The Enfield is the best way to see India, but before renting or buying an Enfield in India read this.
Motorbike Rides in South India
South India offers some beautiful bike rides through its national parks: Nagarhole, Wayanad, Bandipur and Mudumalai. Some of the roads through South India's national parks are not accessible to two-wheelers due to danger from wild animals, but most of the roads are biker-friendly and riding a bike through the jungle can be an excellent way to see Indian wildlife. Most of the roads are in a reasonable condition, and one can see little monkeys playing on the road or herds of spotted deer staring out of the jungle. Even a wild elephant or two might appear.
The mountainous areas in Coorg are beautiful to drive through and there are plenty of nice homestays to spend the night here. A great bike trip even for first-timers is from Mysore (or Bangalore) through Coorg to Irpu Falls, and then through the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary to the beaches in North Kerala.
The ride to Goa along the coastal highway, National Highway 17, is overrated: one hardly ever sees the coast from the road and although the road is usually in a good condition, there is a lot of heavy traffic. Many foreigners end up renting or buying an Enfield in Goa, but once Goa and Gokarna are seen and done with, there are much more interesting roads further inland in the state of Karnataka.
Motorbike Rides in Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh in the Himalayas is another great biking destination with reasonably good mountain roads (by Indian standards) and fantastic scenery. The road between Manali and Dharamsala is famous for great scenery and the Parvati and Kullu valleys are stunning. Lahaul and Spiti are more remote yet fascinating areas to explore on a bike. There are also some very high mountain passes in Himachal Pradesh, some of them on the way from Manali to Leh in Ladakh.
World’s Highest Motorable Pass Khardung La
The ultimate Enfield trip in India is the ride from Manali in Himachal Pradesh to Leh in Ladakh, and on to Khardung La, known as the highest motorable mountain pass in the world. Khardung La is officially 18 380 ft high (although individual riders with modern GPS have measured much less).
Khardung La, or K-Top, is just outside Leh, but it is the part of getting from Manali to Leh that is the biggest challenge. Many bikers also continue from Leh to Srinagar.
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