Alexis (edited 11 May 2005).]

**beddhist** · #2 11 May 2005

Oh dear, this is just about several FAQs...

You can't (normally)

- register a bike in India as a non-resident
- get a carnet in India as a non-resident
- cross Myanmar
- buy any sort of trail bike in India

Yes, a 125 would do. Anything with 2 wheels would do, if you were allowed to.

If you go without a licence you'll probably end up having to pay bakhsheesh.

An alternative used to be to buy a bike in Nepal, but there was a post here in the last few days saying that that's no longer possible, either.

It seems motoring around the world is getting more difficult all the time, except in S. America.

Seeing you seem to be new here I suggest you read through some of the relevant forums here and also check out the links on the left, particularly "Carnet de Passage".

------------------
Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

**davidlomax** · #3 15 May 2005

For whatever use it might be I have noticed a way around the license issue.

When you go to a post office in the 'UK (dont know about anywhere else) and ask for an international driving licence they ALWAYS get a bit slap happy with the stamp and say you're entitled to drive anything. This has happened to me 5 or 6 times. At one stage I swear I was a qualified airline pilot!

I know you have to carry your national licence with you but anyone who can interpret the UK licence (just take the plastic bit if you can) obviously has a PHd in astrophysics and probably wont be working as an Indian traffic cop!

I have used this system with a friend before now and he was stopped in three different countries and easily bluffed his way by the large motorcycle stamp on his International license.

Unfortunately the Myanmar situation may prove a little harder to solve.......and anyway, surely you dont want to travel there and support the regime do you??

Dave

**Alexis** · #4 20 May 2005

Thank u for your answers!
yes i think that we will cross maymar by air, from calcutta to bangok
as for the bike, do you really think it s impossible to buy a second hand one in india?
as for the driving licence, i will probably do my best to get it before leaving!
Thank u
Alexis

**Poa** · #5 14 Jun 2005

Alexis, to get your feet wet riding in these countries you could always fly in, and rent a bike. Seems like you can get decent bikes everywhere for cheap. See the reply to Alen's post in this forum about renting in Cambodia. No paperwork, no carnet, no border crossing. A good way to get some practice before a long haul I think,

have a good one,
Poa

**vincent danna** · #6 14 Jun 2005

alexis,

in those "far" countries, there s always a bit more freedom and flexibility than in europe for example, driving with or without a license/an insurance. but it s about your safety first :-). every year in india, especially, some foreigners (day renters and overlanders) get injured or killed by riding "unsafely".
for the choice of the bike, you have mainly 2 choices : enfield and honda hero style. moto cross are not very available / popular in india. if you go to se asia after india, according to the reliability and availibility of the spare parts for those 2 kinds of bikes, i would recommend you a honda hero style, as a reasonnable choice. if you buy anything in india, there will be paperwork involved, especially if you want to export (even temporarily) the bike after, depending on your nationality etc ...
see the southern asia forum and other forums for info about paperwork in india and se asia (it s been covered many times in the past)

happy trails,

[This message has been edited by vincent danna (edited 14 June 2005).]