Hi Crawfordonly. I did this trip (Solo) last year around the same time as you'll be doing it this year......my trip was only for two weeks, but what a fantastic ride. I rented an almost new Royal Enfield Himalayan from Kashmir Bikers in Srinagar after visiting two other bike rental shops.......there are many bike rental companies all over, but the bikes are mostly very tired and although a newer bike/model is quite a bit more expensive, it's worth it for the peace of mind.
As you probably already know, there are some problems in Kashmir and Ladakh, but I'm sure they'll be sorted out quickly.
As for making Manali your starting point, I just don't know if you'll have many choices for bike rentals there (Just guessing)......I also didn't find train travelling as easy in Jamu and Kashmir as in the rest of India so I opted to take the train to Jamu from Varanasi and then fly to Srinagar (Couldn't find a decent bike in Jamu). Manali is great, but since you'll probably be doing a loop through the mountains, you'll cover both Srinagar and Manali on the loop....
Enjoy the planning
Cheers, Neville
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Jo’burg to Cairo (And a bit further): KLR 650
Southern Africa (And still going strong): XT660Z Yamaha
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