Guided Motorbike Tours in Northern India / Bhutan

[Anonymous]

#3748

Hi everyone on this chilly Wednesday evening,We are very keen in doing one of the guided motorbike trips in Northern India and / or Bhutan next year. Has anyone done this and / or can anyone recommend a tour company. We started researching and it looks like there are quite a few which offer these trips.And yes, I am fully aware that I have to exchange my Airhead for a Royal Enfield - or worse  😮

[Anonymous]

#15508

Hi everyone on this chilly Wednesday evening,We are very keen in doing one of the guided motorbike trips in Northern India and / or Bhutan next year. Has anyone done this and / or can anyone recommend a tour company. We started researching and it looks like there are quite a few which offer these trips.And yes, I am fully aware that I have to exchange my Airhead for a Royal Enfield - or worse  😮

My wife and I have just come back from a tour in the Himalayas with a firm called Ferris Wheels. Mike Ferris is Australian and his wife Denise is a kiwi and they run the tours during June - July - August when the roads are open. Website for this particular trip is here:  http://www.ferriswheels.com.au/Himalayan_Heights.What can I say? Very professional, great bunch of people, excellent support from the mechanics and tour guides. Accommodation was good although I did get sick of curry! We were accompanied by a minibus and a luggage van so that if Shirley didn't feel up to being a pillion, she could go in the minibus.It was physically and mentally much harder than we expected. A typical day run was 250 - 300kms but that was a lot on those roads. Also the altitude sickness impacted on some in the tour. At the highest point we were on a pass at 5,602 metres asl - that's 2 kms higher than Mt Taranaki! On one section it took us six hours to ride 10 kms through the Rhotang Pass. The bikes were great. They took a bit of getting used to after the 1200GS but I loved them. Let me know if you would like some photos and I'll put some up. And ... go for it! Regards,Ken

[Anonymous]

#15509

Hi there,Thanks very muchly for this. We'll check this out straight away.Re. photos: Would be much appreciated  🙂

[Anonymous]

#15510

I'll sort out some photos for you tomorrow. If it means anything, my mate on this trip was Dick Hubbard who I understand owns some sort of a muesli factory up in Auckland. I also understand that Jo & Gareth Morgan, and Chris Parkin have also done the trip with Mike and Denise. And can I assure you I have no interest, pecuniary or otherwise, in Ferris Wheels as a company. I just found them to be very professional, well organised and nice people.Cheers,Ken

[Anonymous]

#15511

Here are a few photos – really a bit hard to encapsulate three weeks of adventure in a few pics. I have compressed these. If you would like any explanations, please let me know.Cheers,Ken

[Anonymous]

#15512

And just a couple more….

[Richard Kuysten]

#15513

I'll sort out some photos for you tomorrow. If it means anything, my mate on this trip was Dick Hubbard who I understand owns some sort of a muesli factory up in Auckland.

No doubt you had muesli for breakfast Ken, Dick was the mayor of Auckland for a season or two but I suspect he was too much of a gentleman to be kept on.

[Anonymous]

#15514

I'll sort out some photos for you tomorrow. If it means anything, my mate on this trip was Dick Hubbard who I understand owns some sort of a muesli factory up in Auckland.

No doubt you had muesli for breakfast Ken, Dick was the mayor of Auckland for a season or two but I suspect he was too much of a gentleman to be kept on.

Yes he is a nice guy. I also did a trip around Australia with him in 2010, which is why my R1200GS is 18 months old with 51,000kms on the clock. His wife Diana has recently decided that she likes motorcycling too and also enjoyed our Himalaya trip. Dick has just (like on Tuesday) bought a brand new R1200GSA in yellow! A bit too tall for me I'm afraid!Regards,Ken

[Anonymous]

#15515

The photos are fantastic  🙂 It looks like you had a fantastic time and lots of different challenges: some mudwrestling, snow, rivers and squeezy bits and the crazy Indian traffic.Also, I didn't know Dick Hubbard is into riding motorbikes. I really liked him as Auckland mayor as he seemed to be more focusing on the job than his ego .... (Ooops, did I say that out loud???  ;D)How did you prepare for the trip? I am thinking of attending an off road training day with my GS80 - which hopefully prepares me a bit better for the the above. I did some gravel roads here in New Zealand, but never dared to go hard core off roading (I would love to but don't want to be the p... in the a.. and holding up the group).Again, thank you so much for all this. I really appreciate this.

