Why Nepal has more dirt bike options than India

And all this in addition to everything that's available in India. Even the Xpulse is quite popular as it's well suited to conditions here.

BHPian karanddd recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have been living in Nepal since April and I cannot help but notice the much greater variety of motorcycles to which people here have access. The caveat is that taxation is high, so motorcycles end up being very expensive. But by and large people do not buy cars here (as taxation on them is even higher), so the bike is a person's primary mode of transport and people feel that spending extra cash on them is worthwhile.

Outside of the major cities, roads are poor, and in the north more often than not they are just dirt trails. So naturally dirt bikes are popular. And there are a lot of options. Off the top of my head, there's the Honda range: the XR 150, 190, and CRF 250, Crossfire (which I think is an Australian company), Hartford, Motorhead (which is the cheapest option, and is a Chinese company that uses Honda engines and makes kind of knockoff Honda dirtbikes) etc. There's also the Suzuki DRZ, I've seen even a couple of Kawasaki road legal dirt bikes. And all this in addition to everything that's available in India. Even the Xpulse is quite popular as it's well suited to conditions here.

I know a lot of people in India who'd kill to have any of the Honda dirtbikes, they're so light (~120-130 kg) and offer adequate power for most conditions, and the other options, like Crossfire and Hartford, seem fairly reliable, lightweight and powerful. I rented an Xpulse to go to the high altitude district of Mustang and saw many Hartfords and several other dirtbikes in the region. I can't think of any 120 kg motorcycle you can buy in India straight from the showroom.

I've attached some pictures of the bikes here. Just want to start a discussion about why Indians are so deprived of dirt capable motorcycles as compared to our neighbours. The same is partly true of cars too, as in Nepal, Subaru 4x4s, the Toyota RAV4 truck, various Ford 4x4 trucks and SUVs, all are sold, whereas in India there's literally only two options in that segment: the Fortuner and the Endeavour.

Even more striking is the fact that anything that's sold in India can be (and is) imported by import companies in Nepal, which people can buy at higher (due to tax) prices here. But the reverse is not true in India.

Here's what BHPian Mr.Boss had to say on the matter:

For a country that has no other option than importing, they have plenty of options to choose. But in our case, with Make in India and other policies in place manufacturers stick to specific mass market models than providing all available options.

Also dirt bike category is slowly picking up in our market. Let's wait and watch.

Here's what BHPian sunilch had to say on the matter:

Two simple reasons:

1) Demand / Supply - Hilly/mountainous terrain + demand from international travelers gives rise to demand for more cars and bikes that are suited for it.

2) Market Dynamics - If you don't have local manufacturing and taxation is same for all categories of bikes/cars, people will import what is needed/desired. There will be no bias towards a category that they may not need. Look at Sri Lanka or New Zealand as an example for cars. They get better cars and at better price as there is no local manufacturing and they are allowed to import anything that the consumer wants. Even in case of Pakistan, import policies are very relaxed and here is huge demand for proper 4x4 cars. Hence you will see video of many people owning all types of 4x4 cars with many customizations and using them during rallies.

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