rules for Enfield

cgrahams

Hi--anybody know the rules for buying an Enfield as a foreigner. I've heard a couple of times now that you can't officially own one. I'm particularly interested in the rules for buying a used one from a fellow traveller as I've got a couple lined up and it sounds a bit dodgy this business of owning it but not "really" owning it. Can I comfortably buy one without risk of the police pulling me over and saying that I don't have proper title or some such? Can anybody explain the ins and outs?

Thanks!

Sprocket

I bought one 6 months back,lessons I have learned as follows.
Apparently you have to have residency i.e have been in the country for 5 years to have the machine in your name so most people (including Indians) leave the log book in the name of the original purchaser. Try and get the N.O.C and the insurance cert. at the time of purchase as well as the log book(registration document). Every thing is flexible in India but remember to get hold of as much official paperwork as possible, this keeps the police happier - except in Goa where they can often be difficult (southern state border checkpost especially).
Main thing is to buy a good one, with a good loud horn.

indiawise

Hi, I bought an enfield last month and posted a thread ' bike ride ..finally'. Look it up it might give u a clue on the buying aspects.
As regards the 'owner ship documents. Well I haven't had the bike transferred to my name yet. It went like this: I bought the bike in Delhi. And so it had/has a delhi registration. Now in order to transfer the bike to my name I needed a Delhi residential addresse proof. This I do/did not have. So I basically got a receipt frm the last owner that he had sold the bike and received all money etc. Then he also signed on the dotted line of 'BLANK/UNFILLED' forms nos: 38 & 29 (u can check the numbers) which are vehicle sale forms issued by the road traffic/vehicle registration office. Your seller will have / arrange them. Then u can also get a N.O.C (no objection certificate) from the seller. This certificate makes it easier for u to sell yr. bike in other states in India.
Now the fact that u have the blank sale forms (38 & 29), it means that u can transfer the bike to anyones name, including yours, at anytime in the future and submitt the forms to the registration office. Actually quite a few people don't bother to transfer the bike but keep driving around on the original owners name. All this is fine untill u lose the bike, have it stolen or crash it. Then the insurance goes in favour of the original owner. But thats not a major worry. The bike needs to have 3rd party insurance and thats cheap at Rs. 500 or so for a year..
Most places in india u r absolutely fine riding yr. bike like this. I dunno about Goa. The more i hear about Goa the more it seems to me that the police there r pretty nasty with Foriegners. Or maybe over years a certain section of the tourists have painted a bad picture/image about themselves.
JUST ONE MORE POINT:: When u buy the bike make sure that you insist that the seller arranges a new insurance policy for you. Even if you have to pay for it. It should be valid for a year and this way it will cover yr. trip and make it easier to sell the bike. Insurance companies in India these days are wisening up to auto-insuarance fraud and can refuse to renew the policy for various reasons. So don't accept a policy thats expiring in a couple of / few months.

indiawise

By the way its around 40 degrees celsius++ in ahmedabad and delhi, where i am now, is pretty hot.
Riding a bike now will be a 'HOT' experience, (temperature-wise not sex). Stick to the early hours for riding and the hills and the sea side.