Ladakh Bike Ride: Preparations
Preparing yourself and your vehicle for high altitude mountains especially for Ladakh always feels harder through a good homework can easily overcome this hurdle. In this very article, we will discuss Ladakh Bike Ride Preparations.
How fit you should be for a Ladakh Trip:
In general, people who do cardio/exercise on a daily basis gets an added advantage but not always, I have seen few people facing breathing problem in Khardung La, Chang La even in Leh city. Try to control food habits during the trip, drink a lot of waters, consume ORS, don’t skip meals. 1-2 month/s before the trip, try to walk for 30 mins regularly at a moderate pace. Keep car window open all the time to acclimatize better.
Consult with a doctor and revise your medical history, seek suggestion for high altitude medicines and get yourself portable oxygen can which could be a lifesaver in an emergency. Be confident and trust me everything will be fine.
Should I purchase a new vehicle?
Your old vehicle could take you to Ladakh pretty effortlessly and comeback home depending on how well you have maintained. Additionally, a well serviced and thoroughly checked vehicles can give you a lot of confidence. Motorcycle service and inspection tips are below (We recommend to replace parts not repair except cosmetics parts)
- Firstly, Check Clutch & Accelerator cable, change if needed. Take the old as spares.
- Look for Headlight throw, indicators and horn, rectify as needed.
- Check front fork oil leakage, steering column play.
- Front brake pad, rear brake pad needs to be replaced and keep the existing as spares.
- Inspect the Spark plug, Spark plug cap, and battery.
- Check Clutch plates, Swing arm bush, chain sprocket sets and other wheel bushes & bearings.
- Verify wheel alignment, if there is a bend get it trued. Tires with less thread need to be changed and used for at least 100 KM before the trip.
- All electrical, fuses and switches need to be checked.
- Radiator & coolant for oil cooled bikes.
- If you use Auxiliary lights get that aligned properly.
- Change Engine oil, oil filter & air filter.
Most importantly, go through all the past problems on your vehicle and get all of them solved. This effort will ensure a comfortable and worry-free ride.
Spares one should carry:
- Brake pads.
- Clutch switch.
- Clutch cable.
- Accelerator cable.
- Spark plug.
- Chain link (O ring).
- Headlight bulb (optional).
- OEM provided Toolkit.
- Puncture kit (for tube type tire spare tube).
- Tire infiltrator.
- Generally used wrenches for your motorcycle.
- Spare engine oil for the top-up.
- Chain lube.
- Cable ties.
- Steel wire.
- Tire/tube valve pin.
One should learn below mechanical job to start your motorcycle in case of breakdown:
- Wheel and tire removal.
- Clutch cable, Clutch switch and Accelerator cable change.
- Brake pads change.
- Cleaning and changing the spark plug.
- Fuse change.
- Chain lube and adjustment.
- Engine oil and coolant top-up.
Similarly, if you driving your car, this kind of treatment should be sufficient.
Eventually, Being a remote place, visiting Ladakh needs lots of preparations, be it mentally, physically. Do check out below links to make this trip successful, we are sure you will never regret.
- Things to Carry in Ladakh
- Medicines needed in Ladakh
- Mobile Network Connectivity in Ladakh
- Complete Guide for your Ladakh Trip
The posts are for both riders and non-riders, hope these make your trip successful and memorable, get Leh’d soon.
If you are doing a road trip to Ladakh, you may find my Kolkata – Ladakh – Kolkata on a Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350 journey helpful. Therefore link to all the posts is mentioned below.
https://www.riderescaped.com/category/ladakhrideblog/
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