Overall, riding a motorbike in India is not as hard as you may think and sometimes it is worse. Initially, it takes a bit of getting used to, but soon enough (if you're still alive) you will find yourself with your horn blastng, riding the ass of some bus trying to pass on a crowded highway. Seriously though, the key to survival is to keep ALERT at all times. It is the one time your mind wanders that you find yourself in a less than pleasant situation. Take your time on the road, stop often to rest, grab a bite to eat, keep up on fluids, hell, drink a beer (just kiddng) , and relax. It'll do wonders for you on your journey. Leave yourself plenty of time to get to where you're going! Finding your way is a breeze if you have patience and aren't afraid to ask a local. In a land of 1,000,000,000 people, there seems to ALWAYS be someone at every intersection who you can ask for directions. Just say the name of the city you want to go to, point your finger the way you think you should go, and you'll either be confirmed that this is indeed the way or shown the correct road. This method of asking for directions has been almost 100% accurate in our travels--we rarely found ourselves on the wrong road.

We have been impressed with the Bullet on our journey. Considering the enormous amount of abuse we put these things through (i.e. horrible road conditions, overloaded and underpowered while driving through 105 degree F heat, etc) they proved to be quite durable and trustworthy. Keeping in mind that this is pretty much a 1948 designed bike, made in India with Indian metal and sub-par quality control (at least by Western standards), it does its job quite well, with never a dull moment. And at this price for a bike and parts/maintenance, how can you go wrong?

PERFORMANCE:

Acceleration/Power:

Even though there is a 500cc engine underneath you, the Bullet is rather gutless. It's got a loud and nice sounding bark, but no bite. The only time you get any semblance of the feeling of acceleration is when you are riding alone without luggage-- in comparison with the bikes most Westerners are used to riding, these bikes will feel quite underpowered. The real lack of power is felt when climbing hills. The Bullet struggles to keep moving up hills and it is usually necessary to bring her down to 3rd or more often 2nd gear (especially with 2 people on board), even at low altitudes and on gentle grade climbs.

Handling:

As Jared and Ryan so eloquently said, "the Bullet is like a Midwestern woman...light in the front, heavy in the rear. She does the job alright but you wouldn't want to bring her home and show her off to your friends." Well put!!! Even without luggage, this bike is very heavy. Add on a passagener and/or luggage, mix it with poor quality tires and a weak chassis, and you've got a wobbly beast indeed between your legs. However, it is quite managable once you are used to the bike and your load. This said, without luggage or a passenger and with a new set of rubber we were able to throw the bike around some twisties at a good click, for India at least. It stuck to the road pretty well. We just couldn't ever get ourselves to trust those Indian tires with our lives and really push it.

Braking: (What braking?!)

Even with the twin-lead shoe front drum brake, the Bullet is always a struggle to slow down, which is unfortunate (and quite dangerous) due to the necessity for good brakes in the crazy Indian traffic. We found the rear brake to be more effective in stopping the bike and the front to be almost usless for hard stopping. I couldn't even imagine the single shoe front brake standard on the 350cc. Fortunately, most 350's have been retro-fitted with the 500cc twin-leading front brake. We saw one bike in Calcutta with a disc brake on the front, obviously a home-made job. Maybe this option will be available soon for the average rider.

FUEL:

Getting it: Just a quick note about the availability of gasoline (or a liquid resembling it) in Inida. We had NO problems finding fuel for the bikes. The only exception is the well known case of the road from Manali to Leh. Here you'll need to carry at least 5 extra liters with you. We crried ten just to be safe. Also, we carried 10 extra liters with us from Rekong Peo in Kinneuar to Kaza in Spiti Valley, not knowing if there was fule or not (And there isn' between these two cities!) Everywhere else, fuel is readily available and you should have no problems. If you run out or are low, you can just usually ask a local for help, they are usually very willing to lend a hand.

Fuel Consumption: Our bikes gave us anywhere between 25-30 kilometers per liter of petrol, depending on conditions, load, and terrane.

Price: At the time of writing, the price of a Liter of gasoline was between Rps. 28-30 ($0.60-0.65 USD). With a ratio of fuel comsumption : fuel costs being about 1:1, we figured about 1 Rupee to 1 Kilometer driven for a final cost. consumption

BA-A-A-ARELY MOVIN' - First hand account of Lisa'a introduction to motorcycling in India/Nepal.