Can I use low powered Bike for Leh – Ladakh trip?
Ladakh is all bikers dreams and now since YouTube is booming in India and many big & famous YouTubers are using high end bikes that cost lakhs of rupees, many bikers who has a normal bike are confused whether they can use their bike to travel to Ladakh or not.
So, lots of bikers are this simple question – Can I use low powered Bike for Leh
Can I do a trip to Ladakh on a 100cc Bike or Scooty or Scooter?
Yes, definitely you can do your trip on 100cc Bike. You can take any bike whether its 100CC, 125CC, 150CC, 220CC or higher.
Your bike is perfectly fine for Ladakh trip. Everyone cannot afford high end bikes or a adventure bike.
So in this tutorial, I have listed few points that you should take care before starting your trip to Ladakh on a 100CC or above bike.
Limitations of 100CC Bike or Scooty
Bikes with 100CC can travel to Leh Ladakh, but they have some limitations that you should know and respect it.
The limitations of a low powered bike are as follows:-
- It will be tough to climb roads with steep slopes
- Compared to other bikes, your may be little slow
- Your Engine can heat up quickly
- Crossing Water crossing will be tough
- It can be tough to ride on places like Sarchu where the roads are full of sand and dust.
- You bike can easily slip on little black ice
- You will feel that your bike is under powered sometimes.
But above all this problems and difficulties, anyone can ride and complete their trip to Leh Ladakh on their low powered bikes and scooty.
Avoid Over Speeding
OverSpeeding kills, we all know that
And specially in Ladakh, where several bikers have lost their life try to speed up or complete a time challenge.
And since you are using a 100CC or above low powered bike, then you should be more careful as your bike is light weight and the tires are slim and thin. This combination makes your bike more riskier then any other bike like Royal Enfields.
Light weight bikes can go out of control on downhill, water crossing or riskier roads. Over speeding your light weight bike is like inviting accident to yourself.
Don’t try to compete with other bikers or try to ride like them. You should always know that your bike has limitations and overspeeding and meeting with an accident and breaking down your bike in the middle of nowhere will lead you nowhere.
And your trip can come to an end.
So, ride comfortably and at speed that you can control your bike easily.
Use Proper Riding Gears
Riding gears are very important.
I have seen poeple that says its not important and why waste money on those things.
Just to let you know this riding gears will cost you less than the hospital bill or your life cost. The riding gears are useless until you meet an accident.
When you face an accident, its the riding gears that will save your life. When you have a fall from your bike its the jacket that save your chest and stomach, the helmet that save your head, the boots that save your foot, the knee guards that save your knee, the gloves that save your hand from being dragged on the road.
So, riding gears are important and specially when you are riding a 100CC bike or scooty, your chances to meet an accident on Ladakh is a little higher than other bikes.
So, I recommend you to get proper riding gears. I have listed some best and budget friendly riding gears.
Riding Jackets
[amazon bestseller=”riding jacket” items=”6″]Knee Guards
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[amazon bestseller=”riding boots” items=”5″]Note: Check our ModifyBullet.com to find the best accessories for bike and riding gears.
So, Can I use low powered Bike for Leh – Yes, you can use low powered Bike for Leh Trip but you should use proper riding gears.
Avoid Heavy luggages
Since you are using a light weight 100CC or above bike or scooty. You should carry only essentials and required luggages.
Don’t load up your bike with lots of luggage like those who ride a bullet. Most bullets are modified bullets those are fitted with luggage systems to carry heavy luggage and the power of the engine is also higher than your bike.
Carrying light luggage will help in the followings:-
- You can ride your bike easily on difficult roads.
- You will not get tired riding long hours.
- Your bike won’t heat up
- You can easily control your bike on off roads.
- It will be easier to cross water crossings
- Your bike will give good mileage.
- You won’t have the risk to meet with an accident.
- Your bike will have very less chances to get broken.
Avoid Riding in Low gears
When you ride your bike on low gears for long periods, the bike engine will get extremely hot and it will put lot of pressure on your bike gears.
A too hot engine will either stop working on on rare cases it can catch fire. Something like the above image.
If you are riding on a tough stretch where you need to ride the bike on low gears as your bike won’t pullup, then its recommended to make a stop for few minutes after every 4km to 5km.
This will cool down your engine so you don’t face any problem, as this will be the last thing that you will face if your bikes stop and refuses to start or the gear lever gets broken.
In normal cases a heated up engine will not end your trip, you just need to stop and let the engine cool down. But in rare cases, if your gear lever breaks down due to heat, then your trip is over.
Service your Bike
Before starting your trip to Ladakh, you must get your bike completely serviced. You should take special care of this parts while servicing your bike.
- Engine oil.
- Chain Lubricants.
- Condition of the chain.
- Condition of the Tyres & tubes.
- Change Brake pads.
- Check the clutch and front brake cables.
- Ask to check the gear levers and their condition.
- Change the accelerator cable.
This things are essential to check or change while you are servicing your bike for your leh ladakh trip.
Carry Spare Parts
You must always carry essential spare parts for your bike, as you won’t know when any parts get broken and you need to replace it.
There are few shops that repairs bike and have parts for bikes but its not necessary that they will have that parts for your bike.
So, the minimum spare parts that you should carry are:-
- Clutch cable
- Accelerator Cable
- Headlight bulbs
- Clutch
- Spark plug
- Brake Cables
- M-seal
- Fevi Quick & Elfy
- Engine oil
- Engine Coolant
- Punture Repair kit
- Tyre inflator
BIke punture repair kit
[amazon box=”B078RJ46JR,B08TB1LHHN”]Bike Air Pump
[amazon box=”B07Y39GRLM,B07FQ6QYF7,B092DTBWLV”]Pillion Rider & Luggage
As I have mentioned earlier that you should carry light weight luggages and on only the essentials.
If you are riding with a pillion rider than the challenge is greater as now the bike needs to pull the weight of itself + You + Pillion Rider + Luggages.
The bike can pull all the weight but their will be some places where you need to as your pillion rider to get off the bike and walk on foot.
The places where you bike will face difficulty will be the water crossing, off roads and steep climbs.
Normally the bike is capable of easily pulling everything. The rider need to be an expert and totally understand how to control the bike and which gears to use and when.
Be Careful while water crossing
It seems easy right….
No, don’t underestimate it. It just looks easy. The water is very cold..Its freezing and the temperature is also like 3 degree celcius.
So even a little water can make you fall in deep problem.
The water crossing have rocky beds, means that the floor of the water crossing is full of stones and all the stones are uneven.
So riding the bike on the uneven stones is very difficult as the tyres slips and sometimes the rocks moves from their position. A light weight bike will face higher problem while water crossing.
And if you have a pillion rider then its always better to ask them to get off the bike and cross the water crossing on foot while you take the bike across the water.
Conclusion
So I hope by now you have the answer to – Can I use low powered Bike for Leh Ladakh
If you are not aware of how to book your expedition for Ladakh, Click here to book Manali to Leh & Nubra Trip
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