Hay Guys,

I am planning to ride the Raid this year. I am well versed with Himachal and Ladakh as I belong from Himachal and have ridden the route a number of times. But don’t have any rally experience. So I am starting the thread to gather more information about the event and over all logistics required for similar events. I’m sure there are more enthusiasts like me who want a start can benefit from the info.

So here we go:

Bike : Which Indian Bike should be used(can’t afford an import) , Have seen that the HH ZMA has been a favorite choice, Has anyone got their hands on the new ZMR with Fi. the Fi will surely help on high altitude plus the rear disk will be an added advantage. Though carrying extra tires/wheels with the rear disk will be a problem.

Wheels/Tyres: I am sure everybody will recommend normal wheels than alloy wheels but again alloy wheels can accommodate tubeless tyres which can be an advantage as repairing and replacing them is easier than tubed tyres + they are less prone to punctures.

Riding Gear: There are a lot of options when it comes to riding gear and surely I don’t want to compromise on it. Can anyone recommend the brands and their availability in India. There are names like DSG and Cramster who are selling riding gear at a very affordable price when compared to the imported counterpart.


Hope to add a number of things to the list in the future.


Rajnish

hi rajnish, like you said that you don't have any rally experience, so personally i will advice you go for sjoba first and then think of doing raid. you will know a lot about yourself and your riding after sjoba and then you can decide whether you should do raid or not. don't go for raid in a hurry. i did the same mistake when i did my first raid though i did sjoba first but then also i struggled very badly in raid and was out in the first leg. so it's just waste of money if you are not 200% confident of yourself and your riding or you are loaded with money.
2nd thing karizma is the best indian bike to do raid. the engine is very reliable but there have been problems with its gear box and brackets(footrests). i personally don't preffer fi engines for raid because you have to tune your bike almost everyday according to the altitude you are in. and fi doesn't leave you with that option. it automatically tunes the engine and sometimes you can end up doing the whole raid on a fluttering engine. and if something gets wrong with the fi system, you need computer machines to fix whereas carburetter can be fixed manually, correct me if i am wrong.
3rd thing tyres are the most important thing as spare in the service back up for the raid. Use rims instead of alloys. if alloy get a bend there's no way we can straighten it but we can do it with rims. rims are cheaper than alloys. don't use tubeless tyres coz if you have a puncture, i don't think you can drive a punctured tubeless tyre on that terrain for too long. it will burst eventually. but i have seen riders riding on punctured tubed tyres for 200 kms and you have the option of doing double tube with it.
4th thing is riding gear. i am not sure but maybe HMA will not allow riding gear made by indian companies this time. so buy fox or alpinestars and i think there would be a aprox difference of 10,000rs. if you buy indian riding gear or fox riding gear but i can assure you fox one could save your life there which is priceless. if you have any other problems feel free to ask..

Thanks stunters_99,
Thanks for the gyan, I do plan to do the SJOBA but i am not sure because of some other commitments. You are correct about the tuning and reliability on the Fi bikes but if it works well il say it will be an advantage as fi will always deliver better at high altitudes atleast it dose on the gypsys. Again I understand it will be a tough job completing the Raid the first time but looks like that is the only option I have at this point of time, Will try and recky the route before the rally in august/september. If you could share your raid experience with us that would be great. also do you plan to participate in the Raid/Sjoba this time.

i'll not do sjoba and i am not sure about raid either..but if you will do any of these rallies just contact yogesh lakhani on 9815478170. he lives in chandigarh and will help you and guide you for both the events. he would be doing these events. i have already written a huge report on my experience in last year's raid. here's the link and if it doesn't work just go to The Super Special Stage thread on the forum and search for "raid report and experiences". http://www.rally.co.in/rally-f2/raid-re ... t3044.html

i dont hav any experience of rallying myself..
n ws thinking of trying myself for the raid as well..
i hav the riding gear (Cramster) its cheaper compared to alpinestars, bt found it really effective..
my problem is bike..
i own a yamaha r15... n wanted to modify it to suit conditions to b encountered in rally...
bike on the whole is really amazing.. bt i dont think it is capable of withstanding the beating that wud b on offer on treacherous route of raid...
what kind of mods r allowed for motorcycles??
would really appreciate a reply..
bike has a radiator on the front that might get damaged due to the route, so i was planning of installing grills up-front to protect the bike from impact of stones...
also, is HID allowed to be used instead of normal headlight bulbs??

Bike is THE problem for you. i am not sure whether R15 can be modified for a rally. it has very low ground clearance( lowest in indian bikes). the radiator is not such a problem as pulsar 200 also has the same kind of thing and i havent seen sandeep bhaiya having any issues with it during raid. you have to put a sump guard we say, to protect the chamber from the beating. headlights are free for all groups. the modifications really depend on the group you are willing to paticipate. but i don't think it would be a good idea to do it on R15 in stock class(group D). i have given the no. of yogesh lakhani in the earlier post. you can contact him and ask for what mods are possible on your bike.. cheers