Profile - Lalli Singh, InderMotors

[ See update - 2003-09-27 ]

Walking into InderMotors the first thing one sees after the shop is the walls of photos surrounding Lalli's desk. In my case I walked in and Lalli was busy with other customers and I had a chance to take a long look at the three walls of photos before starting to talk to Lalli. The photos make a heck of an impression, almost all are of travelers on Enfields in various parts of India & Nepal. Most are either signed to Lalli or are with Lalli. There are notes and plaques from all over the world inscribed to Lalli wishing him well and thanking him for his help. What an impression to get of a person before even talking to him! The walls have the impact of "word of mouth" advertising from a hundred other riders which in my case at least have already gone before me on the road I'm setting off on.

The process of purchasing the Enfield supported the first impression given by the pictures - Lalli is a very straightforward, honest businessman and a pleasure to deal with. After having a few days to get to know him, I figured Lalli would be the perfect person to start the "people" section with, and someone who certainly gave me a positive first impression of India.

The following is from an interview I did with Lalli for this website on April 23, 2003.

Q: How did you get into this business?

A: I started out early in this business when Karol Baugh was just becoming the Delhi marketplace for motorcycles, that was about 16 years ago. We started out working on Enfields as well as other Indian bikes like the Cheeksome, Mahan RD 350, Jawa 150, etc in the early 1980's. About 1985-1986, India started to open up a bit and the Israeli's were the first to come in and start buying bikes. Diplomats and employees of multinational firms in India soon followed suit and riding bikes in India started to be a sort of underground cool thing to do. My business with foreigners really started at that point renting bikes, helping them buy them and with some of the riders wanting to keep their bikes after traveling in India, exporting bikes out of India. I've done quite a bit of business over the years with people who came to ride and ended up taking the bikes back to their home countries. A few of those like Mike Ferris, even made a business of running tours to India and Nepal. [ Check out the Ferris Wheels site ]

In the late 80's touring India became a popular yuppie thing to do and we supplied hundreds of tours with bikes and mechanics for the trips.

Q: Much of your business is with foreigners, what trends are you seeing in people coming to India to ride?

A: The numbers of foreigners coming to India to ride has been growing all through the 1990's, I'd guess by at least 20% per year though I don't have exact numbers. This year has been very slow as the war between the US and Iraq and SARS has taken its toll. However, when those are past I expect the number of riders to go back up.

There were a number of people coming to India and then riding the bikes overland back to Europe. The government of India has made that very difficult recently and overland trips have all but dropped off. It unfortunate but those trips are going to be very hard for people to make.

Q: What mistakes do you see foreigners coming to India to ride make?

A: The first one is being in too much of a hurry. India runs on its own time and things just don't move as quick as in western countries. If people are coming to buy a new bike, it will still take time to get everything set up. If they are buying a used bike it will take even longer to find a dependable and safe bike. It will take one to two weeks to buy a new bike and a week longer to find a good used bike. Of course I'd remind people to be very careful about the people one does business with. As with any country there are a number of shady dealers. If you are buying the bike you have to be sure that you have all of the paperwork and can prove ownership of the bike and can verify its registration.

Another mistake is not coming with an International Drivers Licence. Many foreigners think that just having their home country's licence will be enough. That may get you past the police if you are lucky for a traffic violation, but if there is an accident or serious problems and you don't have an International Licence there will be problems and getting insurance to pay out for an accident for example will be very difficult

Lastly, make sure to budget time to get used to the bikes before setting off on a trip. The Enfields ride very different then American or Japanese bikes. The gear shift and brakes are reversed for example and will change all of your instincts on how to ride. You will also need time to get used to the traffic here which often doesn't follow traffic rules like you are used to.

Q: What misperceptions do westerners have about India and riding in India?

A: Its too hard and too difficult. It is a different place to ride and you have to concentrate on riding safe and watching out for road conditions. One must pay close attention to being safe, BUT there are so many places in India that will take your breath away that it is all worth it. There are things here that will open your mind, both the people and nature. There are places that will make you very humble to see such a friendly people struggling so hard for small things. There is a lot of differences from the West and these are worth seeing and understanding.

Q: In your view, what are the best places in India to ride?

A: In the Summer the Himachal Pradesh valleys are beautiful and the weather is nice and cool. There are so many beautiful places in the valleys in the Himalayas with nice winding roads and mountain views that are perfect for motorcycles.

Riding up into the North then over to Nepal as the roads open in the Summer is wonderful riding on some of the world's highest roads.

Many people have stopped going to the Jammu and Kashmir regions because of the stories of war they've heard. But the people I know that are the adventurous sort and have ridden up there have come back loving it. The people are very friendly and because business has dropped off, you will be treated like a king there.

In the Winter circling India is a wonderful ride. The deserts of Rajistan, beaches around Goh and backwaters of Kerala all make for wonderful riding.

You can contact Lalli at: lallisingh@vsnl.com, Tel: +91 11 572 8579

2003-09-27 Update -

I have put 8,000 km on the bike Lalli sold me, and for the most part, it has worked as promised. This is good in itself but I have had three experiences during those travels, which have been even more impressive and left me very thankful for being lucky enough to stumble upon Lalli when I was fresh off the plane and did not know what I was doing.

2003/05 Manali - I am in Manali getting some pieces of the bike that I had bent on the Manali - Leh road replaced at the local Enfield mechanic and the following conversation ensues:

Mechanic - "So you bought your bike in Delhi?"
Me - "Yes."
Mechanic - "From Lalli Singh?"
Me (very surprised!) - "Yes. You know Lalli?!?"
Mechanic - "No. But the Americans and Europeans all seem to buy their bikes from him. Europeans buy good bikes not the cheap ones like the Israelis. His bikes always seem to be good."

2003/07 Nepal - Just over the border, I'm stuck in a tea stall hiding from the rain and a Nepali man comes out of a UN jeep and ducks out of the rain as well. He starts asking about the bikes parked outside -

Man - "You brought your bike from India?"
Me - "Yes"
Man - "Where'd you buy it?"
Me - "Delhi"
Man - "From who?"
Me - "Lalli Singh"
Man - "Thought so. He's a good guy. I used to work at Himalayan Enfielders in Katmandu and we would buy a lot of bikes from him. He has a great program where he will buy the bike back. You are going to sell it back?"
Me - "No, I'm thinking of keeping it for the next trip."

2003/07 Middle of Nowhere Nepal - I'm in a tea stall when 5 bikes pull up, two of which have the same paint job as mine.

Me - "Lalli Singh bikes?"
1st Rider, a British woman who looks like she can hold her own in any bar fight - "Of course!"
(I get the feeling from her tone that in her opinion it would be silly to consider buying from anyone else.)
Me - "You are travelers?"
1st Rider - "No, we live in Katmandu, have a bar there, but we buy all our bikes from Lalli. All of the Enfield's (there was one dirt bike) are his."...

This may sound like a commercial for Lalli but these are experiences that I have related as they happened and there are few things that will convince you of getting a good deal as people who come along afterwards and confirm that you went the right place. Frankly, I am convinced I was really lucky to stumble in the right shop. Now I still have a caveat in that I still think its crazy for anyone with several years of riding experience to jump on a Royal Enfield and head off into the hinterland India or Nepal (see journal entry on why you should never ride an Enfield), but if you've made up your mind to ride even being so forewarned, then Lalli is the guy to see.