Guides
Things worth knowing
before you go
Planning notes for riding in India — the kind of thing you'd otherwise learn at the side of a highway.
Never trust the last fifty kilometres
Brochure mileage is measured at a steady 40 km/h by a rider with nothing to prove. Real mileage on a loaded bike at highway speed runs roughly ten percent lower, and a headwind takes more.
The practical rule: fill at two-thirds, not at reserve. On a 15-litre tank that's a stop every 250–300 km rather than a nervous 400. Pumps on state highways close earlier than you expect, and a closed pump at dusk 60 km from anywhere is how a good day ends badly.
Rahi does this arithmetic from your logged refuels and marks where the tank actually runs out.
Riding in the rain, on purpose
June to September turns the Western Ghats into the best riding in the country and the most demanding. Wets go on before the rain, not during — stopping at the first drops means arriving wet anyway.
Braking distance roughly doubles. The first ten minutes of rain are the worst, lifting oil off the tarmac. Painted lines, metal covers and fresh tar are all suddenly ice. Ghat corners collect gravel washed down from above.
Rahi warns you about rain at the point on the route where it'll reach you, not just where you are.
Where the signal disappears
Chikmagalur, Coorg, Wayanad, the Nilgiris, Spiti, Sikkim — the roads everyone wants to ride are the roads with no bars for an hour at a stretch. Plan while you still have a connection, and save the offline map before you climb.
Fuel is scarcer than it looks on a map. So are ATMs. Carry cash; a surprising number of pumps in hill country still prefer it.
Rahi's offline maps save the corridor along your route, and voice between riders keeps working when the towers don't.
Borders with opinions
Riding across India means crossing state lines that have rules. Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and parts of Ladakh need an Inner Line Permit. Some are issued online in a day; some need a physical counter and a photograph.
Carry the originals of RC, insurance and PUC, plus your licence — and copies, separately from the originals. Check posts in the north-east are thorough, and being ready turns a long stop into a short one.
Rahi lists what each state on your route requires, with links to the authority that issues it.
Riding as a group without losing anyone
The oldest system still works: a lead rider who knows the route, a sweep at the back who never overtakes anyone, and nobody riding behind the sweep. At every turn, the rider behind waits in sight of the turn until the next one appears.
Ride staggered, not side by side. Agree on fuel stops before setting off — arguments about stopping happen when nobody decided in advance.
Rahi puts every rider on one map so a rider who drops back is noticed in minutes rather than at the next stop.
The thing that actually gets people
Not speed. Not corners. Tiredness. Concentration falls off sharply after about two hours in the saddle, and the rider is always the last to notice.
Stop every ninety minutes to two hours even when you feel fine, especially when you feel fine. Drink more water than feels necessary — dehydration in Indian heat arrives as bad decisions long before it arrives as thirst. And don't ride to a deadline; a schedule is what turns a ride into a risk.
Rahi paces break reminders to how long you've actually been riding.
