RE Himalayan, the favourite bike for Ladakh ride!

In the end of May , as soon as the high passes of Ladakh are officially open, bikers  from around the country start on the long journey to the enchanting land of Lamas.

Bikers from far corners of the country, braving the heat of Indian plains,  reach the cool climes of the high Himalayas where mixed road conditions await them. Some riders take the easy Jammu - Srinagar - Kargil route to Leh, where the road conditions are good for the most part, while the more adventurous ones take the Manali, Sarchu route to Leh. 

In the year 2012 I took a bus to Leh from Manali, and personally experienced the road conditions - black ice, snow, landslides and water crossings, it is one adventure which i will never forget. 

Believe me  Manali-Leh road will give a off road track a run for its money, in most parts it is just a mud track, which has many water crossings, ice patches and more. 

In Leh I hired a Bajaj Pulsar 150 and rode to the highest motor-able road to Khardungla pass, and to Pangong Tso lake over the snow covered Changla pass. Pulsar was a excellent ride on the tarmac, but i craved for a bike with better suspension and handling while going across the pot holed roads, covered with mud and ice. It was always a bone jarring and tiring journey to say the least.

Enthusiast bikers mostly take their city bikes on this adventures, and a large number of domestic and foreign bikers choose the tough RE bikes for this adventure.

Since the Launch of RE Himalayan,I have read about  many bikers who have bought RE Himalayan for their Ladakh rides this year. As we all know RE has purposely built Himalayan with keeping adventure tourers in mind, and tested it extensively in various terrains, particularly the rock... mud strewn roads of Ladakh.
 

Himalayan has a very good suspension, a powerful engine with good low end torque, with loads of luggage space, which make it ideal for this adventure.

In the coming months as the riders start returning from their long Ladakh rides and start to pen down their adventures, we will come to know the on road performance of Himalayan in this inhospitable terrain. If Himalayan receives good owners reviews about the high altitude performance, we would surely see an explosion in the number of Himalayan riders to Ladakh next season.

                                                                                                                                                   ....Alok

Which is the best touring motorbike in India - Himalayan vs Mojo vs Thunderbird 500

Ladakh touring season is about to start soon, and motorcycling enthusiasts from around the country have started planning for their Leh Ladakh motorcycling adventure. 

The first thing that is required for this tough journey is a good reliable and comfortable bike, which will be able to take on different road surfaces and also has good off-road capability.

There is a wide choice of bikes available to the Indian biker, but most of these bikes fall either in the commuter category or are fast racy bikes like a Duke. Event though these bikes are not purpose built for touring , numerous motorcyclists  successfully complete the Ladakh circuit or Lahaul Spiti circuit rides successfully on these machines every year.

But touring can be more fun if you have the right bike, which has the right qualities, which make thousands of km  of riding a pleasure, which you look forward to again and again.

Three budget motor bikes in the market, which have good touring capabilities, are RE Thunderbird 500, Mahindra Mojo and the new kid on the block RE Himalayan.

In this comparison video Karthikeya Shingi of AutoCar India pits all three bikes against each other to find out which bike has the best touring capability, and can also be used for your daily city commute.

I was not surprised to see RE Himalayan best the other two competitors, because I have been following Himalayan on internet for quite some time, and whenever I watch a Himalayan review video, the first thing that strikes me is the comfortable sitting position of the rider, combined with easy flick ability of the bike.These two qualities along with the rugged looks, makes me want to get on a Himalayan and ride towards the high snow-capped mountains of Ladakh :D