Well we are not going to be riding our beloved TE's, it's only three more sleeps until our next biking adventure. My wife and I are heading off for a three week 2500 kilometer ride through India, Nepal and Bhutan. Our steeds will be 500cc Royal Enfeild Bullets. Will be meeting 7 other riders in Kathmandu to start our adventure. Super excited about it, will give a report with pictures when we get back.
Wow! I am so envious! Have a great trip and take tons of photos! I'll be looking forward to the report when you return
Watch out for the water, drink gin only, can also use it in the enfield if you are low on gas. As Woodsie says please share your photos with us. Have a top trip Mate.
A fantastic holiday, the pictures just can not do justice to what we have seen. Nepal was a crazy country but stunning. India is just plain crazy ant the traffic can be best described as two large schools of fish swimming into each other. Bhutan can simply be described as motorcycling heaven, amazing roads with no traffic and views beyond belief. The mighty Enfeild Bullet just may have been the perfect bike for the trip. The food was awesome (if you like a good hot curry) the accommodation was good to excellent and it only cost three bucks for a big bottle of rum!
I have a philosophy. If it has two wheels, you can have fun on it. As long as it was functional, it's yet to be proven wrong for me. It's all about your frame of mind. Looks like a great trip! Thanks for sharing the story and pictures.
The Bullet is extremely common in India. Bike selection isn't quite what you'd like over there, either. That was probably the best they could do without major logistical issues.
The bullet was the only choice really. Any bike over 200cc is rare. The lowtech bullet coped well with altitude changes, poor fuel quality and occasionally being thrown down the road when we hit patches of ice and snow on the mountain passes. They were comfortable for long days in the saddle and nothing else has the street cred of riding a black bullet on the subcontinent. Many of the roads would have been better suited to a dual sport machine but when the going got tough we just went slower and laughed harder. Between 9 bikes all doing over 2500km there was no major breakdowns. We rode 19 of the 21 days on the trip, a 200k stint meant we would have to be riding by 8 in the morning and not reach our destination until it was nearly dark, not what you would call a leisurely ride. Anything over 80kmh was simply suicidal even on the major roads, much of the time in India and Nepal was spent gathering enough courage to overtake overladen Tata trucks that often spent more time on three wheels than four.
Really cool. I would think they would be good bikes for a trip like that. Probably similar geometry but more dependable than older Triumph/BSAs and they were built for such travel. Like you say, just slow it down a notch or two and enjoy.
hi chilly,looks like you had afantastic time.were in process of organizing a trip in sept 2014 just acouple of things was altitude sickness a problem? & which tour company did you use & any other tips or recomendations thanks djc
We went with ferriswheels.com.au and they were excellent. Altitude sickness was not a problem, we all had the medication but it was not needed. My only tip is just do it and have fun!
