Buying a Royal Enfield

My husband and I are going to spend a few months traveling in India and would like to see the country from the seat of a Royal Enfield. We'd like to purchase one down in southern India and slowly make our way up to Delhi, where we'd plan to sell it a few months later. Does anyone have suggestions as to where we can purchase one in Cochin, Bangalore, etc? We'll be starting this trip around the 3rd week of December. Neither of us have done any motorcycle traveling before, so any tips or suggestions would also be greatly appreciated!

I dont really know how much India-experience you have, but i hope you are aware of the road conditions/traffic/driving skills of others on the road.
Are you really sure you want to make your first motorcycle trip in India?
Sounds a bit brave (foolish, sorry)to me

My husband is Indian and I've spent a good deal of time here. Yes, I am of course well aware of the road conditions here, and although we'll be avoiding the big cities and major roadways, I'm sure it'll add to the adventure. Thanks for your concern, but we're two very resourceful people and I'm sure we'll be fine.

Try the classifieds at Team-Bhp.com. They have some Enfields listed.

http://classifieds.team-bhp.com

Try X-bhp as well.

http://www.xbhp.com/classifieds/show.../cat/10/page/1

Also, please do take a look here:
Roads in Kerala in Bad Shape

Frankly, if you have no motorcycling experience whatsoever (can't deduce that from your post) I'd advise against learning on the road in India. Paraphrasing an expert rider whom I know: ' motorcycles are reasonably safe to ride but VERY dangerous to learn how to ride'. That's true, everyone goes down or misjudges a situation when starting out. Those who don't do it at a foolish speed because they think they know how to ride a bike after 3 months live to tell the tale. I'd especially advise against taking a pillion rider on the bike if you've got less than a year driving experience. That's just inviting some very bad karma, imho. At the very least, take a couple of MSF courses back in the States. You'll also need a license of course, as well as insurance.

If you're not technically proficient, you could do worse than follow this guy's buying tips.

Good luck, ride safely and have fun!

Dona, it is indeed a wonderful idea to do a bike trip across India...! Not only will yoiu experience India in close quarters but also get a fabulous experience of biking on your Enfield...! I would say you to go ahead without even a blink...! You can get a lot of used Enfield's for sale in Cochin, which incidentally should be your first place to commence your course. Browse thru the newspapers or do a bit of 'googling' and you can come across a lot of listings. It would be advisable if you take a mechanic with you when you go for selecting one. Also, check the documents and it would be good if you can get it transferred in your name, especially as your husband is Indian. And post buying, avoid traveling on the highways during the night. All in all, you are going to have fun.

yes touring on an Enfield is a great way to see the country, it is dangerous but so can breathing in certain parts of the world. Just take it slow and easy until your confidence builds up, stay off main roads if you can, your journey will be longer but also safer. Most Enfields set up for touring in India have metal carry racks, which are very handy but also add alot of extra ( unsprung ) weight to the bike, if you add front crash bars you can be looking at up to 30kg--that's before you load them with your luggage. Soft throw over bags--tank bags, are a light weight option, and when riding 2up, make for a much better handling bike--esp in those emergency braking suitations. Cramster are a local Indian brand of soft luggage, their throwover saddle bags are around 3000Rs, good value for the price. Bring your own tie-down straps, to secure your bags to the bike-as not good options in India-the ones used to secure canoes to roof racks are excellent. If you want to sell your bike in a different state to where you purchased it then you will need a police no objections form, get it at time of purchase. Delhi has a larger Enfield market than the south, if i were you i would fly into Delhi buy a bike, then jump on the train down south and ride it back--or best of all buy a new one on a buy-back scheme. have a great trip