Riding or driving a motorcycle in India really is an adventure. Their crazy driving patterns and unique scenes make it a trip worth remembering.
Strangely, my husband and I may have fallen in love while riding a motorcycle together during the trip in rural India when we met in 2008. I remember, kinda dangerously, standing up on the motorcycle while hubby drove and opening my arms like the famous scene in Titanic. Love makes you do wild things am I right? (I think hubby was impressed too, at my sense of adventure.) He wasn’t “hubby” back then, of course.
These photos are not from that time. Hubby and I came back to India a few times and drove a motorcycle or a scooter together during these trips. I attempted to ride the scooter in India but it was harder than it seemed.
I like the scenes that you encounter when you drive a motorcycle (or any other vehicle) in rural India.
Like these women carrying goods to their homes.
And these school children in uniform.
Motorcycles and scooters are a very common ride in India.
Families riding on a motorcycle in India are a regular sight. Indian people can manage to ride with anything they set their minds to, from big families to giant metal poles.
Stopping at the gas station often is very common too. Indians, at least in rural India, never fill their tanks. When we asked to have ours filled they couldn’t understand us at first because nobody does that. People pay a few rupees at a time.
It’s fairly simple to fix your motorcycle if it breaks down as there are mechanics everywhere. It’s a good idea to learn about motorcycle parts to know exactly what you need.
Above is the fire extinguishing “tools” at the gas station. Buckets of rubble.
A New Life Wandering 
That looks like great fun! I loved riding on a Vespa while in Tahiti, until I wiped out on a sandy curve and got thrown across the road. Ripped open my knee and gashed my face. But other than that it was great! Loved your pics!
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Wow Mani this really looks like quite the adventure. Your photos give such a great perspective. Fire extinguishers at the gas station! No I have never ridden a motorcycle outside the country. As a teenager i owned a dirt bike but that was pretty easy riding on the flat prairies.
Thanks for following me on Instagram too!
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I’m glad you shared your instagram on the post! 🙂 I’ve actually never driven a motorcycle, just ridden. I tried driving a scooter in India, but it was harder than I thought. The best I’m at is waverunners 😉 Thanks for stopping by Sue.
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You are most welcome Mani.I now have all my social media links on my sidebar. This has been a work in progress for this dinosaur. I feel like my middle age brain cells are dripping out of my ears. 🙂
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Great pictures! Very rural feeling indeed 🙂 sadly I don’t have a licence to drive a motorcycle for when I go in October
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Frankly, you don’t need a license. No one is going to stop you in India, even if you get in an accident, lots of people will gather around you to help you, unless you hurt someone’s else’s ride, they’ll probably just as for cash right there. If you are up to it, I would really recommend renting a scooter (not a motorcycle). I think they’re safer and easier to drive.
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Ok thanks Mani! I’ll keep that in mind 😉
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I’ve lived in Delhi most of my life and I can’t make myself drive in the city! I’d much rather take public transport, I’m THAT freaked out by crazy people on the roads who don’t follow basic rules of driving. And by that measure, rural riding sounds like a good deal. 😀 I think a bigger challenge would’ve been looking out for jay-walking cattle on the road, no?!
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Haha, yes, we have to go around jay-walking cattle and lots of potholes! We did venture a bit more into town to go to the fruit market and I rode a motorcycle with an India all the way to town and in between walls. It was a bit scary I must say haha.
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Riding a bike in India is always fun. I hope you guys are having a great time 🙂
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I’m glad you had a rich experience in my home country 🙂
I had fun riding pillion with my husband in Phuket (Thailand) & Mallorca (Spain)…you reminded me that I must blog about those soon, too.
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you should visit Sri Lanka as well one day
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I should, I’ve heard good things about it 🙂
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We went on a short taxi ride from one city to the next on a stretch of rural India and we were both totally freaked out by the traffic and constant near misses. You were both extremely brave to ride a scooter in India!
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