India is a wild country, so there's so much to explore and get lost in the wilderness. Here, things get better when motorcycles are involved, and with the rise of adventure bikes in the country, people have managed to explore the unexplored. But, a few of us haven't enjoyed this adventure as expected due to poor choice of adventure bikes.
In this story, we will tell you six mistakes to avoid while buying an adventure bike in India.
Know your purpose
It is imperative to ask yourself, 'How do I plan to use my upcoming adventure bike?'. This is important because the country has many bikes – tourers, sports tourers and adventure. If you plan to stay on the road most often, you don't need an ADV with long travel suspension or spoke wheels. A bike with good performance and decent ground clearance will do the job. So knowing the exact kind of ADV you want can help you get the most out of the bike.
New or Used?
Like it or not, adventure bikes are intimidating; blame that on tall seat height and overall kerb weight. As a result, some of us end up selling off the brand new bike after a few months of a disappointing experience. So there's a hack for this. Buy a used ADV from the market, and use it for a few months. This approach will help achieve two things – understand the motorcycle and know whether you want to explore the world of ADV riding.
Don't overspend
India is lucky to have almost all big motorcycle brands, and some of them have their entire line-up of ADVs in India. This confuses many of us, as we don't know where to spend and how much. A quick visit to the showroom results in more confusion as the sales guy will try to upsell you with more expensive versions. As a result of this problem, you end up opening your wallet quite a bit, only to realize that you overspent. So to avoid that, first identify how much you plan to ride. Once you have that answer, you must know if you plan to ride long or are satisfied with covering short distances daily. Such questions will allow you to choose the right bike.
Physical limitation
Most adventure bikes – entry-level or expensive – are heavy, which could prove a big hurdle for riders. And if you want to tame these bikes the way you have seen in those fancy TV commercials, your body must undergo some stress and fatigue. If you are someone who works out regularly, then it is not going to be a problem. But you may struggle to handle the bikes on those forest trails or sandy beaches if you aren't physically active.
Don't avoid training school
There's a reason all of us went to schools and colleges. Such places got our base right, and we built our lives around them. So when you buy an adventure bike, you must visit adventure riding schools. Here, you will learn the basics of riding off-road and escaping difficult situations. There are just upsides to joining ADV training schools like ProDirt Adventure.
Not taking expert advice
When it comes to such expensive purchases, it is essential to ask an expert. Do not rely on your friend's words or even on a salesperson. The former may not know the bike thoroughly, and the latter would want to close the deal to meet the monthly sales numbers. Ask a third party like BikeWale to assist you with such purchases. Not asking an expert is probably the biggest mistake you could make during your new adventure bike purchase.