[Anonymous]

#15516

Interesting dialogue , A mate and I are planning to hire bikes in New Delhi and ride up to the Anna purna circuit via Kathmandu possibly in september next year. First part of the plan is to spend 6 months going feral to blend in.

[Anonymous]

#15517

The photos are fantastic  🙂 It looks like you had a fantastic time and lots of different challenges: some mudwrestling, snow, rivers and squeezy bits and the crazy Indian traffic.How did you prepare for the trip? I am thinking of attending an off road training day with my GS80 - which hopefully prepares me a bit better for the the above. I did some gravel roads here in New Zealand, but never dared to go hard core off roading (I would love to but don't want to be the p... in the a.. and holding up the group).Again, thank you so much for all this. I really appreciate this.

Yes we did have a fantastic time. We are seriously looking at doing another trip with Ferris Wheels, maybe this time to Morocco. In terms of preparation - well I think an off-road course would be a good idea, whatever you do. Not essential for this trip though. The Enfields handle the rough roads well and there is not a lot of gravel (as in NZ-style gravel), just very rough roads in some parts. More important is physical fitness. Shirley & I are in our 60s and made sure we were pretty physically fit before we went. That was a good idea - it meant that we could bounce back quickly after days that were physically demanding. Remember that altitude plays a role too - you can get quite puffed climbing a flight of stairs. The younger ones coped better than us but in the end it was physical fitness that made the difference.Mike and Denise have a CD of this tour that they will send you free if you indicate a serious interest. It is worth getting and is a pretty honest depiction of the trip. There are some NZ groups that run similar tours to the one we did. Is it Mike Brittan? I understand that they have an excellent reputation too. IMO try to avoid companies that insist that you ride as a group all the time. We meet some like this and the riders were finding that a bit frustrating. We rode at our own pace (slow for Shirl & I!!) and stopped where we liked using the Ulysses Club method of corner-marking and regroups for morning and afternoon teas, and lunch.You probably also need to talk to your doctor before you go. There are some vaccinations required and some drugs that are worth taking for Delhi-belly and altitude sickness. You also need to get a visa from the Indian Embassy here in Welly and that can take a few weeks.Let me know if there are any more questions that I might answer.  Hopefully others are finding the discussion interesting too.Cheers,Ken

[Anonymous]

#15518

I guess I should also say that quite a bit of the time on the tour is spent in Jannu-Kashmir which is a province that is claimed by both India and Pakistan. There was an incident some years ago I understand where some tourists were involved in a terrorist incident. There is still quite a lot of tension in the area. We met a number of military convoys and the presence of soldiers and killing devices was quite obvious. In the food chain we found that military Tatas are at the apex! There is limited internet access and foreign cellphones are blocked.No big deal but something for you to be aware of.Cheerz,Ken

[Anonymous]

#15519

Again, thank you so much. Another plan of ours was to visit a place here in Auckland which helps people to acclimatise to high altitude. A friend of mine recommended that place after he prepared to a trip to Nepal. I think a lot of sports people use them too to increase their breathing capacity.Re. vaccinations: Yeap, can't go anywhere without them. We spent 5 weeks in South East Asia a few years ago and I think we had to have every possible vaccination on the planet. In hindsight, it was a good thing as we travelled without any health problems  🙂Re. policial unrest: Growing up in Germany and having family in East Germany, I am used to police with machine guns and military check-points.  Also, we got caught in Bangkok when the anti-government groups occupied the airport. That was an interesting one as protesters marched past our hotel which was a bit unnerving  🙁 We made it home via Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) and Kuala Lumpur.I guess that is what travel is all about: Expect the unexpected and go with the flow  🙂

[Anonymous]

#15520

To be honest I don't think I would worry too much about altitude preparation. Most tours take a number of days to climb up to the serious heights. Also, every one on our tour who felt the effects of altitude, also found that the Diamox tablets were really effective. personally, on the one day I felt a bit woozy, I was fine 15 minutes after taking the pills. Talk to your doctor though and make sure you feel confident about it.Cheers and good luck,Ken

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