Howdy fellow adventurers!!

I have just finished a quick hoon through Southern India on a 150cc Bajaj 'Discover' motorcycle that cost me $500 bucks, starting from Mumbai, then inland towards Aurangabad then South down towards Hampi and then towards the beach towns of Goa.
I made a quick film on the ol' go pro camera so you check it out here!
>>'dags VS India' movie<<

Stay safe and ride free!!

dags

dags VS the world dags VS the world - adventure, motorcycle travel and ramblings

Thanks for the video. What made you pick the Bajaj?

A great trip, I am currently doing the same on a £300 Hero Honda 150 I bought in Mumbai, a great way to travel in India.

Howdy! thanks for the replies!

I actually did quite a lot of research on bikes that were available in India and if I had more money I probably would have bought a classic Royal Enfield, I just love those bikes!. However for a fraction of the price you can get a near new Honda, Honda Hero, Bajaj, or Yamaha. I chose Bajaj because I wanted to own a bike that the average Indian would buy. Parts for these bikes are easy to find and cheap. Enfield parts (especially for the older models) can take time to chase up, and when you are in the middle of nowhere, it could ruin your trip.
Here are some costs that I encountered with the Bajaj;

Purchase Price (Mumbai) 2011 150cc Bajaj Discover $500 (24 000 rupees)
*it had 30 thousand km on the clock, tyres were bald, brakes were good, appearance was not to bad actually*
Full Service (at Bajaj dealer) $20 (1000 rupees)
New battery $15 (700 rupees)
New Tyres and tubes $50 (2400 rupees) fitting price was $2 dollars! bahaha!
Punture Repairs $2 a pop! (100 rupees) 6 punctures on the original bald tyres.
New Clutch plate installed $25 (1100 rupees) clutch was rooted.
Carby kit and tune (turns out it was full of dirt lol) less than $10
Full tank of fuel cost 500 rupees or $10 (which is more than a days wages for the majority of people I encountered) and I got 500-600km per tank (10L tank)

So I spent around $100 bucks on it on it along the way, but at those prices its certainly cheap as all hell to maintain. Never waited for parts or even had to book the bike in at a mechanics. Pull up and they drop all their tools and get straight onto it whilst you sit there with the boss and drink tea and talk about the cricket! haha
dags

Hi Dags - watched your india vid and also your Chiang Mai one (nice donuts). I am planning on doing a fly into and out of Kolkata end of Jan 2017 looking to also buy local 125cc for all the same reasons you highlighted. Down to Kerala and have a crack at getting the bike up to Leh then scoot thru Nepal and down to Assam Sikkim then sell the bike back in Kolkata to get around the interstate sell considerations. (est 8 weeks but apretty flexi on time)
i have intl bike licence and will get me a multi entry visa so can get back into India from Nepal. what i would love to find out is :
Did you buy your bike via a dealer or direct thru someone selling second hand
I assume bike not registered in your name - how did this work?
what did you do for insurance?
what paperwork if any required to take out of state.
Did you sell the bike in the same state as you bought it?
any police stop experience that cost you?
from the time you located the bike you wanted how long until you were able to hit the road paperwork wise.
anyone knowing of a decent contact in Kolkata would be greatly appreciated.
this is kinda my dry run trip before considering tackling south america next (also considering a 25cc for that).
cheers for sharing your stuff - awesome!
Sweeeet
"wherever you go you are there"